Recent Alumni/ae Publications
Robert Blade of Jacksonville, FL. has written a book about our School of Theology Alumni, George McLean (STH 1928) called “Tupelo Man: The Life and Times of George McLean, a Most Peculiar Newspaper Publisher.” It will be published by the University Press of Mississippi on Nov. 1. McLean (1904-1983) earned his master’s degree at the school of theology in 1928; he was an ardent believer in the Social Gospel theology that encouraged an active involvement in improving the day-to-day lives of people. After he was fired from a teaching job at Rhodes College in Memphis over his Christian socialist beliefs, he decided to go into business for himself. In Tupelo, Mississippi, he bought what he called a “bankrupt paper from a bankrupt bank,” struggled to make it survive and prosper, and put his beliefs into practice. His community development work was well known both in the South and nationally. The newspaper, The Daily Journal, is owned by the community foundation McLean established before his death.
Gerald (Jerry) Anderson (’55, GRS ’60) has written a history of the International Association for Mission Studies entitled Witness to World Christianity (Overseas Ministries Study Center, 2012) for presentation at the assembly of the Association in August in Toronto. Prof. Dana Robert is quoted on the cover saying, “Only Gerald Anderson could have written such a succinct, informative, and useful account of the Association.”
Dr. Robert Wafawanaka (STH 1997) published Am I Still My Brother’s Keeper? Biblical Perspectives on Poverty. What does the Bible say about poverty and our responsibility toward the poor? This book examines the concept of “brother’s keeper” in both the ancient Near East and the biblical world. Robert Wafawanaka contends that biblical Israel failed to play the rightful role of brother’s keeper and claims that we, too, have strayed from this responsibility. Am I Still My Brother’s Keeper? reveals what we can learn about poverty from a biblical context and how we might appropriate those insights to fight poverty in our own communities. Robert Wafawanaka is assistant professor of Biblical studies and the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He holds Th.M. and M.T.S. degrees from Harvard Divinity School and a Th.D. degree from Boston University’s School of Theology. Find more information and order a copy here.
Rev. Dr. William E. Alberts (GRS 1961, STH 1961) published A Hospital Chaplain at the Crossroads of Humanity which tells the stories of patients who represent the diversity of divinity and the divinity of diversity– and the commonality of humanity. Patients who reveal a hospital is actually a global neighborhood that calls for a chaplain to embrace diversity of belief—“without exception.” Chaplains without theological blinders. Thus pastoral/spiritual care begins with the humanness that prepares a chaplain to enter into and honor this global neighborhood. The inward journey where one becomes self-aware, and is in touch with and accepting of oneself. Such self-awareness prepares one to understand and accept patients and their loved ones as themselves, and to experience their reality not interpret it. Dr. Orlo Strunk recently reviewed the book here.
Reverend Ann Duncan (STH 2006) published an article in Christian Century entitled “Teen Hero” about the Hunger Games trilogy. She also published The Gospel According to the Hunger Games Trilogy with her father in January 2012.
Reverend Dr. Tex Sample (STH 1960, GRS 1964) has released The Future of John Wesley’s Theology: Back to the Future with the Apostle Paul published by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers.You can find more information here.
John H. Stanfield, II (STH 2005) announces his upcoming books Black Reflective Sociology: Epistemology, Theory and Methodology (2011) and Historical Foundations of Black Reflective Sociology (2011) published by Left Coast Press.
Judith Boss (GRS/STH ’90) is pleased to announced the publication of her latest book Deception Island, a suspense-thriller set in Antarctica. Boss carried out extensive research for the book, including a trip to her beloved Antarctica. The book is available at Amazon.com.
Nancy Kilgore (STH ‘93) lives and writes in Vermont and is a pastoral psychotherapist. An ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister, she has served churches in several denominations. She has just published the novel, Sea Level. Sea Level begins in 1980 when Brigid Peterson becomes the first woman minister in Sand Hill, Virginia, a remote town on the Delmarva Peninsula. Women’s roles are in flux, in both church and society, and Brigid’s parishioners are apprehensive about their new minister. But when, influenced by her artist friend Mary, she preaches about the female aspect of God, some of them become enraged, and the church is thrown into turmoil. Both Brigid and Mary become submerged in conflict and have to dive deeper into their own spiritual lives to find the way out. www.nancykilgore.com
Ted Karpf (STH ’74) co-edited Restoring Hope: Decent Care in the Midst of HIV/AIDS, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2008. Restoring Hope urges people living with HIV to become full partners in designing and implementing their own care – and for caregivers to accept them in this role.
David Poindexter (STH ’56, STH ’57) wrote Out of the Darkness of Centuries takes the reader through rich history whereby entertainment-education was effectively implemented in multiple countries to successfully impact social behaviors effecting millions of people. Written for scholars and those working in international development, Out of the Darkness of Centuries
is an indispensable resource for any student of mass communication.
Scott Bryant (STH ‘02) has just released a new book with Mercer University Press entitled The Awakening of the Freewill Baptists: Benjamin Randall and the Founding of an American Religious Tradition.
David Seaburn (STH ’75) is an ordained Presbyterian minister and spent most of his career working in mental health as a licensed marriage and family therapist and psychologist. He retired June 2010. He has also written three novels, the most recent, Charlie No Face, was released by Savant Books and Publications in January 2011 and can be found on Amazon. Charlie No Face is a coming of age novel about a time when eleven year old Jackie meets every kid’s greatest nightmare—disfigured hermit Charlie No Face — and his life is changed forever.
Casely B. Essamuah (STH ’03) wrote Genuinely Ghanaian, the fascinating history of the Methodist Church Ghana, from the time of its autonomy, 1961, to the year 2000. Dr. Essamuah is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church Ghana, currently serves as the Compassionate Outreach Pastor at Bay Area Community Church, Annapolis, Maryland.
Two alums contributed chapters to Graven Images (Continuum, October 2010): Andrew Tripp (STH ’09) and Kate Netzler (STH ’08). The press release can be found here.
Bishop Sally Dyck (STH ’78, CAS ’76) co-authored A Hopeful Earth: Faith, Science, and the Message of Jesus (Abingdon Press, December 2010) with Sarah Ehrman. Bishop Dyck also published A Faithful Heart: Daily Guide for Joyful Living (Abingdon Press, September 2010).
Donald Messer (STH ’66, GRS ’69) published Names, Not Just Numbers (Fulcrum Publishing, November 2010) that tells the stories of people fighting hunger and disease and offers statistics as well as explores the politics behind the AIDS epidemic and world hunger. Click here for more information.
Shelly Matthews (STH ’87) announces the publication of her new book, Perfect Martyr: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian Identity with Oxford University Press (October 2010). She is currently the Dorothy and BH Peace Jr. Professor of Religion at Furman University.
Gerald (Jerry) Anderson (STH ’55, GRS ’60), has a chapter in a book Christianity and Chinese Culture, edited by Ruokanen and Huang (Eerdmans, 2010). The book was first published in Chinese in Beijing in 2005.
Nicole L. Johnson (STH ’07), Practicing Discipleship: Lived Theologies of Nonviolence in Conversation with the Doctrine of the United Methodist Church (Pickwick Publications, 2007).
If you are an alumnus/a and would like your publication added to this list, email your press releases and book jacket images to Jaclyn Jones at sthalum@bu.edu .