Alumni News
Reverend Bartlett C. Beavin (STH ’66)
The Reverend Bartlett C. Beavin, died Sunday, December 20, 2020. He and his wife, Helen I. Beavin came to Morehead from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2019 to be closer to family.
Bart was born in Monroe, Wisconsin, the youngest child of The Reverend Thomas S. and Lizzette (Alt) Beavin. He spent his boyhood in Richland Center, Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Helen I. (Shinn) Beavin, his two sons and four grandchildren:
- Thomas (Tom) A. and Sara Katherine Manning-Beavin of Morehead, KY
- Grace E. M. Beavin, Clay T. M. Beavin
- James (Jim) H. and Pamela (Pam) (Drexler) Beavin of Glenview, IL
- Brent D. Beavin, Elyse I. Beavin;
and many nieces and nephews and friends.
Bart was a devoted son, brother, uncle, husband, father and grandfather to his family. He was a retired United Methodist campus minister and committed advocate for a number of peace and justice causes. He was a proud alumnus of the University of Wisconsin and graduate of Boston University’s School of Theology. He was an avid college sports fan and gardener. He loved to visit with friends and strangers alike, and greeted everyone with a warm smile.
Memorial service plans are pending. Date(s), time(s), and location(s) will be announced at a future date.
The family suggests that memorial gifts be given in memory of Bart Beavin to Christian Peacemaker Teams at PO Box 6508, Chicago, IL 60680 or at https://cpt.org/donate.
The original obituary was posted here, by Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals, Inc.
Sustenance and Spirituality inspire Christy Wright (STH ’18)
Sustenance, spirituality inspire Christy Wright, coordinating pastor of Simple Church Grafton and Worcester
A good meal can nourish both body and soul.
That especially matters during a time when people hunger for connection.
The mix of sustenance and spirituality inspires Christy Wright, the newly named coordinating pastor of Simple Church Grafton and Worcester, which has unofficially been called the “dinner church.’’
Church members worship at a weekly meal, where they gather for food and fellowship.
“It builds community, and that’s sacred,’’ she said.
The weekly meals reflect the themes of the Last Supper. In the Bible, when Jesus eats bread and drinks wine, then tells his disciples to do this in his memory,
The “bread’’ that begins the Simple Church meal can be anything including soup and berries, she said. After a short devotional, conversation follows. Reflecting the Biblical phrase “when supper was ended He took the cup,’’ the meal concludes with a beverage, “anything from a cup tea to seltzer.’’
These days, the meal is very different. Members share recipes early in the week, then connect for dinner over Zoom.
“Zoom is not the same thing,’’ as in-person meetings, she said. “It’s very, very different. But, we know we’re protecting ourselves and our wider community,’’ by staying apart during the pandemic.
The church is part of the United Methodist Church, although you don’t have to be a member to join the dinners, she said.
“It’s an open table,’’ she said. “You can just come as you are.’’
She also serves as pastor of George Whitefield United Methodist Church in West Brookfield.
Appropriately enough for the leader of the dinner church, food has been a major ingredient in her background.
She also serves as food rescue coordinator with Lovin Spoonfuls, an organization in Boston that provides food pantries with healthy food donated by grocery stores, produce wholesalers and bakeries, among others.
She drives a refrigerated truck in Framingham, Natick and Sudbury, transporting good, but unused, food that would be thrown away. This effort reflects her passion to “bridge the gap between abundance and need.’’
“Forty percent of food produced in the U.S. goes to waste,’’ she said. “We want to close that gap.’’
She also hosts Fully Yours, a podcast on “food, the sacred and ordinary moments of extraordinary belonging.’’
While she was in seminary and shortly after she graduated, she worked as a shift manager at Starbucks, a dinner cook at Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center in North Andover, and as front of house lead, bartender and tour guide at Nashoba Valley Winery.
Her experience with food service and with service to others makes this Grafton job “the culmination of my life’s work,’’ she said.
The post runs through at least June 2021, but she hopes her tenure lasts longer. A permanent appointment would be “my dream,’’ she said. She now lives in West Brookfield, but would potentially move closer in time.
If the position becomes more permanent, she hopes to venture into new projects including a possible soup ministry, since soups are easy to make and freeze well, she said.
She is hopeful the new year brings a reopening of the world.
“I’m pretty optimistic,’’ she said. “We can really see some hope happening.’’
In the meantime, she encourages those who may feel lonely and isolated to consider gathering for a virtual meal.
“If you can’t go home, pass around recipes, maybe chop onions while you’re on Zoom,’’ she said. “That’s a really beautiful way to be together.’’
This article was originally published here, by The Grafton News.
BUSTH DMin Student Published in New Haven Register
This article was originally published on Friday, February 5, 2021 by the New Haven Register.
Faith Matters: Our differences are real, but it doesn't mean they're insurmountable
By Rev. Jordan Lenaghan
I was ordained a Catholic priest more than a quarter-century ago. I left my studies in 1996 with a solid, classical theological foundation. I had studied systematic theology, dogmatic theology, church history, sacred scripture, liturgics and canon law. I had completed courses in pastoral practice and preaching. I studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew — along with a semester in Arabic. I received a fine education and it has served me well in the variety of ministries that I have undertaken over the last 25 years. I am indebted to those who taught me.
A few years ago, however, I felt the desire to return once more to formal studies. My previous education had given me answers, but after years in the priesthood I discovered that I had new questions. I decided to return to theological school. But this time, I wanted a program in which the coursework would have an immediate impact on my ministry. I wanted to study practical theology and I wanted to do it in an ecumenical setting.
As a result, and with the blessing of my local religious superior, I decided to enter the Doctor of Ministry program at the Boston University School of Theology. It has been an amazing experience. I’m part of an academic community that counts among its members Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Thurman and Anna Howard Shaw.
I’ve studied congregation analysis, ministry and social media, and the history of the social gospel. I have learned how to apply BU’s approach to transformational leadership - to identify problems, articulate a coherent theological response and craft tools “to bridge the gap.” I’ve seen it work.
But more than any of the courses, the greatest blessing of this program - and the one for which I thank God frequently - is the relationships I have formed with three members of my cohort. The four of us have formed a unique bond as we go through the program together. We all are clergy, though ordained in different traditions. But rather than an impediment, our differences have enriched our friendship.
Kristy is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. She serves a community in the suburbs of Boston that has worshiped together since the colonial period. She is selfless and has seemingly endless energy. She is supportive, kind, and has an easy laugh. Her faith and concern for people never fail to impress me. She reminds me to look out for those in need, especially when they are present but invisible in the communities I serve.
Brian is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. He leads a UU congregation in Kentucky. He is brilliant and witty. He has exposed me to a tradition that values human maturity and emotional integration as fundamental goods. Who knew that throwing pottery could be a religious activity? He reminds me to be honest and authentic at all times both with myself as well as with others.
Finally, Charlotte is an Anglican priest. She serves a university church in England. She has a deep faith - frankly, one that I envy. It is a faith that expresses itself in a passion for social justice. She is kind and caring, but what most impresses me is her integrity. She reminds me what deep, engaged Christian faith looks like when it calls for systemic change in the world.
I write these things not as simply an encomium to my friends. Instead, my experience of these relationships presents a moment to engage in pastoral theology. We live in a society that is increasingly fractured. We retreat. We build towers and walls. Hectoring voices tell us that if someone is different, they’re dangerous. Increasingly, we only associate with those who think, believe, look and act just like us.
We need to find new ways to forge community in the midst of difference. Our differences are real but it doesn’t mean they’re insurmountable. They can be enriching rather than alienating. If a Catholic priest, an Anglican priest, a Unitarian Universalist minister and a United Church of Christ pastor can find friendship while studying at a Methodist theological school, then it can be done. And I am, at least, a better priest, Christian and person because of it!
We’ve done it. So can you.
The Rev. Jordan Lenaghan, OP, is chaplain at Albertus Magnus College
Prof. Ireland Receives Accolades for Publication
Research Assistant Professor of Mission Daryl Ireland’s book John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man has been designated among the 2020 Ten Outstanding Books in Mission Studies by the International Bulletin of Mission Research.
Prof. Ireland was surprised to see his publication listed. Congratulations, Daryl!
Reverend Vernon C. Nichols (STH ’56, STH ’57)
Vernon Charles Nichols died peacefully with much appreciated help from Hospice at his home in Portland OR. He had suffered from myasthenia gravis since 2009 and was recently diagnosed with leukemia.
He was born in Fort Covington, NY to Bertha Neal Nichols and Vernon C. Nichols. His parents and their families were from the Piedmont area of North Carolina. As a Methodist minister it would have been customary for his father to return to his home conference in North Carolina, but because his father believed that segregation was wrong he served several churches in the Northern New York Conference before retiring and moving back to North Carolina in 1970.
Vernon graduated from Chateaugay High in NY. He met Susan Radcliff at Syracuse University in 1950. After graduation from Syracuse in 1953 he went on to Boston University School of Theology. After Sue's graduation from Syracuse in 1954 they were married. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1956 and his Master of Sacred Theology degree from Boston University in 1957.
He was ordained 1956. His first pastorate was the Methodist Church in Alexandria Bay/Redwood, NY (1957-1959. Wishing to pursue further study, he moved to New York City in 1959. He served the Methodist Church in Ozone Park, NY from 1959 until 1961, also serving as a chaplain with the New York City Hospital in Elmhurst. He went with his family to the Unitarian Congregation in Flushing, NY and gained fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1967.
He was Assistant Minister in the Plandome Congregation from 1967 Until 1971. His longest ministry was with the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Congregation (1971-1983). During Vernon's ministry the congregation used some of their property to build a senior residence open to any eligible applicant regardless of religious affiliation. This facility has become an important Ottawa institution.
He next ministered to the Universalist Church of West Hartford CT (1983-1984). In 1984 he received an urgent call from his colleague in the Unitarian Universalist headquarters. The Northwest (MI) Congregation's minister, who had died very suddenly after a 50-year ministry had been the only minister the congregation had ever known. Vernon was glad to meet this critical need and accepted the congregation's invitation to assist for two years. However, after one year, Vernon and his wife Sue were hired to head the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations.
Vernon, a long time social justice and peace activist, had written, demonstrated and led others in the currently ongoing quest for a world free from war and hate. It was a natural fit for him to be at the United Nations where he could work with other like-minded organizations. He soon became the President of the UN NGO Committee on Disarmament, continuing the tradition of leadership by other Unitarian Universalist clergy and laypersons. Soon the Committee was renamed the UN NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, indicating the Committee's full mission.
He was especially upset when the USA bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was in close contact with the mayors of these two cities and with hibakusha (survivors of nuclear attacks). He made seven trips to participate in their annual memorials of August 6 and 9--always very sad but meaningful experiences. On one occasion he was arrested for "trespassing on US Government Property" when protesting nuclear bomb testing.
When Vernon retired in1993 he and Sue remained in New York and at the United Nations, carrying out their work. At the UN he was the United Nations representative for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and had also represented the Unitarian Universalist Association and the International Association for Religious Freedom.
He is survived by his wife Susan (Sue), sons Howard Vernon (Oregon City), George Martin (Seattle), and Peter John (Portland) and grandchildren Matthew Griffin (Ferndale, WA), Hope Radcliff (Bellingham, WA) and Stephen Vernon David (Hillsboro).
Memorial gifts may be made to the following organizations.
- First Unitarian Church of Portland
- Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: Donate by check to: 1622 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 or Online at: www.wagingpeace.org, the click on "Donate Now" button
- International Association of Religious Freedom US Chapter, c/o Mrs. Betsy Darr, 183 22nd Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121
- Unitarian Universalist Association UU United Nations Office: Attn: Gift processing 24 Farnsworth St.Boston, MA 02210
This obituary was originally published here, by Crown Memorial Centers.
BUSTH Announces Appointment of New Dean
Friday, January 22, 2021 – Boston University School of Theology is pleased to announce the appointment of its new dean, effective January 1, 2021. Dr. G. Sujin Pak has joined the School of Theology administration, following the 12-year tenure of dean emerita Mary Elizabeth Moore. She most recently served as a vice dean at Duke Divinity School, where she oversaw admissions, degree programs, student affairs, ministerial formation, and field education.
“The School of Theology at Boston University has an incredible legacy of advancing women and minorities in leadership, academia, and ministry,” Dean Pak told BU Today, noting that the School’s history was one of the things that most interested her in the deanship.
The full story is available at BU Today.
BUSTH DMin Student’s Church Interviews Dr. Anthony Fauci about COVID-19 Vaccines
Humble, TX – Current STH Doctor of Ministry student Rev. Chad Brawley serves as the Worship Arts Pastor at The Luke Church in Humble, Texas. When the church’s senior pastor, Dr. Timothy Sloan, thought about his own hesitancies with receiving the new COVID-19 vaccine, he had an idea.
“I have been...really wrestling with my own personal level of confidence in the vaccine,” Dr. Sloan said during an interview with K-PRC 2 News in Houston, Texas. “I knew if I had these questions, then I was certain my congregation had these same questions. How do we get a trusted voice to communicate the importance of the vaccine? I believe that for the African-American community, the Black church is the most important vehicle of disseminating this type of information.”
Dr. Sloan wrote a letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who agreed to a one-on-one interview.
Dr. Sloan’s first question to Dr. Fauci was why the Black community should trust the COVID-19 vaccine, given the historical mistreatment of the Black community at the hands of the established American health care system. “We need to acknowledge the concern and hesitation based on [the Tuskegee experiments and racial disparities in American healthcare, and]...the mistreatments of the African-American community historically by the government medical establishment is real in history,” Dr. Fauci agreed. “With that as a background, it is important to explain to our African-American brothers and sisters what the questions are that people ask are the cause for their concern and hesitation, and address each of these concerns that people have in a clear way that people can understand.”
DMin student Rev. Brawley sees the utmost importance in sharing this interview with Black churches and their congregations around the country. “The goal is to get this info to as many as possible in hopes that they will learn more about and become comfortable with the vaccine,” he wrote in an email to the School.
To Vaccinate or Not: A Conversation Concerning the COVID-19 Vaccine with Dr. Timothy W. Sloan & Anthony S. Fauci, MD
Town of Brookline MLK Day Celebration features Rev. Andrew Kimble (STH’19) and Jessica Hamilton (STH’21)
Brookline comes together to celebrate Dr. King's life.
The article was originally published here, by patch.com.
"Pursuing Social Justice"
This year's program will feature a moderated conversation on "Philosophical Mentoring and the Impact of Words on a Generation." The conversation is hosted by Nick Bates, the Assistant Director for Thurman Center Networks in the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground. His work focuses on educating the community about Howard Thurman and overseeing strategic partnerships built on Thurman's philosophy of Common Ground. The panelists for this conversation are Rev. Andrew E. Kimble and Jessica Hamilton.
Rev. Andrew E. Kimble is from Los Angeles, CA, and currently resides in Roxbury, MA. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Morehouse College in 2014. For the next two years, he worked for a top national law firm as a conflict analyst. In 2019, he graduated with a Master of Divinity from the Boston University School of Theology. Alongside his ministerial responsibilities at the historic Charles Street AME Church, Rev. Kimble is the assistant director of alumni and donor relations at the Boston University School of Theology. In his free time, he enjoys listening to jazz, talking with friends and strangers, running outdoors, and visiting the used book section in local bookstores.
Jessica Hamilton is a third-year master of divinity student on the Global and Community Engagement track at Boston University School of Theology. Her studies are focused on the intersection of public policy, ethics, and spirituality, and she is interested in understanding what bearing this intersection has on emerging conversations of social equity. In addition to her studies, Hamilton serves as a graduate assistant at BU's Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground and was a 2019 recipient of the Rappaport Institute's Public Policy Fellowship. Before seminary, she spent ten years working in health care policy. She is a Northeastern University graduate, where she received a bachelor's degree in political science.
The program will also feature Brookline High School students and local college students discussing social justice and how this past year's events have impacted them. This group conversation is hosted by Harvey Bravman, Filmmaker and creator of BrooklineHub.com and the Brookline Youth Awards. Included in this segment will be a Brookline Youth Award compilation video of students talking about their social justice initiatives over the years.
Students included in the Brookline Youth Award compilation include Richard Desir, Vishni Samaweera, Komal Wasif, Joshua Grossman, Vicka Ter Ovanesyan, Gavin Hui, Nahomi Brea Rivera, Caroline Cutlip, Donnaya Brown, Jackie Perelman, Lena Harris, and Saya Ameli Hajebi. Students participating in the group discussion include Chidera Osuji of the BU Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground and BHS students Kazi Stafford, Isis Contreras Perez, and Skye Kim.
Also featured will be music and inspirational words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev. Silvester Beaman (STH’85) to Offer Benediction at Inauguration
This story was written by Jack Jenkins and published by Religion News Service. Click here to read the full story.
Biden taps Delaware AME pastor to offer benediction at inauguration
January 2021 – Boston University School of Theology alumnus Rev. Silvester S. Beaman (MDiv'85) has been asked by President-Elect Joseph R. Biden to offer the benediction at the presidential inauguration this coming Wednesday, January 20 in Washington, DC.
“It is an extreme honor,” Rev. Beaman told Religion News Service on January 14. “Any clergy person asked to do this particular priestly function would also see it as an extreme honor.” President-Elect Biden called Rev. Beaman directly to extend the invitation.
Rev. Silvester S. Beaman is pastor of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware, a predominantly Black church, and has known the Biden family for thirty years.
Updated on January 20, 2021: A recording of Rev. Beaman's benediction at President Biden's inauguration.
Rev. Mariama White-Hammond (STH ’17) Speaks at Virtual Event Entitled “Challenging Environmental Racism: From the Local to the Global”
Panelists Discuss Environmental Racism, Effects Of Climate Change
This article was originally published here, by The Heights.
Social justice and ecological advocate Rev. Mariama White-Hammond said that the fight against climate change is not so much an attempt to save the world, as it is one to ensure humanity’s survival.
“I just want to make it clear that Mother Earth will be okay and will continue to survive,” White-Hammond said. “She may look different, she may have lost some of her members, but she will continue to evolve and survive. The question is whether or not she will continue to be a hospitable home for us.”
At a virtual event entitled “Challenging Environmental Racism: From the Local to the Global,” held on Dec. 1, environmental sociologist David Pellow and White-Hammond discussed the intersection of racism, climate change, and ecological justice.
Vincent Rougeau, dean of the Boston College Law School, explained the salient nature of the panel’s topic.
“We have to recognize that racism is everyone’s problem, become actively conscious about race and racism, take actions to end racism in our daily lives, and understand that we all have a role in stopping it,” he said.
Laura Steinberg, panel moderator and Seidner Family executive director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, added to Rougeau’s reasoning.
“Environmental racism reaches deep into the lifeblood of communities, causing an accumulation of environmental harms, threatening health, and eroding the value and cohesion of neighborhoods,” she said.
After talking about how he familiarized himself with environmental sociology, Pellow said that minority communities contribute the least to climate change, yet are the ones most impacted by its side effects.
“Shouldering the burden of all of that particulate matter and all of that pollution … that’s the essence of environmental and climate justice,” Pellow said. “They’re contributing the least to the problem, and yet getting the brunt of the problem.”
According to Pellow, the environmental justice movement deals with links between social inequality and the condition of the environment. He said that the state of the environment affects people’s quality of life.
“Empirical evidence of environmental racism is supported by literally thousands of studies, going back at least to the early 1970s,” Pellow said. “So, the bottom line is that low-income communities [and] communities of color face disproportionate environmental risk and exposure.”
White-Hammond said that communities and countries who contribute the least to climate change, primarily due to their lower energy consumption, are going to be the ones to face the most serious consequences.
“It is no accident that the most vulnerable communities are always asked to take on the greatest environmental danger, always,” she said.
According to White-Hammond, ecology has to do with the study of home and place. She said humans should not be looking at Earth as something they can dictate, but rather an ecosystem that they are members of.
“That ecosystem that we live in is in a crisis of relationship,” she said. “Ecological justice is the work of repairing the dysfunction in our relationships with the rest of the beings on this planet.”
If humans fail to become more sustainable in their ways, climate change could mean a dramatic shift for the future of society, according to White-Hammond.
“If we don’t shift, if we don’t evolve, if we don’t change, we will be evicted from this home,” she said.