Nora Tisdale: prophetic preaching with hope, grace, and forgiveness
Prophetic preaching—words from the pulpit that challenge status quo, conventional wisdom or cozy certitudes—has been hazardous and unwelcome ever since prophets first attempted it in Old Testament times. Nora Tubbs Tisdale, YDS professor of homiletics, says prophetic preaching will likely never enjoy mainstream acceptance. But she is determined to help ministerial students find their voice for the task of speaking hard truths to church and world. >Go to story
Last call for Convocation and Reunions
Please join us on the Quad as the whole YDS community comes together to enjoy all that is YDS. New highlights include: provocative discussions about Religion in the Public Square, featuring Professor Emerita Margaret Farley and alumni Dwight Andrews, Bob Brashear, Marie Fortune, Lee Hardgrove, Paige Lindsey Smith, Kim White, and Chris Glaser (moderator) and What Should YDS be Preparing Students for Given Changes in the Theological Landscape? moderated by Professor Emeritus David Kelsey and featuring alumni Stephen Bauman of Christ Church in NYC, Nancy Taylor of Old South Church in Boston, and others TBA. An update on Been in the Storm So Long—Yale Divinity School and the Black Ministry, with Lecturer Yolanda Y. Smith and her colleague Moses N. Moore, Jr. LGBTQIA Coalition—Time to Meet, Greet, & Share Some History— and much, much, more! A complete schedule is available at http://ydsconvocation.yale.edu/ Please register now!
Election 2012: a question of values
In the run-up to Nov. 6, YDS faculty and alumni are thinking about American values. Hot off the press is the fall 2012 issue of Reflections, YDS’s magazine of theological and ethical inquiry, entitled “Who Are We? American Values Revisited,” which includes contributions from faculty, alumni and students. The issue will be in mailboxes early in October. Miroslav Volf, the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, has entered a series of Facebook posts on values and the election. Former Senator John Danforth '63 B.D. '63 LL.B. was the keynote speaker at a congressional breakfast held in conjunction with a two-day Washington conference aimed at encouraging Americans of different views to engage one another with respect, dignity and honor. >Go to story
Again, it is that time of the year when we ask alumni to send news and photos for inclusion in the Class Notes section of our alumni magazine, Spectrum, which is published annually at the beginning of the year. This year, material can be sent electronically or mailed. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 1. Instructions for submitting Notes are available by calling 203-432-6550.
David Briggs '85 M.A.R. plays key role in support of international religion writers
YDS featured on interfaith web site
Jonathan Edwards Center awarded $340,000 NEH grant
Professor Emeritus Abraham Malherbe, New Testament scholar, dies at 82
Abraham Malherbe, the Buckingham Professor Emeritus of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Friday, Sept. 28 from an apparent heart attack. He was 82 years old and taught at YDS from 1970 until his retirement in 1994. He was named the Buckingham Professor in 1981. Malherbe was a prolific author and made major contributions in several areas. He is best known for his work in Hellenistic moral philosophy and early Christianity, especially the Pauline tradition. >Go to story
Janet Ruffing: scholarly research turns to archival adventure
After nearly a decade of what she calls “old-fashioned archival research,” Professor Janet Ruffing has finished editing a volume of the correspondence between married mystic Elisabeth Leseur and nursing sister Marie Goby. It was an archival adventure of sorts, punctuated with unlikely events and uncanny encounters. Just this summer, Du Cerf, the Dominican Press in France, published her selection of letters from this extraordinary “epistolary soul-friendship.” >Go to Story
UPCOMING EVENTS
Loring Sabin Ensign Lecture, Oct. 16On Oct. 16, Judith Plaskow, professor in the Religious Studies Department at Manhattan College, will deliver the annual Loring Sabin Ensign Lecture on the subject "Wrestling with God and Evil. The lecture will trace the development of Plaskow’s understanding of the relationship between God and evil from her adolescence to the present, with special attention to the impact of feminism on her concept of God. Free and open to the public, the lecture will be held in YDS’s Niebuhr Hall, 409 Prospect St., New Haven, followed by a reception. >More information
Installation of Dean Sterling, Oct. 23
The installation of Gregory E. Sterling as dean of Yale Divinity School on Tuesday, Oct. 23 will set the stage for Convocation and Reunions 2012. The ceremony will include an academic procession, a worship service, and a reception, all open to the public. Sterling officially took office on Aug. 1. The installation will take place 4-5 pm on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle.
Convocation and Reunions 2012 will feature reunions for the YDS classes of 1952, 1957, 1962, and 1987, and cluster reunions for the classes of 1976-78, 1996-98, and 2008-12. Major lectures will be delivered by Anna Carter Florence (Beecher Lectures), John Witvliet (Kavanagh Lecture), and Thomas Troeger/Andy Barnett ’12 M.Div., Cheney Lecture. In addition, three senior members of the YDS faculty will give presentations: Lamin Sanneh, the D. Willis James Professor of World Christianity; Kathryn Tanner, the Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology; and Carolyn Sharp, professor of Hebrew Scriptures. Bert Marshall ‘97 M.Div. will deliver from memory “Gospel of Mark—A Live Storytelling Performance.” Other highlights include the alumni awards dinner, the dean’s State of the School address, several panel presentations, and worship services. >Go to Convocation and Reunions schedule
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