Alumni News
Reverend Reginald H. Merrill, Jr. (STH ’71)
Reginald "Reg" Howard Merrill Jr, 75 was born in Hartford Connecticut on December 14th, 1944, to Reginald and Daisy Merrill. He was raised in Brewer Maine and graduated from Brewer High School in 1963. He was a member of the all state chorus and Boy’s Nation. Reg attended the University of Maine, earning a degree in Religion and Philosophy. He enter seminary in 1967 at Boston University and became a fully ordained member of the Iowa United Methodist Church. He married Karen Huff on August 24th, 1969. Together they were the first clergy couple in the state of Iowa.
He served congregations throughout the state of Iowa. Reg’s first appointment was to Faith Parish with churches in Farragut, Summit, Riverton and Locus Grove 1971-1977. Next, he served at North English, South English and Millersburg UMC’s 1977-1981. Reg was appointed the associate pastor at Mt. Pleasant UMC in 1981. He served as pastor at Nashua UMC and Republic Community Church from 1984-1992, Prairie City and Pleasant Hill UMC’s from 1992-2000; in Des Moines at Epworth UMC 2000-2005. Reg retired from Our Savior United Methodist church in Manson and Pomeroy in 2010.
After retiring he moved to Minneapolis, Mn. There he joined the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and was an active member of All God’s Children Church. In these two groups he found a loving and supportive community of new friends and family.
Reg enjoyed many hobbies. He loved photography, going to movies, attending all his daughters’ school and sporting events and cheering on this favorite base ball teams: the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. Reg had a wonderful singing voice and was a member of church and community choirs throughout his life. Spending time with family and friends: talking, laughing and just sharing stories was his favorite pastime. He loved to travel. He especially enjoyed trips to Sri Lanka, Europe and the Holy Land.
He was a strong democrat and volunteered many hours to services and projects he was passionate about. He had a deep and abiding faith and was an active member of his church. Reg took the bible seriously, but not literally.
He is survived by his daughters Beth Miner (Brett), and Debbie Merrill, and grandchildren Wayne and Carrie Miners, many nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents Reg and Daisy Merrill, his sisters Barbra and Joan Lane, and Cousin Mike Gellerson.
Due to the climate of the pandemic, we are not having a service. If you would like to honor Reg’s life please sent donations the American Heart Association.
This obituary was originally posted here, by Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home and Crematory.
BU Spearheads Massive Database of Centuries of Culture-Sharing between the West and China
This article was originally published by BU Today on November 4, 2020. Congrats to STH faculty Dana Robert and Daryl Ireland, and students Alex Mayfield (’21) and Yang Dai (’21) on their recognition for their contributions to this important project!
BU Spearheads Massive Database of Centuries of Culture-Sharing between the West and China
Researchers hope hundreds of years of past ties promote understanding amidst today’s tension
Some people choose beach reading for the warm months. Ao (Ava) Shen spent her summer poring over a French directory of Jesuit missionaries in China between 1542 and 1800. Language was no barrier (she’s trilingual in French, English, and Chinese) as she translated the biographical information, then recorded it in an Excel sheet.
“They were the pioneers of globalization,” Shen (Pardee’20) says of the medieval missionaries who carried Christianity, along with other ideas and Western technology, to her native China. “We need people who recognize the need for mutual understanding, and the need to cultivate common interest.”
As China’s government stands accused of intellectual property theft, herds Muslim Uighurs into the “largest mass incarceration of an ethnic group since the Holocaust,” and proclaims sovereignty over the South China Sea in defiance of a Hague Tribunal ruling, foreign policy experts fear the West and its Asian allies are drifting into a Cold War with the People’s Republic. While governments and diplomats ultimately must calm these waters, Eugenio Menegon thinks BU can help.
The College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of Chinese and of world history recruited Shen for her research as codirector of an ongoing global scholarly effort to construct an online warehouse of four centuries of records documenting the ties binding the United States and China.
The China Historical Christian Database, based at the School of Theology’s Center for Global Christianity & Mission and being built by researchers there and at CAS, gets granular: it will feature maps and other resources showing where Christian churches, schools, hospitals, orphanages, and publishing houses were located in China, how long they operated, and who worked in them.
BUSTH Faculty and Staff Offer Prayers During COVID Crisis
The following prayers were written by Boston University School of Theology faculty, staff, and students for the week of November 2-8, 2020 for the “Daily Prayer during the COVID-19 Crisis” newsletter sent out by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Prayer inspired by Psalm 78:1-7 / Matthew 25:1-13
Gracious God,
On this day, I seek wisdom.
Wherever my strivings and struggles lead me, may I find comfort in the transcendent power of your teachings made known in the sacred text and through the words and deeds of my ancestors. As an heir to the Christian way, a faith that honors submission to your will, I ask that you help me channel your presence at every moment of the day.
It’s true, sometimes I stray from the narrow road. Before I wander too far, O God, send me a sign leading back to the ground you’ve paved for me. Remind me of my essence, that I am your child made in your image, conceived to do good in the world. When I begin to doubt, I ask that you remind me of the qualities that make me special, the things that distinguish me from all of creation. And as I actualize my potential, may I never forget that there is no greater fulfillment than being united with all of creation.
And this is why I seek wisdom on this day—to learn to handle life’s great riddles with heavenly dexterity, to navigate the midnight hour with enough oil to keep the lantern ablaze, to discern where I ought to be at the time of your anticipated yet unexpected arrival.
This, I pray, with the hope and love and endurance of Jesus the Christ, for my weathered soul, the precious souls of the living, and posterity.
And so it is.
Amen.
- Andrew Kimble, Assistant Director of Alumni and Donor Relations, Boston University School of Theology; licensed minister, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Prayer based on Matthew 15:21-28
We thank you, God, for the hope and faith that nurtures us at these complex and uncertain times. As we face two identifiable pandemics in the context of the US, Covid 19 and Racism, we ask that your spirit of courage finds us at the crossroads. As we encounter the dangers of the intersections, we ask for your guidance and wisdom to help us not be afraid and to accompany others in the processes of survival as we all seek new life and new ways of being in your grace and love.
We ask, at these times of ambiguity, that you help us identify the endurance, courage and wisdom of the Canaanite woman who makes herself visible and finds a place and space to be included in the mission and ministry of Jesus and the disciples. She finds the courage to ask more of Jesus and the vision to see the power of life and possibilities of new life for a better future. In her insistence and encounter with the disciples and Jesus at the marketplace/in the public plaza she appropriates life for her daughter and vision of a future for all foreigners and marginalized, for all who are made invisible and are excluded.
We pray today for the understanding that we need to be of great courage, and with great wisdom, to continue claiming and reclaiming our own spaces and ministries in the manner of the Canaanite women in Matthew. We are in need of something that is built on the encounters of great consequence in the marketplace, something that interrupts and makes new spaces and places in public spaces where the excluded and invisible become included and visible and find their place at the table of creation. Help us to accept the challenge to engage in encounters of great consequence today, encounters that bring about justice. Help me, as a person, to know that I am not I, without encountering you, and that I am not I complete, without encountering God.
Help us collectively to know that we are not we, without encountering each other and God.
AMEN.
- Rev. Dr. Cristian De La Rosa, Director of Contextual Theology and Community Partnerships, Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology and Practice, Boston University School of Theology, UMC elder
Prayer and Hymn based on Matthew 25:1-13
Holy One, who never slumbers nor sleeps:
strengthen us to keep our lamps trimmed and burning,
that, with undimmed faith during these dark days,
we may be ever watchful for glimpses of your brightening reign
and ready for its full in-breaking;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
A hymn on the Gospel text
by Frances Jane Crosby Van Alstyne (aka Fanny Crosby), 1820-1915, Methodist, poet, hymn and song writer
- When Jesus comes to reward his servants,
Whether it be noon or night,
Faithful to him will he find us watching,
With our lamps all trimmed and bright?
Refrain:
Oh, can we say we are ready, brother (sister/Christian)?
Ready for the soul’s bright home?
Say, will he find you and me still watching,
Waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come?
- If, at the dawn of the early morning,
He shall call us one by one,
When to the Lord we restore our talents,
Will he answer thee, “Well done”? - Have we been true to the trust he left us?
Do we seek to do our best?
If in our hearts there is naught condemns us,
We shall have a glorious rest. - Blessed are those whom the Lord finds watching,
In his glory they shall share;
If he shall come at the dawn or midnight,
Will he find us watching there?
Note: This hymn text is in the public domain (no copyright permission required). The meter of this hymn is 10.7.10.7 with refrain. Unfortunately, the tune with this meter in the United Methodist Hymnal—I AM THINE #419—does not fit this text. To find an appropriate tune, look up this text at www.hymnary.org.
- Karen Westerfield Tucker, Professor of Worship, Boston University School of Theology; UMC elder
Prayer based on I Thessalonians 4: 13-18
God of resurrection hope, we come to you as people who grieve, as people who lament the pain, oppression, and suffering in the world, but also as people who recognize your power to overcome even that which once seemed final, through the resurrection of Jesus, bringing hope into the midst of our communities and peace to each heart and mind, as we struggle against death, ourselves. Give us courage to comfort those who mourn and to encourage those around us to do your work, attending deeply to the stories of every human being made in your image and every part of creation for which we have been charged to care. Make us into people who take seriously this trust and responsibility in times of joy and in times of lament, that we may remain in your presence now and forever, through the power of your Holy Spirit, living with, in, and through us. Amen.
- Lisa Michaels, PhD Student studying liturgy and sacraments, Boston University School of Theology; licensed pastor, Church of the Nazarene
Prayer inspired by “The Tribes Renew the Covenant”
Joshua 21:1-3a;14-25 (NRSV)
24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;
14 “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.” 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.
God of all humanity,
If all people and creation on the earth are called “good,”
then help us to live peaceably with one another.
Help those of us who are committed to serving you do so faithfully,
turning away from all other gods before us—
whether they be the promise of power, the fear of scarcity, or the temptation towards evil so that some may benefit.
Help us to rest securely in You and in the promises given to our ancestors,
so that we may not feel threatened by our neighbors and demonize them by comparison,
and so we never use our own power or privilege to harm others. Especially in Your name.
May we honor the land we reside on and honor the Peoples who share it with us,
always mindful of the histories of conquest and suffering that have taken place.
May we be brave enough to remember the full stories,
and may we chart a different way forward.
May we live peaceably with one another,
knowing that all You have created is good.
Amen.
- Jasmin Figueroa, PhD student in practical theology, studying trauma-informed and culturally sensitive pastoral care, Boston University School of Theology
Prayer inspired by Psalm 78:1-7
God of infinite love and care for the whole of your creation,
God of enduring faithfulness and wise guidance in tumultuous times,
We come to you with hearts opened and closed;
We seek to open our lives to the fullness of your love and guiding wisdom
Yet, we close ourselves in waves of fear and anxiety in these distressing days,
even as You promise never to fail us.
The world fails, but You do not.
On this day, we see, hear, taste, and smell your presence
in the brilliance of autumn leaves and the smells of dinner cooking,
in congregations gathered electronically and serving their communities.
You call us to be faithful in this moment –
to follow in your ways
to teach our children and their children
to inspire and support the present generation and all those to come.
You call us to learn from You daily and always,
witnessing that You are faithful
and want us to be faithful.
Help us to open ourselves to your call, to live in your Spirit
even in deeply troubling times,
especially in troubling times;
Give us hope that violence and injustice can be dismantled,
hope to love You and our neighbors with our whole selves,
hope to center our lives on You and your teachings
for our own sakes, for all who are oppressed and violated,
and for all who come after us!
God of infinite love and enduring faithfulness,
We give thanks to you,
And we pray for the light of your wisdom and the strength of your spirit
as we seek to love and follow you
in ways that are ancient
and yet shaped for this moment.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer!
AMEN.
- Mary Elizabeth Moore, Dean and Professor of Theology and Education, Boston University School of Theology, UMC deacon
Prayer based on Joshua 24:1–3a, 14–25
Let us pray.
God of the Covenant,
from generation to generation you have been our guide,
and only in you do we dwell in safety.
Inspire in us sincere and faithful hearts,
that we might praise you with our lips
and serve you with our lives.
God of our weary years and silent tears,
you brought our ancestors out of Egypt
and delivered your people from oppression.
As you have protected us along our way,
so move us to seek the wellbeing our neighbors —
both friends and strangers.*
Holy God, Holy One,
you alone are worthy of our service and obedience;
your mighty acts are great in our sight.
Teach us to love your law,
so that our lives may witness to your grace
and your people may be renewed in your love.
Amen.
- Kristian C. Kohler, PhD student in liturgical studies; ordained minister in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
*Note: This stanza draws upon: J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” in public domain.
Dr. Fran Yeager Fehlman (STH ’51)
Dr. Fran Yeager Fehlman
June 23, 1928 - October 24, 2020
San Diego
Dr. Fran Fehlman passed away surrounded by her family. Fran loved life and its great adventure. She was a talented and popular Psychology professor, teaching at El Camino, Mesa and Miramar Community Colleges. She was also a gifted artist, avid quilter, and respected family counselor.
At 19, Fran participated on a work team to rebuild homes in war-torn Europe. She continued to travel throughout her life and always sought to serve others. Fran and her husband Bob, who was a Methodist clergyman for 63 years, led a variety of church congregations in New York and California. They were appointed to churches in La Jolla, Clairemont, and Point Loma, among others.
Born in Long Beach, CA, Fran received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State, a postgraduate degree from Boston University School of Theology, and a PhD in Psychology from Cal Western. At BU, she met Bob. They were married in the spring of 1950. Bob was awarded a scholarship by BU to attend Cambridge University in England, where both he and Fran studied. They returned to the United States in 1953 with their first born, Mark, aboard the Queen Mary. Fran and Bob raised four children, including son Mark (wife Anne) a San Diego architect and artist, daughter Jennifer, an attorney in San Luis Obispo, daughter Jill (partner Frank) a retired RN and diabetes educator living in Encinitas, and Paul (wife Michelle) a financial executive in Dallas, TX. She is also survived by multiple grandchildren.
The family is happy that she is with Bob and also with God, who she served her whole life. She was an example of living life with commitment, purpose and integrity. She will be terribly missed, but always in the hearts of those who loved her. The family also wishes to thank the employees of Wesley Palms and Silverado Hospice for their compassionate care of Fran.
No public service is planned at this time, and Fran's family encourages a gift to KPBS in her memory.
This obituary was published here, by The San Diego Union Tribune.
Prof. Wariboko Pens Essay on Relationship Between Evangelicals and Trump
The following essay by BU School of Theology Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics Nimi Wariboko was published on November 4, 2020 on politicaltheology.com. Please click here to read the full article.
Between Evangelicals and Trump: Redemption Through Sin
Trump supporters will not abandon him in the 2020 presidential election. They believe they are doing the will of God, and the theology that God uses sinners to accomplish His purpose now means divine purpose will be fulfilled through the president’s sins.
Anyone who has been watching the evangelicals’ love affair with President Donald Trump in the last four years would have rightfully concluded by now that they will not abandon him in the November election. For this group of Americans, Trump is not just a presidential candidate; he is a Messiah. He is not just a Messiah who will lead his followers to godly redemption, but he is also the unique one who will, through sin, accomplish redemption both for them and also for the whole of America.
Scholars and news analysts have been befuddled by the fact that evangelicals have stood solidly behind him regardless of his well-known ethical lapses or what in evangelical circles is plainly called “sins.” Whether it was evangelicals sticking to his side as he boasted about grabbing women by their pudenda, or looking the other way as Trump violated the Christian ethics of neighborly love by putting children behind cages at migration centers, or even the recent revelation of his tax shenanigans, evangelicals have stood resolutely behind him. Many watchers have therefore concluded that the evangelicals have lost their minds.
Evangelical Interpretation after Auschwitz: Planting Seeds for Responsible Deeds by Dr. Robert Bleakney (STH ’92)
Dr. Robert Bleakney (STH '92) notes that his new book, Evangelical Interpretation after Auschwitz: Planting Seeds for Responsible Deeds was "influenced by both Methodist theology and my studies at BU STH under Professor Elie Wiesel."
Evangelical Interpretation after Auschwitz challenges Bible interpreters to apply a biblical ethic of social responsibility by hearing the questions of Holocaust survivors when considering the meaning and application of Scripture. Using marginal notes in study Bibles as a focus for better interfaith conversations, it seeks to bridge evangelical teachings on biblical interpretation and social responsibility with insights from Jewish-Christian dialogue since the Holocaust. With hope for a better future, it urges evangelicals to:
- Rethink historical memories,
- Honor the Jewish roots of Christian faith,
- Shun anti-Jewish defamations,
- Challenge racism,
- Strategize post-Holocaust biblical applications, and
- Partner with Jews in hallowing history.
Click here to purchase your copy of Evangelical Interpretation after Auschwitz: Planting Seeds for Responsible Deeds.
This article was originally published here, by Hebraic Heritage Christian College.
An Election Week Message from Dean Moore
Dear Beloved Community,
How can we be present with one another during Election Week, especially with people who hold strong and diverse views and people observing in many countries? Millions of people have already voted, and I hope huge numbers vote on November 3. People know that the future of the United States and global relationships are at stake. Yet, people have different views of that future. This is a time to act on your convictions and give others space to act on theirs, holding one another in dignity if not in agreement or easy conversation. STH student groups and Religion and Conflict Transformation will offer opportunities for reflective conversations over the next month. Students can look up the links to these events in this week’s issue of Collegium.
How can we also be present with a raging world? At the same time that political contests are flaming, people are facing the pressures of COVID-19 on themselves and on the people they love, added to the exhaustion of shut-downs and quarantines, made more ominous by quickly rising cases on every continent. We are surrounded by hard news: a large earthquake has shaken Turkey and Greece; wildfires continue across the Western US; another hurricane has battered the Gulf Coast. Terror attacks have burst out in France and Pakistan and Austria, immigrant children in the US are still suffering separation from their families and a loss of their human rights, and Walter Wallace, Jr., an African American man was killed by police in Philadelphia, followed by violence in the streets. How can we stop the cycles of violence and ecological abuse that create and multiply these tragedies? How can we be present to the hard realities and the real possibilities for justice and change? We can only be present when we face them and allow them to critique and transform us with the force of truth, even as we listen intently and discern paths shaped by our multiple truths in the search for common ground (Howard Thurman).
How can we be present with the Holy? This may be a week to focus on practices that keep you centered, whether contemplative prayer, the morning prayers of your tradition, Buddhist walking meditation, close reading of scripture, or jogging. Many of us will be impassioned this week to celebrate, rage, mourn, or kick ourselves into action. As we all do what we most need, I encourage you to pause frequently to center, so your celebrations, ragings, mourning, and actions can be present to the moment and the future to which it points.
May justice and democracy survive, and may we have courage and strength to keep building!
With deep respect,
Mary Elizabeth Moore, Dean (she/her/hers)
New Testament Faculty Create Video for Prospective Doctoral Students
October 2020 – The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) has recently launched an initiative to recruit students from underrepresented populations to the academic area of Biblical Studies. Their recent SBL event BlackScholarsMatter was designed to increase diversity in Biblical Studies. Boston University School of Theology (STH) Assistant Professor of New Testament Rev. Dr. Shively T. J. Smith was a panelist for this event. The Society is putting together a panel where STH Assistant Professor of New Testament Luis Menéndez-Antuña will be presenting, and has asked that institutions advertise what kind of support they offer minority students.
Professors Smith and Menéndez-Antuña created a video that would explain to prospective doctoral students of color what it is like to be a student here at STH. Their collegial conversation includes topics like why they love Boston, their own interests and their favorite on-campus organizations at Boston University, the new BU Center for Antiracist Research, and what makes a successful PhD student.
For more information about the PhD program at STH, please click here. Enjoy the video!
Rev. Bailey Brawner (STH ’18) an Openly LGBTQ+ Pastor Talks About the “Racical Inclusiveness” of Her Church
The “radical inclusiveness” of an openly LBGTQ+ pastor, to embrace the reality that faith is about action.
Mission Hills United Methodist Church
- Contact: 4044 Lark St, San Diego 619-296-1243 www.missionhillsumc.org
- Membership: 50
- Neighborhood: Mission Hills
- Pastor: Bailey Brawner
- Age: 26
- Born: Anchorage, AK
- Formation: University of Montana-Western, Dillon, MT; Boston University School of Theology, Boston, MA.
- Years Ordained: 3
San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?
Pastor Bailey Brawner: God’s expansive love. Sometimes we as people of faith, as the church, put limits on God’s love, which is completely against the message of Jesus. Jesus was all about radical inclusiveness, which is something I try to live out in my ministry as well.
SDR: What is the mission of your church?
PB: Our mission statement is “Loving God by loving all.” It speaks to the inclusive and radical love of God for all God’s people. I am an openly LBGTQ+ pastor, and so our church is a reconciling church, which means no matter who you are, what you love, or what you do for a living or not, you are fully loved, accepted and needed by God. I started as pastor at Mission Hills in July 2019 and in September of that year I started a group called The Voyage for LBGTQ+ people of faith, and it has expanded online to people in the UK and Canada and across the U.S. We get together to talk about hard topics and fun topics; we explore the idea of faith with LBGTQ+ people, many of whom have been told by their church that they will not be loved by God until they change, and won’t be accepted and be able to marry their partner in their home church. Those raw moments have shown me what our church believes, and this lifesaving ministry speaks to that idea of loving God by loving all.
SDR: Where is the strangest place you found God?
PB: One of the most profound non-traditional God-moments I had was at a drag show in seminary I attended with my best friend. We noticed the Holy Spirit in that space, showing up in this affirming and incredibly positive environment where there was no fear or shyness about showing up as your full self, and that’s something God continues to remind me — that we weren’t created to be in hiding; we were created to be fully ourselves. That authenticity is what makes us so beloved.
SDR: Where do you go when you die?
PB: We are called to trust in God’s care, which means living like Jesus did. Sometimes we think of faith and salvation as a “ticket to heaven” mentality, but in reality, it is about doing the work to be faithful now. I guess I’m reframing the question, but what happens when we die is less important than what we are doing before we die, how we are living like Jesus and honoring the story of Christ here and now. This idea of salvation, of being saved before we die, is something we are given through grace, and we are saved by faith through grace. So when we are born, we can do nothing to separate ourselves from the love of God. I find that reassuring. Therefore my salvation is not something I’m worried about after I die. When we shift our focus in this way, it makes it easier to do the work, to embrace the reality that faith is about action, and that no matter what happens after we die, whether it is heaven, hell or something we don’t have language for yet, we can rest in that faith and assurance from Christ.
This article was originally published here, by the San Diego Reader.
Third-Year Student Appointed to BU Socially Responsible Investing Committee
October 2020 – Boston University School of Theology (STH) student Breanne MacFarland (MDiv/MSW ’22) was recently appointed to serve as the BU Graduate Student Representative on the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing, with the Board of Trustees. This is the first time an STH student has been selected to represent their University graduate student peers on this board.
Breanne is in her third year at the School of Theology and the School of Social Work (SSW), as she pursues a dual degree in social work and theology. She is the current president of the STH Student Association. In her application, she wrote about the use fossil fuels in her state of Alaska and their detrimental effects on the environment.
This year, “the group will be working to define a process for the Board of Trustees’ reconsideration of a petition for the University to divest from fossil fuel investments in 2021," says MacFarland. The group will be meeting at least four times this year, up from twice last year. Additional information on investment issues can be found here.