Until the world is different
David struck Goliath down on his first try and was celebrated in victory. That’s a nice way for the story to end but it’s important to remember that he took five stones with him. He understood that sometimes your faith has to endure a failure. All his hope can’t go into one stone. He’s going to have to keep throwing them until the world is different.
Alexis Vaughan, 2024 Convocation Address
Rachel Abdoler has been awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship. The award will underwrite six months of work in the collections of the Vatican library in Rome and a library in Cairo, Egypt, on Christian texts written in Arabic. She spoke about her work after Monday Dinner on November 18. The subject of her PhD dissertation is a thirteenth-century Coptic author’s interpretation of the passion of Christ and its background of Arabic Christian and Islamic writing.
Yvonne Gilmore spoke on November 11 about the remarkable ministry of Sarah Lue Bostick, the subject of her upcoming book, for the Disciples History and Thought Seminar. Widely known as the first African American ordained woman in the Christian Church, Bostick also served the Christian Women’s Board of Missions, and she was present when the National Christian Missionary Convention was established in 1917.
Seeking wisdom: DDH Scholar Marissa Ilnitzki led a contemplative chapel service on Election Eve, Monday, November 4. Incorporating simple Taizé chants, readings about wisdom, and her own meditation, the service offered a time of silence, of listening, of asking, of being still and being together.
In Indonesia. DDH Scholar Katie Varon attended the ACT Alliance General Assembly as the Disciples youth delegate in Yogyakarta in late October. The alliance was formed by more than 145 churches and organizations from over 120 countries to provide humanitarian aid. The Disciples' Week of Compassion and its Executive Director, Vy Nguyen, work through the alliance.
Ritch Savin-Williams spoke on October 28 about his lifelong research on gender and sexuality, particularly the positive experiences of young gay and lesbian persons during a time when studies focused almost entirely on their negative experiences. He is Professor Emeritus of Developmental Psychology at Cornell University.
2024 DDH Scholars. Sixteen individuals have been named Disciples Divinity House Scholars for the 2024-25 academic year. The five members of the entering class are pictured here. Learn about them.
