Yale Divinity School

Notes from 2008

Faith Adams ’70 M.A.R. participated in the design and composition of a memorial booklet entitled Constance Libbey Menninger: Perspectives on a Vibrant Life.  To complete this task and privilege, she was for six weeks a telecommuter to Berkeley, CA, answering to Dave Menninger, Editor-in-Chief.

Gary Ahlskog ’70 B.D., ’71 S.T.M. was ordained in the United Church of Christ 38 years after YDS. After four quarters of CPE, he appreciated the emphasis on feelings, not just ideas, yet required more clinical skills. Gary completed a Ph.D. in Psychology and gained meaningful clinical skills from a certification in Psychoanalysis and as a Master Hypnotist. Today he makes a living as a psychoanalyst, exploring nuances of the heart, and as a hypnotic healer, curing smoking, drinking, phobias, intractable pain, and similar issues. This is a wonderful ministry. The hand of God keeps expanding Gary’s journey. For 25 years he taught Pastoral Counseling at Union Theological Seminary and directed the Pastoral Counseling Training Program at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health. He was approached by Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion to co-design and co-direct their Doctor of Ministry Program, a vibrant montage of gender, ethnic, and faith groups. In 2000 he published The Guide to Pastoral Counseling and Care (Psychosocial Press, 2000). A near-death experience in 2003 offered no beatific visions, yet Gary began to see that he was never in charge of the key turns in life. A revitalized prayer life and hopeful spirituality has allowed him to dismiss the latent fear mongering of Constantine, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. Gary has discovered an inexorably Jewish Jesus and, thankfully, a UCC that welcomes this journey. He wishes for all of us the prayer of D.W. Winnicott: "Oh God, let me be alive when I die."

After surviving the tumultuous spring of their graduation --- Kent State, Cambodia, the Bobby Seale trial --- Wayne Conner ’70 B.D. spent that summer touring and singing in Europe with the Yale Glee Club. He started a Ph.D. at Duke in the fall of 1970 that led to what he calls his “semester in self-understanding:” Wayne’s calling was not to college teaching but to do full-time parish/community work with youth. So He became a “drop-out” and joined the staff at First Presbyterian in Kalamazoo, MI. Wayne figured he had a five-year grace period, and then the Lord would let him know what was next. Well, he ended up a career associate pastor specializing in youth ministry for the past thirty-seven years. He just handed his position off to a “young whippersnapper” last month and will focus on pastoral care and outreach ministries until the magic date of Jan. 2011 arrives. Having been active in peace and justice groups through the years, Wayne has some ideas about mission work after retiring. He gets back to Yale now and again and hopes to make the Annual Convocation in October. Still boasting a full head of shaggy blonde hair, you’ll recognize him if you’re there.

Janet and Ron Evans, ’70 B.D., were in fair Cambridge, MA for 10 weeks while Ron was the “Interlude” Minister at the First Church in Cambridge, UCC (1662), as they like to call themselves there.  Preaching and pastoral care were the tasks but keeping a close eye on Harvard across the street was an important thing to do.  The Evans’ retired a year ago after 23 years at the Darien UCC, and Janet’s directing of Person To Person, everyone’s idea of what the ultimate church emergency care pantry ought to be and moved to Pilgrim Place in Claremont, CA.  There they are engaged with retired giants of the church and academy – including 24 others from Yale and YDS - who have served in 42 countries and all parts of the U.S.  They live just down the street from the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, McKenna, Pitzer, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, The School of Theology, Disciples Seminary, Keck Graduate Institute, and the Graduate University) where they audit courses, attend lectures and concerts.  Claremont is at the foot of 10,060 ft. Mt. Baldy, so they walk in the hills, explore the Mediterranean and High Desert landscapes, and do everything but shovel snow!  Their new address (for life?) is 607 Leyden Lane, Claremont, CA 91711.

Thomas L. Hall ’70 B.D. just completed a five month intensive interim (Feb-June 2008), as Senior Pastor at Shadow Rock UCC in Phoenix, AZ. Prior to that he was Senior Interim for 27 months at Mayflower UCC in Billings, MT. He begins August 1 as the Senior Pastor at Salem UCC in Denver, CO. On July 12, he married Laura Novosad in Denver. Tom looks ahead to another 8-10 years of ministry.

Paul Harris ’70 B.D. experienced an adventurous time in Tanzania when he accidentally picked up the luggage of the president’s wife. After nearly being arrested, Paul writes, “All's well that ends well. I'm happy to be free in Tanzania, graced by countless blessings, missing Sally, family and friends, and energized for my teaching and work on microfinance and radio.”

After his YDS graduation in 1970, David Keller ’70 M.Div. and his wife Kathy moved to Pittsburgh where David started his first local church appointment as an United Methodist pastor. Six appointments later, he currently is serving yet another great congregation in Wilkinsburg near Pittsburgh (SouthAvenueUMC.org).  A special supplement to his ministry has been summer ministries leading wilderness camping events particularly in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Retirement looms in a two or three years but David is in no rush. Ministry is still an adventure and privilege for him. Kathy, who taught at the YDS Preschool (basement of Curtis), finished her Master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and thereafter has been an exemplary teacher in early childhood education. Their son Pete lives in Baltimore and their daughter Rebecca lives near them in Pittsburgh. They also have enjoyed having a 90 acre wooded "tree farm" that they bought in 1973.  Since then, this farm has served as a sanctuary always within an hour's drive of home.  They built a "cabin in the woods" and continue to enjoy caring for and enjoying the trees, fish, and animals.

Jeff Lenn ’69 S.T.M., currently Vice President Academic Operations at The George Washington University, and Marjorie Peace Lenn ’70 M.A.R. are pleased to contribute to a third generation of YDS students, their daughter Rebecca Peace Lenn MAR ’10. The first generation was F. Elwynn Peace B.D. ’40.  After a second Masters and a Doctorate, Marjorie left university administration in 1982 to become the Vice President of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation in Washington, D.C. A decade later, she founded and has continued as President of the Center for Quality Assurance in International Education in Washington which assists governments throughout the globe with issues of capacity building in the improvement of their higher education institutions. Of the 70 countries which currently have national accreditation systems, the Center has worked with 50, following global economic and social changes requiring improvements in higher education systems since the early 90s: Eastern/Central Europe; Southern Africa; Asia; Latin America; with the majority of current activity in Asia and the Middle East and new offices in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi. Marjorie can be contacted at lennm@cqaie.org.

Following a span of some fifteen years in academic libraries, Kermit Westerberg ’70 M.A.R. is now in his twelfth year of employment with a publishing firm in Woodbridge, CT (Primary Source Media, an imprint of Gale, a part of Cengage Learning) that specializes in the production of scholarly and research titles in microform and digital formats for sale to libraries throughout the world. His major responsibilities are the development of and the quality control for the machine-readable cataloging (MARC) that advances the sales of the microform products and that supplies the operating metadata for online (digital) products. All of this certainly keeps the grey matter alive.

Anne and Chuck Wildman ’70 B.D. have been busy retiring to Cape Cod.  Chuck officially ended his 20-year "tour" as senior pastor of Rock Spring Congregational, UCC, Arlington, VA, April 15.  The two moved the following week and have been busy setting up their home here ever since.  They now are full time in a home they purchased 15 years ago for vacation/study leave use and occasional trips during the year.  Over time, they have nearly doubled its size and it is now designed for their style of living- informal and comfortable.  Chuck and Anne are located a few minutes' walk from a great ocean beach and surrounded by several fresh water ponds for non-motor water sports.  They love Cape Cod and welcome friends anytime.  Chuck hopes to do a little preaching and other church related work as time goes on.  As much as he enjoyed parish ministry (38 years, four parishes), he is ready for some reflection and renewal time before beginning any new ventures.  Chuck writes, “My best to all.”

In June 2009 Sandy Wylie ’70 B.D. will have completed 42 years as a pastor in the United Methodist Church and will retire to a house that he and Susan are now building on beautiful Lake Windsor in Bella Vista, AR.  His last 7 years will have been spent as superintendent of the McAlester District in southeastern Oklahoma. Susan, Sandy’s bride of 35 years, is working full-time at the Heart Hospital in St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.  She is 8 years younger than he is and will likely continue working in health care for another few years. Their older son Ben received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois in May and is now doing post doc work at Columbia University in New York, NY.  Ben has a wife and two small children. Their younger son Micah graduated from Northwestern University and is now employed in the production end of show business in Los Angeles.  He works for Peace Arch, the company that produces the TV series The Tudors. Sandy’s great love professionally continues to be preaching.  He and his wife are including a library in the new house in which to put his large preaching library. Sandy wants to continue preaching and writing as long as he can. He hopes retirement will be as much fun as he thinks it will be!

Notes from 2007

Since graduation, Joe Case '70 B.D. has been ministering to the larger society through higher education administration, first for five years at United Methodist-related Oklahoma City University, then for six and a half years in New York at the College Scholarship Service of the College Board, and since 1981 as dean and director of financial aid at Amherst College.  A major motive in his work, built upon his seminary experience, has been extending educational opportunity and broadening the socio-economic profile of the college-going population.  Though not what he envisaged when entering YDS in 1967, his work allows him to practice distributive justice, shape policies and influence the practices of state and national organizations. He has thoroughly enjoyed this rewarding career.

Wayne Conner ’70 B.D. opens, “Retirement time is in sight for even the youngest of us, isn’t it? And there are days when that sounds attractive! Health permitting, there are some other things I’d like to do beyond my work here. Some of the ‘Volunteers in Mission’ programs look good. And having been a pastor in Kalamazoo now for 36 years (who’da thought?), I certainly know where lots of volunteer time could be spent in fulfilling ways.” Now working with an interim head-of-staff, Conner still does youth ministry, even the canoeing, camping and sleeping on hard church floors. He staffs outreach ministries and is active in community peace and justice groups. Pastoral care to those who’ve known him all these years will also be one of his primary assignments between now and retirement. The parents of those kids with whom he originally worked after coming to First Pres, Kalamazoo, in 1971 are now at that age when pastoral care needs are increasing, and their shared relationships over all these years give an added depth to that role. He’s still a Yankee fan despite their present travails, joining others in Derek Jeeter’s hometown. His email address is wayne.conner@kalamazoofirstpres.org.

Michael Finley '70 M.A.R., after a career in health management, including stints in city governments in New Haven and Nashville, a public health degree from Harvard, consultancy at a health clinic in Boston, and a position as manager in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has now retired to his farm in Tennessee. There, in the spirit of Francis of Assisi, he tends to his animals who, in turn, tend to him.  He relived many wonderful memories upon hiw return to YDS for the new quadrangle rededication in 2003.

Sam Gladding '70 M.A.R. has come to appreciate his Yale Divinity School education even more than ever over the last ten years. He is in higher education rather than ministry, but there is hardly a day that goes by when he is not engaged in a situation of theological significance. For the record, he is the Associate Provost and Chair of the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University, enjoying both the administrative and teaching responsibilities involved with these positions. He and his wife, Claire, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary recently. Their three musically inclined children are the source of much amusement and very much enjoyed a recent family visit to the Sterling Divinity Quadrangle. Since 1997, Sam has been president of the American Counseling Association, having written ten books and traveled all around the states both for ACA and Wake Forest. Still, most days he can be found at his home on Beecher Road in Winston Salem. He is now a United Methodist, not a great change from having been a Baptist, and teaches Sunday School on occasions.

Since 2000 Paul Harris '70 B.D. has been working half-time as Teaching Pastor at Easter Lutheran in Eagan, MN, a large suburban ELCA church with two locations a mile apart. This has been a very happy chapter for him, doing a lot of adult classes, preaching nearly every Sunday he's there, and working on social justice and global missions. He also has been teaching theology three months a year at Tumaini University in Iringa, Tanzania. His wife Sally is able to come for two months a year to teach legal writing and research.  They have had strong ties with Tanzania since 1990 and have been involved in helping link 65 congregations in the Saint Paul Area Synod with the 65 congregations of the Iringa Lutheran Diocese. He is even working on starting a Christian radio station in Iringa. Working half-time has also allowed time for recreational pursuits including working on circumnavigating Lake Superior in their self-made tandem sea kayak and cross country skiing their 26th Birkbeiner race (31 miles). Finally, their children are doing well,  Ken is a Lutheran pastor with two excellent little ones and Arwynn is married and living in Salt Lake City.

Bedford Hines '70 B.D. and Barbara Brayton Hines '70 M.A.R. are doing well, as is their daughter who is now living in Colorado and working toward a second BA preparatory to applying to veterinary school.  Barbara and Bedford share an office in which they continue their primary work as licensed mental health counselors.  This arrangement means that they are both employed part-time – a condition which both of them relish. Bedford has two avocations.  One is as an amateur investor, especially the stock indices.  The second is as a life coach.  He is also interested in writing. Barbara loves writing poetry and is quite good at it.  She also has talents in organizing and leading groups focused on improving the world.  Her latest efforts involve improving the environment while her major earlier one created a sister cities pairing between Appleton and a Russian city.

After leaving YDS, John Holbrook '70 Div., '71 M.A. took a master's degree in Administrative Sciences at Yale and an M.D. at Harvard. His career in medicine has included public heath in the New Mexico prisons, emergency medicine in Massachusetts, and finally hospital administration. In the 1990's, he took up software design; since 2001, he has been involved in medical analysis for insurance companies. For the last 5 years, his wife, Greta, and he have devoted their free time to "Shape note" Sacred Harp singing. Their journey has been interesting, full of surprises, and, lately, filled with music.

David Keller ’70 M.Div. is the pastor of the South Avenue Untied Methodist Church in Wilkinsburg, east of Pittsburgh (SouthAvenueUMC.org).  His wife Kathy continues her career and ministry with early childhood education.  They have been enjoying traveling and growing old together.  He lists his contact information as:  444 Valley View Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15215.  Home: 412- 963-6656, office: 412-371-7421, RevDFKeller@aol.com.

Jerry Kirkpatrick ’70 B.D. is still in transitional ministry, where he has been for the past seven years.  It has involved being away from his wife and family some, but it is rewarding work.  He heartily recommends the training of the Interim Ministry Network.  He has traveled over much of Texas, working with large and middle-sized congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Right now, he’s at the First Christian Church of Temple, which is about a year from calling a settled pastor.  After that, he plans to do one more pastorate before retirement.  Then he and his wife Brenda plan to go national after they both retire. They’ll hit the road, setting up home base near one of their children, but probably in Fort Worth. His email address is mrstardad@yahoo.com.

Marilyn (Lynn) Barnes Miller ’70 M.A.R. is ending a long career as a public school administrator at the end of this summer.  She is currently serving at Assistant Superintendent at the Palisades School District in upper Bucks County, PA. Gary R. Miller ’70 B.D. retired as Chaplain at Lafayette College in 2003 after 31 years of service and now teaches a course or two a year at the college and does volunteer work in Easton, PA. They have three children: Jon, a realtor in Easton; Cynthia, a professor at NYU; and Zee, an entrepreneur in L.A. Cynthia is married to Shamil Idriss who works for the United Nations, and they have given Lynn and Gary a lovely grand-daughter, Aniset. In their retirement the couple spends as much time as they can with their grand-daughter and her family and at their summer cottage in Guilford, CT. Gary’s email address is millerg@lafayette.edu and Lynn’s is mmiller@palisades.k12.pa.us. 

Gary Turner ’70 M.Div. finished his (financially compensated) ministry as interim senior at the American Church in Paris and found, upon return, that no Wisconsin UCC congregation within an hour's drive of Madison (where he was) wanted an intentional interim.  He did not want anything less, having spent the previous six years in three challenging and invigorating spots. So we and his wife Kathy Turner ’69 M.Div. both looked at the UCC Pension Funds, liked what they saw, and moved "home" to Seattle, where live all of Greg's family and their children and granddaughters, just up the road. Local ecumenical and teaching commitments keep him up nights, but support for the many seminarians in their University Congregational UCC is a joy. Greg closes, “We both are pledged, if only in fantasy, to return to Paris every year.” Their email address is RevsTurner@aol.com.

Chuck Wildman ’70 B.D. writes, “Yes, we are getting to that certain statesman age, aren't we?  Ron Evans is setting the pace. Personally, I prefer not to use the R word but rather something like, ‘life transition.’” He has announced to his congregation that he will leave full time parish ministry April 13, 2008.  A few days after that, he and his wife Anne will relocate full time to their home on Cape Cod: 318 Tower Hill Rd., Osterville, MA 02655, (508-428-0793).  He hopes to do emergency and part time parish, conference and/or national UCC work, perhaps some article or newspaper column work, affordable housing advocacy, and enjoy their little boat and “all that this special spit of God's earth has to offer.”  They also have international travel plans. Until April, he continues in Arlington, VA, where they have been for 19 years, as he finishes his era as senior pastor of Rock Spring Congregational UCC, training new, younger ordained colleagues and support staff and helping the congregation to envision its future. He leaves profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve Rock Spring and thereby to serve on the global stage. His email address is chuck@rockspringucc.org. 

Sandy Wylie ’70 B.D. is in his sixth year as superintendent of the McAlester District of the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church and has just completed 40 years of service in this Conference.  He’ll probably retire in 2008 or 2009 and will move to Bella Vista, AR, where he hopes to continue writing, teaching, golfing, volunteering, and whatever else the Holy Spirit leads him to do.  Susan, his wife of 34 years, isn't quite ready to retire and may continue to be employed in health care in the Fayetteville/Rogers area. He lists his contact information as: 6 River Oaks, McAlester, OK 74501, 918-916-0407, mcaldist@allegiance.tv.