Yale Divinity School

Notes from 2007

C. William “Bill” Bailey ’67 S.T.M. has practiced law since 1973 as a civil litigation attorney in the Seattle area, with upcoming plans to go senior status. He considers himself immeasurably blessed to be married to Laura 46 years and to have three children, Carla, Mark and Paul.  Mark just celebrated 10 years of marriage with Deanna, and Paul seven years with Janell. All three reside in the Seattle area. He just finished a ten year term on the Board of Directors with Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Pension Fund and is serving as the advisory chairperson of the Disciples Heartbeats of Faith Campaign to raise $5 million in support of health care for Disciples clergy. Laura serves on the Board of Trustees for Pacific School of Religion where Bill served a nine year term. They were in Denver at the American College of Trial Lawyers this fall, thus sadly missed being at the reunion.  Bill writes, “I celebrate daily the gifts given me by YDS and the shaping influence on my life in that precious time.  I carry deep within me the prophets and pastors who taught us and whose voices we need.”

David Cain ’67 B.D. opens saying, “A life in a few words?  Why not?” He met his wife, Marlyne Gwen Kuykendall, at YDS in 1964.  They loved pastoring a church in Vermont.  After graduate work in Princeton, NJ, they moved to Virginia, both pursuing further study. From 1970 until now the challenge of teaching and the enemy of time have been the story—along with two daughters, Sarah and Kristin Lise, of whom we are most proud. As a means of summing up his story in two words, Cain proposes “Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard.”  His time in Denmark has been rewarding professionally and personally.  He answers the increasingly common question, “Are you still teaching?” by replying,  “Yes—on good days.”  He delights in meeting YDS colleagues and relishes his many good memories of rich years at YDS.  Cain sends “Best wishes in this ever-alarming world.”

 In 1970 after completing a Ph.D. in literature and theology Larry Grimes ’67 B.D. returned to Bethany College, his alma mater, as Assistant Professor of English. He now holds the Perry and Aleece Gresham Chair in Humanities and is Dean of Arts and Sciences.  He is also minister of Community Christian Church (DOC) in Beech Bottom, WV. This ministry has him interested in bi-vocational ministry, lay ministry, and the life and mission of small churches.  He works actively on the WV (DOC) Commission on the ministry and has just convinced Bethany College to launch a Center for Spirituality that will address the mission and needs of small churches and non-traditional ministries. He’s published on the works of Ernest Hemingway (The Religious Design of Hemingway's Early Fiction, Umi Research Press, 1985). With Bickford Sylvester, he is presently editing a collection of essays, Hemingway, Cuba and the Cuban Works (Kent State University Press, 2008), and another with Chandana Chakrabarti (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008). He and his wife Carol celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2006.  Carol retired from a 40 year teaching career. Their daughter, Rebecca, will be married this September.  He gets to be both father of the bride and minister.

Steve Doughty ’67 B.D., '68 S.T.M. is retired and lives in Ostego, MI, where he continues to write and lead retreats. In September, he was the presenter at the National Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers near Denver, Colorado. His latest book is To Walk in Integrity: Spiritual Leadership in Times of Crisis.

Victor P. Ehly ’67 B.D., ’71 S.T.M. is currently the Undergraduate Dean at Vermont College. He spent two years abroad, studying in Berlin while working on his B.D. Then, after his 1967 ordination in his home church, Disciples of Christ, in Raytown, MO, he returned to Germany for three years working with Action Reconciliation Service for Peace for several months before accepting a pastorate in a German Lutheran Church in Berlin. Finally, he finished his career at YDS by returning for the S.T.M. degree in ’71 and staying in New Haven for two more years to work full-time at the Ecumenical Continuing Education Center at Yale. With a Ph.D. in Humanities & Religion from Florida State, he began his own academic career in 1975 at Goddard College in VT; and a job soon turned into a career in progressive higher education for adult students. He has been “in the neighborhood” now for thirty-two years, first at Goddard, then at Vermont College of Norwich University, which was sold to Union Institute & University in 2001. He taught full-time for thirteen years but has also held various administrative posts throughout his career. He is married with a grown son from his first marriage.

Dick Eick ’67 B.D., ’68 M.U.S. received a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in May of 2006. His dissertation was titled “Rural Youth and Adults Together: Discovering God’s Gifts,” reported on his work in designing a confirmation study that was developed because of the need of many youth, especially those from families with limited resources, to know in their heads and hearts that they have been blessed with gifts and talents by God.  This study unit was designed in response to a dearth of Christian education resources that are sensitive to the experiences of rural and blue collar young people. After almost twenty five years of urban ministry in the Potomac Association of the UCC (Washington, DC), he and his wife Carol moved to serve Zion UCC in far northeast Iowa in 1992. Ministry in this beautiful rural setting has been challenging in the extreme. He would be delighted to hear from others serving in rural settings; his e-mail deick@rconnect.com.

After a year in Alaska, nine years in Nashville, ten years in Maryland, Susan (Walker) Graybill ’67 B.D. and her husband David now work in Wilton, CT. David is in his 20th year at Wilton Presbyterian. Their daughter Elizabeth is a lawyer in NYC; Dave works in LA and loves theater; Steve lives in NYC, working in commercials. Susan still teaches writing and literature to 8th graders at the middle school: reading assorted short stories and poetry and encouraging students to write essays and poetry. She comments, “I know I should be thinking of retirement; AARP and the Medicare literature remind me that I'm 65 already, but I love what I do.” She and David worked together with Grace Baptist in Norwalk to highlight issues of race and prejudice for young people and their communities by bringing in two plays by David Barr: My Soul Is A Witness, first person stories from the Civil Rights era, and a follow-up focus on Jackie Robinson, Viola Liuzzo, and Lena Horne, Jackie, Vi, and Lena. She concludes, “I remember my years at YDS (1964-67) as Camelot: incredible people, memorable friends, remarkable studies. Thank you, all of you, who shared those days with me.”
 

Tom Lentz ’67 S.T.M. and his wife now spend more than half their year in St. Petersburg, FL. The other half is lived in Ohio (Columbus and Cincinnati) where their two children and four grandchildren live. He is chairman of the US division of Global Display Solutions, an Italian based electronics company. They’ve been married 42 years and continue to enjoy bicycling, dog walking (yellow lab and golden retriever), swimming and playing with grandchildren.

Marni McGee ’67 M.A.R. continues to enjoy life as a children’s book author and sees her writing as her primary ministry. Though she hopes that all of her books are, in essence, “Christian,” she particularly rejoices in the upcoming publication of A Song in Bethlehem, a picture book that is explicitly so.  To be published by Knopf in September 2007, it’s the story of a beggar girl named Naomi who encounters the Holy Family and is profoundly changed – as are we all. She mentions two other books that might especially interest the YDS crowd: While Angels Watch (Good Books, 2006) and The Colt and the King (Holiday House, 2002), the Palm Sunday story from the donkey’s point of view. Her husband, Sears McGee ’66 M.A., '68 M.Phil., '71 Ph.D., is still teaching and writing, having recently survived a challenging year as chair of the department. He WILL retire eventually. In August, they celebrate 41 years of marriage, delighting every day in the happy marriages of their two children, and now in the life of their precious new grandson, Kai.

Michael S. Lund ’67 B.D. writes, “After graduating, I lost touch but YDS stayed with me.” His career has been trying to translate Christian values and social ethics that YDS bolstered into practical, effective policies for domestic and international problems. After a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Chicago, he taught social welfare policy and politics at Cornell, UCLA, and Maryland, and did public policy analysis at the Urban Institute, Washington DC. In 1987, he turned to international issues by helping create the programs of the new US Institute of Peace (USIP). Since the mid-1990s, he has done independent research, writing, and consulting on intra-state wars, genocides, and other conflicts and especially, preventing them from occurring (e.g., Preventing Violent Conflicts, USIP, 1996). This work has led him to far-flung countries such as Colombia, Georgia, Guyana, Macedonia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. Family-wise, he has been blessed by a 34-year marriage to an amazing wife, mother, and lawyer, Judith Bailey. They have two talented and committed kids, now adults, Ingrid and Peter.

Steve McKinley ’67 B.D. shared “a brief summary of the 40 years since graduation, boiled down to less than 150 words.  Life was really much more interesting than that…” He retired in 2005 after 38 years as a Lutheran parish pastor in CT, MA, and MN, ending his career at House of Prayer Lutheran in Richfield, MN.  In retirement he works part-time, supervising internship teams on behalf of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Lutheran Seminary. For 26 years he was a columnist on parish ministry for Lutheran Partners magazine, and also had several books published, a few of which are still available.  This writing led to numerous speaking engagements around the country.  He served on the Board of Directors of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and was board chair at the time of the death of President Tim Lull.  He preached at Tim’s funeral. Pat, his wife, and Steve live in Eagan, MN, and are the parents of three adult children and the grandparents of one little one.

Cameron McMillan ’67 S.T.M. spent 32 years serving six rural pastorates in United Church of Canada and had an exchange ministry in Australia. He and Barb raised four children. Kathy lives with them, worked in restorative justice and has two children. Susan is traffic engineer in New Zealand. Bob with two children lives in San Francisco, writing about computer industry. Trish is an Animal Behaviour Manager, SPCA, New York City. Barb worked as teacher, social worker, counselor, and homeless shelter program director. Since retirement, Cam wrote a family history. They move this year to Victoria, British Columbia.

In September 1967 John A. Mitchener III ’67 B.D. returned from summer work in Switzerland and rather than starting a Ph.D. program as planned, found himself drafted to Vietnam. A few words cannot describe this experience. He returned home alive, but utterly broken-hearted. While in Vietnam, out of the blackest mud he chanced to meet “the most beautiful white Lotus,” and later back in the states they married (a Vietnamese Catholic and an American Presbyterian).  They have three blessed children. From 1970 to present they have lived and worked in Edenton, NC. Ginette runs a preschool, Little Friends, while John runs another small community business, Mitchener’s Pharmacy. Serving the pharmaceutical needs of the poor gets harder and harder as Medicare and Medicaid regulations tighten. This led to a trip to Washington in March 2007 to testify on Capitol Hill against budget cuts to the Medicaid program and the national disaster called Medicare Part “D”.  This made the Wall Street Journal on 3-28-07. The skills gained at YDS have helped him through those Vietnam years and since.  He remains involved in the local church and has served as a member and chair of the local school board.

Dick Nolan ’67 M.A.R. lives in West Palm Beach with his partner of 51 years, Bob.  They regularly participate in the life of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Lake Worth.   As a non-stipendiary "retired priest-in-residence," Dick serves as a chaplain to the parish's Integrity chapter (www.IntegrityPalmBeach.org).   Additionally, he continues to edit www.philosophy-religion.org.  He has an online scrapbook at www.nolan-pingpank.com. Bob and Dick continue happily, mostly at home, with their two cavalier king charles spaniels, now 12.

J. Steven O’ Malley ’67 B.D. has had a teaching career that has spanned almost forty years, and he continues at his present post in church history and historical theology at Asbury Theological Seminary, KY, where he has served since 1985.  In addition to serving two terms as chair of theological studies, he currently serves as director of the Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization Movements, based at Asbury Seminary.  This center is the recipient of a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation (2007) funding research and consultations between 2008-2011.  The focus of the Center is interfacing scholars with practitioners of revitalization from the world church.  O’Malley has served as an elder in the United Methodist Church, including pastoral service abroad (Austria). Also, in addition to authoring six books and several dozen articles, he has been the editor of the Pietist and Wesleyan Studies Series.  Since 1966 he has been married to Angie (Gommel) O’Malley, and they have two grown daughters and two granddaughters.  Angie has a PhD in family studies, is a university professor, and a parent coordinator with Fayette County (KY) family court system.

Bob Paulen '67 B.D. is dividing his retirement between Silver Spring, MD where his wife, Sandy, works for the US Catholic Council of Bishops, and Dewey Beach, DE.  He has performed mission work in the Bahamas, Czech Republic, and Belize and has participated on local church disaster teams.  He enjoys family, travel, competing in track and field, reading, and the arts

George E. Rupp ’67 B.D., President of the International Rescue Committee has been selected as the 2006 recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award; one of the major alumni  awards bestowed by the Princeton University Alumni Association.

Ronald J. Sider ’63 M.A., ’67 B.D., ’69 Ph.D. is currently Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Seminary at Eastern University, and President of Evangelicals for Social Action. He just completed a book (out in January 2008), The Scandal of Evangelical Politics: Why Are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World? He continues to be actively engaged in promoting a new evangelical political center that is vigorously pro-life and pro-poor, pro-family and pro-creation care and peace. He has been centrally engaged in the Evangelical Climate Initiative and the recent evangelical declaration against torture.

Lelly Smith ’67 Div., although retired from parish ministry, enjoys supply preaching and is active in the Manchester, MA First Parish Church. She has been adjunct faculty in Field Education at Andover Newton Theological School. She is also a grandmother.

Bob and Elaine (Cremer) Tiller ’67 B.D. left New Haven to do urban ministry in NYC.  He was the pastor of a church in Chinatown and then worked in city government. She was a chaplain at Bellevue Hospital and later a counselor in an adult training program in Bedford Stuyvesant. After 13 years they moved to Washington, DC for Bob to do governmental relations work for non-profits and for Elaine to work in aging with a regional church organization and hospices in bereavement counseling. They’ve been in DC for 27 years and are not retired yet, but thinking about it. Both of their sons are married and they have three grandchildren (twin girls and a little boy). Elaine has been privileged to publish chapters in three books and numerous professional articles. She had Hodgkin’s Disease with the horrible/wonderful treatments of chemo and radiation.  She is in remission and has learned lots from the experience, including expanded gratitude. One of her loves has been potting. While cancer made this hard, in retirement, she plans to pot again. She writes, “I am deeply grateful to YDS, our professors and each of you for the community of learning and challenge we had together.”

Donald West ’67 B.D. began as a United Methodist campus minister at the University of Georgia just at the height of the Vietnam War by running a coffee house ministry and allowing the use of his building for dissenting groups. Then he was off to Atlanta to a suburban church, and next to the inner city of Atlanta where a struggling community of older Caucasian adults taught him about living and dying. Another stint as a minister followed in Augusta where his seven year old daughter developed a serious illness.  Her illness challenged him to rethink, and he left the United Methodist political structure moving to Thomasville where he attempted to sell real estate. He also served as a part-time minister, and his daughter's illness went into remission. In 1990 he became the minister of Boston, GA Presbyterian Church, and continued as the broker/owner of West Real Estate Association and active in the Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers, assisting bi-vocational ministers. He divorced in 1999 and lives alone constantly renovating a Victorian Gothic structure. He has assisted in rearing ten children, three of whom are his. He enjoys being a YDS Class Agent and attending the annual Convocations.