See all that is to come
A Transformative Gift
In 1951 and at the age of nineteen, Samuel Campbell Pearson, Jr., matriculated to the Divinity School and the Disciples Divinity House. He was young for a graduate student and eager for an intellectual journey that would open new worlds for him and others.
Sam Pearson became “a scholar, teacher, administrator, and colleague of uncommon insight, effectiveness, and humanity,” as his 2001 Distinguished Alumnus Award said. “The Disciples Divinity House transformed his life,” Mary Clay Pearson explained. After his death in 2022 and with the support of their two sons, John and Bill, Mary remembered Sam with a gift of $510,000 for unrestricted endowment funds. It is already supporting students who have the kind of ambition and financial need that Sam had decades before. Read more
Art of Gratitude: Alumna Aneesah Veatch, Academic Engagement Coordinator at the Smart Museum of Art, engaged with students in a deep looking exercise of Theaster Gates's piece Soul Food Starter Kit. Students noticed the ways in which the work, a wooden hutch with stoneware for serving food, connected to gratitude in how it was designed to be shared. Aneesah asked students to reflect on what they are thankful for, and how they can share practices of gratitude with others.
In the Spirit: "What I am saying, is that I am pretty sure we are supposed hear the book of Revelation sung, and we are supposed to feel it in our bones," Virginia White, House Scholar and PhD candidate preached at chapel on November 6. Her words about "feeling it in our bones" echoed accounts of the Kentucky revival that grounded discussions led by W. Clark Gilpin for the night's Disciples History and Thought seminar.
Sharing in the Middle Ages: James T. Robinson, Dean and Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Judaism, Islamic Studies, and the History of Religions in the Divinity School, shared several historical and contemporary anecdotes of frame stories and narratives shared between religious traditions on October 30. Examples of Quranic texts, morality tales of lions and rabbits, and the mythical figure of the golem exhibited that tales moved easily between different cultures but transformed in translation to satisfy their contexts.
Compelling preaching. On October 16, three alumnae discussed the power of narrative and the power of preaching. Lee Hull Moses directs the Proclamation Project, an initiative of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.; Yvonne Gilmore is VP and Chief of Staff in the Office of General Minister and President; Judith Guy Thomas is the pastor of Mackinaw [IL] Christian Church.
What they see. On October 9, Elizabeth Palmer, Senior Editor of The Christian Century, spoke about the magazine's history and how it shapes the magazine today. When reflecting on the ways past editors offered prophetic voices but also fell short, she remarked, "editors are humans, they see what they see." There was robust conversation on the legibility of Christianity, and how progressive Christians form identity.
Begotten, Bewildered, and Beholding. Cynthia Lindner spoke about Disciples and theological education for this moment in her Distinguished Alumna Address. She was honored for her exemplary ministry, teaching, and mentorship on August 1 during DDH's luncheon at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
