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  Fall 2007

New Residential Students Arrive                                

It’s that time of year, again, when Meadville welcomes a new class of students who bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge as Unitarian Universalists entrenched and engaged in home congregations, and as people with a wealth of life and work experiences.  We are pleased to have these students in our midst this year. Follow this link to the full story to read more about these students.

Meadville Lombard announces its new area of study in Liberal Religion and Arts with the opening of the art exhibit, “Facing HIV/AIDS.” The photographic essay is sponsored by The AIDS Task Force of Northeast Indiana and its Executive Director, Gregory Manifold. Artist and photographer John Gevers created the images and helped interview the subjects, all of whom share memories, ideas and feelings about living with HIV/AIDS, including the spiritual dimension.  Both Manifold and Gevers will be present at the show’s opening on Friday, November 30, at 5:15 p.m. in the Curtis Room. (full story)

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From Lee

If you are considering seminary, consider attending our Prospective Students Conference, here in Chicago, April 23 - 25, 2008.  Look for details in upcoming publications and on our website.  If you have questions, please contact our Director of Admissions, Erika Chavez.

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Last May we announced the endowment of the Arnold and Julia Bradburd Scholarship for Excellence, a full, merit-based scholarship for a student matriculating in the Fall of 2008. Application information for this scholarship will be appearing on our website in the near future, but if you are, or someone you know is, considering Meadville Lombard, urge them to look further into the opportunities this scholarship may provide them. If you have questions, please contact our Director of Admissions, Erika Chavez.

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Ministers in Residence Sought

We are seeking applicants to be our Ministers in Residence for the 2008-09 academic year. There are two different MIR programs: the John Lester Young Minister in Residence and the Minister in Residence. We are currently taking applications for both. MIRs may study in any of Meadville Lombard's course offerings (tuition free) while providing a professional and pastoral presence to the students for one academic term. John Young Fellows will also teach one course during their stay. Please visit our website for more information about the MIR program and the application process.  Deadline for applications for the John Lester Young fellowship is January 30, 2008; and March 1, 2008 for the Meadville Minister in Residence.

Rev. Robert F. “Bob” Renjilian, MDiv ’90 (right) is serving as the Minister in Residence for the Fall of 2007. He is in his seventh year as parish minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York, Pennsylvania. He is spending the first half of his six-month sabbatical at Meadville Lombard, then will return to Pennsylvania for spiritual reflection and time at Quaker retreat centers. Bob says that serving as the Minister in Residence at this stage of his career is appealing as it provides him the opportunity to refresh himself in this academic environment.  He’s looking forward to getting to know students and talk about ministry, providing him a way to reflect during sabbatical, as well as to pass along his perspectives.

Our faculty poses just before the Fall Convocation: Seated: Rev. Dr. John Tolley, Rev. James Hobart, Dr. Michael Hogue. Standing: Rev. Dr. Tom Haverly, Dr. Sharon Welch, Rev. Dr. Lee Barker, Rev. David Bumbaugh, and Rev. Dr. Neil Gerdes.  (Not pictured: Rev. Dr. Susan Harlow, on study leave; and Rev. Dr. Susann Pangerl, on sabbatical.)

Only months into the official start of the Going Forward objectives approved by the Board of Trustees last spring, Meadville Lombard is already beginning to feel the impact in some key changes within the faculty. In addition to her role as Provost, Dr. Sharon Welch will also serve as Professor of Religion and Society.  Welch brings to Meadville her experiences with The Difficult Dialogues project as well as her expertise in the fields of Religion and Society. (Read about all the faculty changes here.)

Staff

Over the summer, Erika Chavez was promoted from the position of Executive Assistant to the President and now serves as the Director of Admissions. In this position, Erika handles marketing, recruitment, admitting, financial aid and matriculation.  Erika is also the proud mother of Lyric Sofia, 18 months.

Associate Librarian Anthony Heacock, PhD (not pictured) has been admitted to the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professional's (CILIP) Register of Chartered Librarians. Working under the mentorship of Rev Andrew Kadel, Library Director of The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York, Anthony submitted a professional portfolio in July of this year. On October 3rd the Board of Chartership approved his submission to become a Chartered Librarian, a post-master's benchmark of professional librarianship in Europe (the closest thing in the US is a Certified Librarian). Anthony says "It was hard work, but I am pleased to have passed. I am now a 'proper librarian.'"

Nerissa R. Legge joined the staff at Meadville as the Academic Office Administrator in October.  She has a B.A. in Communication and an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communication. "I wanted to work here because of the great reputation associated with the school," said Nerissa. "I like the friendly atmosphere and setting that Meadville offers.  My last work experience was at The Law Bulletin Publishing Company where I was the Associate Account Manager. I love to read and write in my spare time. I am currently pursuing my Editing Certificate at The University of Chicago Gleacher Center where they offer professional programs."

Amal Matari was hired in July to fulfill the position of Registrar.  Amal has a Master of Business Administration Degree from Saint Xavier University, Chicago, and a received her undergraduate degree in Applied Statistics/ Accounting from Kuwait University, Kuwait.  Before coming to Meadville, Amal worked as the Registrar at East West University in Chicago for 15 years, and worked in the Admissions & Registration office at the College of Graduate Studies Kuwait University, Kuwait. Amal is originally from Palestine and was raised in Kuwait. She moved to Chicago in 1991.  Amal is engaged and has one daughter, Huda.

Steven Mitchell joined the staff in September as the Executive Assistant to the President. Steven grew up in Memphis and went to the University of Tennessee at Martin where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications (Public Relations) with a minor in Marketing. He moved to Chicago in September 2005 to attend Roosevelt University where he earned a Master of Science Degree in Integrated Marketing Communications this past May. “I am excited about working in higher education now, especially with such a wonderful faculty, staff and student body here at Meadville Lombard,” says Steven.

Students  

E. Scott Michael reports that he is starting a new ministry called TUUL-Belt Ministry.  “It is a ministry of UU ministers like myself who have professional construction experience to be rapid responders in the event of crises like Hurricane Katrina. This is in its early stages; I am only now assembling the board, then we will draft our mission, vision and procedures, followed by articles seeking to recruit the initial leadership.”

Congratulations to Renee Zimelis Ruchotzke, who won the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's Seminarian Award for Excellence in Social Justice. This was the first time this award was bestowed. The Seminarian Award recognizes and honors the exemplary work of a seminarian who advances the mission of UUSC by linking and integrating the work of UUSC with the Principles and Purposes of the UUA and the spiritual lives of UUs. The UUSC had the following to say about Renee: "In addition to being a seminarian at Meadville Lombard, Ruchotzke serves as the interim director of the religious education at East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirtland, Ohio, where she organized a program of exploration and reflection around the human right to water. Among her other achievements, her leadership of her congregation’s Guest at Your Table service in November 2006 inspired a 24 percent increase in contributions from the previous year."

David Breeden, currently on internship in St. Louis, notes that The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling will be publishing in upcoming issues three poems he wrote during his Clinical Pastoral Education. 

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Who got married?  Who retired? Who has a new book out? Follow this link to read more about the publications and professional and personal milestones in the lives of alumni/ae from the 1950s through 2007.

Natalie Webber Gulbrandsen, DD '91, fourth Moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association (1985–93), died October 17, 2007. Ms. Gulbrandsen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Meadville Lombard in 1991 for her work in so many efforts to promote peace and justice. For more on Ms. Gulbrandsen, click here.

Reverend Dr. Patricia McClellan  Bowen, DMin '78, died Friday, September 14, 2007 after a brief illness at the age of 73. Dr. Bowen was born April 14, 1934 in Texas. She received a B.S. from the University of Texas, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a D.Min. from Meadville Lombard Theological School. She received Preliminary Fellowship in 1978 and Final Fellowship in 1981. She was ordained at the First Parish in Framingham, Massachusetts on June 25, 1978. Dr. Bowen served congregations in Framingham, Sharon, and Sherborn, Massachusetts; South Bend, Indiana; West Paris, Maine; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Oakton, Virginia; and Las Vegas, Nevada. From 1973 to 1975 she was Assistant to the Director of Education and Social Concerns at the Unitarian Universalist Association. For more, about Dr. Bowen, click here.

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We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of all of our donors who, through their committment to us, help us fulfill our mission to educate ministers in the Unitarian Universalist tradition to embody liberal religious ministry in Unitarian Universalist congregations and wherever else they are called to serve. Please follow this link to see the full list of our donors.

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