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At Meadville Lombard Theological School
we educate students
in the Unitarian Universalist
tradition to embody
liberal religious
ministry in
Unitarian Universalist congregations and wherever else they
are called to serve.
We do this in order
to take into the
world our
Unitarian Universalist
vision of justice,
equity and
compassion. |
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Summer 2006 |
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Graduation 2006
Master of Divinity Graduates Find Placements |
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Meadville Lombard is pleased to announce that all of our Master of Divinity graduates were either called to serve a congregation before our graduation ceremony on June 4, 2006 or found placements shortly after the ceremony. Read more about where our graduates are headed here: full story.
Class of 2006: Master of Divinity Degree Recipients: (front row, from left) Jane Page, Leela Sinha, Linda Berez, William Neely; (back, from left): Vera O'Brien, Elizabeth Harding, Sara Hayman, George Buchanan, Tamara LeBak, Rosemarie Newberry, Roger Mohr, Colin Bossen, and Craig Schwalenberg. (All graduation photos by Seanan Holland)
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| Master of Arts and Doctor of Ministry Graduates |
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Meadville Lombard also conferred Master of Arts in Religion degrees to Sheryl Reda and Hugh Visor at the graduation ceremony.
 
Above, Left: Master of Arts in Religion graduates Sheryl Reda and Hugh Visor.
Right: Doctor of Ministry graduates Vilius Rudra Dundzila and Bonnie Jean Meyer.
In addition to earning his Doctor of Ministry degree from Meadville Lombard, Vilius Rudra Dundzila also graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a Graduate Certificate in Community College Learning and Teaching. This degree provides qualifications for his community ministry of community college faculty. His community ministry continues, as before. Rudra has also served as faculty consultant for religious and ethical issues on the City Colleges of Chicago stem cell study topic, that culminated in a PBS TV show: The Great Divide: The Stem Cell Debate. It aired in Chicago in March and subsequently on different PBS affiliates across the nation. “I am currently serving as faculty consultant for the 2006-07 academic year study topic of globalization, with a PBS TV show in the making for Spring of 2007.”
Bonnie Jean Meyer has just been promoted to Director of Spiritual Care for the Hospice of the Bluegrass. The Hospice of the Bluegrass serves a daily census of over 800 hospice patients in 23 counties in Kentucky.
 During the commencement ceremony, Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, degrees were conferred upon the Rev. Dr. Sarah Moores Campbell York, (on the left in the photo to the right), the Rev. Dr. Frank Edson Robertson (middle), and the Rev. Dr. Richard Seward Gilbert (right), (click on their names to read the citations in their entirety).
The Rev. Dr. Lee Barker read the citation for the Rev. Dr. Jacob Frank Schulman that had been presented earlier in the academic year. “In Houston, Texas, on December 4,” Barker said, “it was my privilege to have presented to Jacob Frank Schulman a Doctor of Divinity degree. Frank died one month later in his home in Houston.”
Alice Schulman was unable to attend the graduation ceremonies, but wrote a letter to the entire Meadville Lombard community to express her gratitude for the honor. “[Frank] told me it was the best thing that ever happened to him. (As his wife, I wasn’t sure I wanted to believe that…but of course I understood.) To be given such a great honor from his colleagues, as he faced the quickly approaching end of his life and work, gave him the deepest pleasure possible. Meadville’s action, to bring it to him, in that way and at that time, was the crowning event of his life.”
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Charge to the Graduates: "Be Unholy and Unwise" |
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 Members of Meadville Lombard's 2006 graduating class were ushered out of academia and into the world with admonitions to be “unholy and unwise” and even “ignorant.”
In his commencement address, “The Duty to be Unholy and Unwise,” The Rev. Dr. Richard S. Gilbert (right) asked graduates to ponder the possibilities for Liberal Religious traditions while fully grasping the times we are currently living in and the paradox that what makes liberal religion “genius” may also be what keeps us filling minority seats, both political and social.
“Orthodox religion,” Gilbert said, “has seldom wanted to say ‘on the other hand.’ By contrast, the very genius of liberal religion is to be able to speak those four fateful words—‘on the other hand.’ We believe in the duty to be unholy and unwise—not to think ourselves more holy than we ought, nor to think ourselves more wise than we are. We could almost say we pride ourselves in our theological humility. But have we gone too far in our commitment to be unholy and unwise; are we too humble in our religious claims?” (full story)
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Meadville Lombard at General Assembly, 2006 |
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The Call for a New Liberal Religious Reformation |
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Meadville Lombard was given a 30-minute time slot to present during Plenary Session VII at General Assembly in St. Louis in June and chose to challenge our faith movement to enter into a dialogue about the need to reform Liberal Religion. The Rev. Dr. Lee Barker introduced the segment suggesting that Unitarian Universalists need to understand the world's religions better so that we may create a way to turn away from violence in the name of religion.
A short, silent play followed. The play was produced by the Rev. John Tolley (Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services, Associate Professor of Ministry), and performed by the Rev. Nan Hobart (Chaplain and Director of Admissions), Ellen Cooper-Davis (fourth-year student) and Bill Neely, MDiv '06.
Michael Hogue, Assistant Professor of Theology, then presented a paper outlining the crisis current crisis for Liberal Religion as well as ways to become relevant on the world stage again. He also asked members of the UU community to enter the conversation with Meadville Lombard. (By the fall issue of @ML, we should have more information available on how we can be in conversation en masse on this important issue. Please look for an update in that issue.)
The entire presentation can be viewed online by clicking on the "watch video" link on UUA website page (there is also a brief summary of the presentation there). Or, visit our home page (www.meadville.edu) to read a shorter version of Hogue's presentation. The presentation at General Assembly is part of a larger work Hogue has submitted for publication in a future edition of the Journal of Liberal Religion.
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From Lee |
Donna Dutton, Board of Trustees Chair, and Lee Barker, DMin ’78 DD ’01, President, read the Invocation at the 161st Meadville Lombard Theological School commencement ceremony, June 4, 2006. |
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During General Assembly in St. Louis, Meadville Lombard held a fundraising breakfast in which we presented the story of our school’s current successes, our vision for the future, and the challenges we must meet in order to actualize that vision. This event is an element of our donor cultivation program that makes it possible for supporters to become members of our new multiple-year giving society, Partners in Ministry.
The buzz at our breakfast was obvious. Afterward, I was greeted by many of the more than three hundred attendees who declared they were never more pleased to have been invited to such an event. That’s astounding when you realize that it took place at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. (full column) back to top |
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Learning for Life |
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Meadville Lombard Winter Institute Suspended for 2007
At its most recent meeting, the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees voted to suspend the 2007 Winter Institute so that the Board, faculty, and administration can focus attention on planning the next steps for the School as it aims to create a learning program that can best meet Unitarian Universalism’s vision for excellence in ministerial formation while at the same time maintaining teaching & administrative tasks. All other initiatives will be put on hold for the year. This is significant work to be engaged in and requires the best of everyone involved.
We strongly encourage you to mark your calendars for the 2008 Winter Institute. Those dates are Thursday, February 14 through Saturday, February 16, 2008. We have our Event Confirmation from the University of Wisconsin and will, again, be in the Lowell Center.
Please direct your inquiries to Rev. Carol A. Taylor at catuumin@aol.com or call (610) 296-0762. |
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Prospective Student Conference Coming in October
Are you considering ministry but not certain if it is the right path for you? Do you wonder how you could possibly attend seminary or just want to know what life in seminary and in the ministry would be like? Consider attending our Prospective Student Conference October 11 through 13, 2006.
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| New at the Library |
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What Jesus Meant. By Garry Wills. (Viking, 2006.) In current public debates, people on the political left and political right cite Jesus as endorsing their views. Wills argues that Jesus subscribed to no political program—he was far more radical than that. In a fresh reading of the gospels, Wills explores the meaning of the “reign of heaven” Jesus not only promised for the future but brought with him into this life. He offers a new understanding of Jesus and the Scripture.
New England’s Moral Legislator: Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817. By John R. Fitzmier. (Indiana University Press, 1998.) Grandson of Jonathan Edwards, president of Yale College, Timothy Dwight was a major figure in the Second Great Awakening of American Protestantism. For the author, the key to imagining Dwight’s life as a whole is to be found in his religious system, “godly federalism.” (more)
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| Meadville Lombard Community News |
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 Meadville Lombard Reader: Now In Print
The first edition of a new series from the Meadville Lombard community was published just before General Assembly. In Time of Need: the Meadville Lombard Reader 2005 includes sermons, essays and research papers written, presented or prepared by current students, faculty, and alumni/ae during calendar year 2005.
Read more about it here. Or order you copy through the UUA Bookstore or Amazon.com.
Look for a call for submissions for the next edition, the Meadville Reader 2006, in the fall. That edition is slated to be published before General Assembly 2007. |
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Board of Trustees
We wish to thank Sharon Welch and Rem Stokes for their service on our Board of Trustees. Their terms ended with our June meeting, when The Rev. Dr. Paul Johnson and Dr. Anthony B. Pinn joined the Board.
 Paul Johnson, DMin ’75 is the Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock, New York. He has served as alumni/ae representative to the Meadville Lombard Board, President of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, and as a member of the Church Staff Finances Working Group of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
 Anthony B. Pinn received his BA from Columbia University, and the Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School. He also earned the MA and PhD from Harvard University. Anthony is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. His teaching and research interests include African American Humanism, African American Religious Thought, and Religion and Popular Culture, and the author/editor of sixteen books.
 Congratulations to Jacqui A. James, Board of Trustees member, who was presented with the Angus MacLean Award for Excellence in Religious Education, at General Assembly in St. Louis by the UUA and the Alumni Association of the St. Lawrence University Theological School. The citation in the GA program announcement booklet reads: “Jacqui James’ gifts have changed the landscape of our faith. Architect of the Singing Our Living Tradition hymnal project and Beyond Categorical Thinking program, director of Anti-racism and Multicultural Resources, tireless advocate for accessibility, curriculum author, RE trainer and consultant, Jacqui has been alternately patient and prodding, and ultimately prophetic.”
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Faculty and Staff
David Bumbaugh, BD ’64, Professor of Ministry, shares that he and Beverly celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 7. They enjoyed a quiet celebration with “our children, their spouses and our grandchildren,” says David.
Trish Bailey has resigned her position as Vice President for Institutional Advancement, effective September 1. Trish plans to work with her husband Jay Ramirez in a business they have started from their home in Northwest Indiana. Lee Barker, in announcing the resignation, noted “Trish has done a great job for Meadville Lombard. To name but a few of her accomplishments, she has helped us to expand our donor base to unprecedented numbers, initiated a wildly successful multiple year giving society, allowed the school's story to be communicated effectively through a variety of means, served as a valued advisor and leader in establishing a direction for the school, and led us in raising new levels of funding for our operating budget. All this in just three years! We are really going to miss Trish and thank her for all she has done for us.”
Margaret Alice Boell, Meadville Lombard Theological School librarian from 1941 through 1967, died August 25, 2002, in Boston. She was 97. She was the ghostwriter for A Eustace Hayden’s Biography of the Gods (Macmillan, 1941) that went through many subsequent editions. In 1967, she moved to Boston. In retirement she restored a Victorian-era house, established a garden, and learned to knit.
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Students
Joe Harrington, current Master of Arts in Religion student, has assumed the position as Assistant Commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Health.
On June 10th, Stephen Sinclair (third year student in our residential, Master of Divinity program) received a Certificate in Health Care Ethics from the Department of Religion, Health and Human Values at Rush University, College of Health Sciences. The certificate program is a focused sequence of three graduate courses that prepares people for daily work in health care ethics. Introduction to Health Care Ethics focuses intensely on basic moral theory and case analysis; Major Issues in Health Care Ethics focuses on developing case analysis skills and explores prominent ethical issues as students begin work on a major project; and Seminar in Health Care Ethics continues with case analysis, focusing on how to document a formal ethics consultation as students continue to pursue their projects and then present them to colleagues. Stephen chose to pursue this certificate in order to better prepare for community ministry in healthcare settings. In August he begins a twelve-month internship as a chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
France Yoli Joseph (first-year Master of Religion student) will be traveling to Bangladesh and India this summer on a State Department Critical Language Scholarship and would like everyone in the Meadville community to participate along with her. Check out her “pretty-close-to-daily” updates at http://yolisrealm.blogspot.com. Yoli says: “I will be in Bangladesh for eight weeks studying language and culture and then India for another three weeks. This will be my fifth trip to the Indian sub-continent, and the start of my seventh calendar year in India! While you all enjoy the summer of the northern hemisphere, check in at my blog and see what a 100 degree, 100% humidity monsoon looks like in one of the poorest and most populated countries in the world.”
Jessica Purple Rodela (third-year student in the residential Master of Divinity program) will be serving as the Summer Minister at her home church in Carrollton, Texas before heading to Buffalo, New York for her ministerial internship.
Jean Feeney (first-year student in the Modified Residency Master of Divinity Program), reports that she was able to share one of the sermons she wrote in her January intensive class, Worship and Preaching with David Bumbaugh, at her home fellowship (UU Fellowship of San Dieguito in Solana Beach, California) in June.
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| Alumni/ae Notes |
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William Schulz, DMin '75 DD '87 gave the Berry Street Lecture at General Assembly and there was quite a buzz about it the rest of the week. For the full text of the address, go to our website or here.
Editor's Note: WOW! I asked for your input, and I sure got it! I received more than 50 emails as well as additional mailed input for the alumni/ae section of the newsletter. You sent information about:
For the full scoop on your colleagues, follow this link ... and keep those emails coming! (tporter@meadville.edu) | |
