The School of Theology is pleased to announce the following faculty publications for the month of April 2020.
Cristian De La Rosa: “Latina Women and the Church: Mujeristas y Nepantleras,” Nevertheless She Leads: Postcolonial Women's Leadership for the Church. United Methodist General Board of Higher Education, 2020.
Dana Robert: “Naming ‘World Christianity’: Historical and Personal Perspectives on the Yale-Edinburgh Conference in World Christianity and Mission History.” International Bulletin of Mission Research. 2020. Vol. 44(2), 111-28.
Relational Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Healing Suffering and Promoting Growth, By Steven J. Sandage, David Rupert, George S. Stavros, and Nancy G. Devor. American Psychological Association, 2020.
Sarah A. Crabtree, Chance A. Bell, David A. Rupert, Steven J. Sandage, Nancy G. Devor & George Stavros (2020): Humility, differentiation of self, and clinical training in spiritual and religious competence, Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, DOI:10.1080/19349637.2020.1737627
Nimi Wariboko, “Between Community and My Mother: A Theory of Agonistic Communitarianism” in Nimi Wariboko and Toyin Falola (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of African Social Ethics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), pp. 147-163.
Claire E. Wolfteich, Elizabeth G. Ruffing, Sarah A. Crabtree, Nancy G. Devor, and Steven J. Sandage. “Humility and Religious Leadership: A Qualitative Study of Theology and Practice.” Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health (2019), DOI: 10.1080/19349637.2019.1691967.
Claire E. Wolfteich, Steven J. Sandage, James Tomlinson, Jonathan Mettasophia, and Diana Ventura. “Humility and Spirituality: New Directions in Interdisciplinary Research.” Spiritus: A Journal in Christian Spirituality 19, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 102-130.
Update on Thursday, April 23:
A recording of the retirement celebration event can be found here.
At the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year, Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore announced she would step down as dean of the school at the end of the year, after over a decade of service. The School of Theology will present a Retirement Celebration day on Wednesday, April 22 to honor Dean Moore's unwavering dedication to the community and her work as dean.
“From her work on feminism, ecological justice, and interfaith leadership to her many contributions in the fields of practical, process, Wesleyan, and contextual theology, it is scarcely possible to measure Dean Moore’s impact both on Boston University School of Theology and on theological education more broadly,” says Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Bryan Stone. “As we celebrate with Dean Moore her upcoming retirement, we look forward to examining her legacy and contemplating the future of theological education in light of her contributions.”
The day's schedule is available below, and the online meeting information can be found here.
Retirement Celebration for Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore
Held on Earth Day, this celebration will be a reflection of the dedication, love, and passion that Dean Moore has had for the School’s students, faculty, and staff, and their commitments to justice and faith. Events will be held virtually and are open to the BU community and to the public.
The empty tomb is the most vivid symbol of Easter, but the women who first went to the tomb did not know it was empty. They went there to anoint their beloved friend and teacher, Jesus. They carried deep sorrow. Jesus had died on a cross with no tender kisses at his bedside, no words of gratitude from loved ones, no assurance that the Good for which he had lived would continue beyond his death. He was alone on a cross, derided, shamed, and physically pained as he carried that heavy cross, wearing a crown of thorns, and finally dying in a painful and scandalous way. It was finished. He had died a horrible death, separated from those he loved, and even deserted. When the women went to the tomb, they went because they loved Jesus and they needed to care for him and mourn. They never expected the tomb to be empty.
Tombs of fear and illness are all around us now in the spread of COVID-19, yet people of compassion still go to the tombs. Health care professionals, hospital workers, researchers, firefighters, paramedics, police, shelter directors, and grocery store workers enter spaces where they are daily exposed to the coronavirus. Yet, they care for others – cleaning hospitals, giving patients their best care, seeking cures, responding to emergencies, intervening with families caught in escalating cycles of abuse, keeping grocery stores stocked for others, and then returning to their own homes with the fear that they too will fall ill and infect their families. They spend their days in tombs of tragedy with many hopes, but no simple promises of a happy ending.
The Lenten journey ends at the cross and the tomb. Yet, the cross and tomb are not the final word. Resurrection is coming, not to end the coronavirus in an immediate and dramatic way, but to herald the good news that God is still alive in the world. The good news of Easter is Jesus’s resurrection – the rising of Jesus’s spirit that will not die. Yet the story of Easter begins when the women who loved Jesus went to the tomb to anoint the body (Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12). They had no expectation of the Risen Christ, nor any expectation of personal gain. They simply went because they loved. The resurrection story begins with these women – with their compassion and care.
In this time of pandemic, job loss, loneliness, crowded living conditions for many, and unequal access to health care, people still approach tragic tombs with compassion. People serve in nursing homes and homeless shelters, street ministries and food banks, centers of health care and public service, homes and neighborhoods, congregations, advocacy networks, and all forms of virtual communication. The scattered School of Theology community is itself engaged in acts of compassion wherever people are suffering, and we daily see moments of Easter breakthrough. God is alive in the world, even in the midst of tragedy. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
As Christians traverse Holy Week and Jews honor Passover, we travel in the unfamiliar landscape of the coronavirus, marked by waiting. I offer the poem below as a meditation on waiting – full-bodied and full-spirited waiting. May this Holy season be a Holy journey for you and yours, and may the time of waiting awaken you to God and the tiny sure glimpses of God’s Spirit breathing life into our suffering human family.
“Waiting in a Coronavirus World”
Waiting
Waiting for the pain to begin,
Waiting for the pain to end,
Waiting and knowing how many lives
Are suffering and will suffer
Dying in lonely isolation
Living in worry and fear,
Waiting and knowing that God is with us and for us,
Yet we wait …
Angry waiting Angry that people with Asian faces are persecuted, even killed,
Angry that the death toll falls hardest on African American lives,
Angry that unprotected health care workers face dangers every day,
Angry that people in service industries have to risk their lives
so others can access food and basic needs.
Sick-and-tired waiting Tired of unresponsive public leaders and unconcerned citizens,
Tired of mindless interference with public leaders who boldly seek to respond,
Tired of political competition in place of compassionate cooperation,
Tired of blame in the place of shame and action,
Tired of profiteers who endanger lives for their own reward.
Hopeful waiting Hoping for deliverance from slavery, as recounted in Passover meals,
Hoping to escape the crucifixion story
and the terrible memories of disciples deserting Jesus
and the wretched awareness that we too desert Jesus –
Jesus in the poor, Jesus in our loved ones, Jesus in migrants,
prisoners, persons living on the streets, and neighbors
who have lost their jobs or health, even their lives.
Memory-filled waiting Memories of Hebrew people delivered from slavery,
Memories of Jesus whose radical love cost him his life,
and disciples who loved Jesus but deserted him anyway,
Memories of Jesus who faced a last supper, a trial, an angry mob, and death,
Who died on a cross pleading “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”[i]
And yet forgave a thief on a nearby cross
and commended his spirit to God;
And memories of Jesus lying in a tomb
While people waited in despair!
And now we wait for Easter … waiting in silence and grief, reaching toward hope … Seeking ways to focus on what is truly important,
Seeking ways to hold and care for others,
to treasure acts of kindness and courage,
Seeking in silence and prayer
and in the active giving of love on this uncharted trail
toward healing and justice and wholeness.
In this Holy season, may your waiting be touched by the Holy
who loves you beyond all bounds!
"In the Gospel accounts, Holy Saturday’s witness is enacted in the stumbling steps of Mary. Like many mourners on the front lines of the pandemic, her body is weighed down with grief," writes Dr. Rambo. "Her eyes filled with tears, she cannot see clearly."
Professor Karen B. Westerfield Tucker and Associate Professor Shelly Rambo have been keeping busy at home. Not only are they teaching their full class schedules remotely, but they are working with other church and faith leaders to write resources for pastors and chaplains to use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was involved with several other UMC [leaders] to produce the Ministry Matters Resource," says Professor Westerfield Tucker. This important article offers resources for not only specific events during Holy Week and Eastertide but also possibilities of congregational participation over the internet.
Dr. Montague Williams (STH ’18) was presented with the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Wesleyan Theological Society at its annual meeting on March 7, 2020. This award is given to the individual whose doctoral dissertation is deemed an outstanding scholarly contribution to a research area related to the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition. The Wesleyan Theological Society grants this award periodically to recognize scholarship that contributes to concerns and issues that it deems are of great importance. Dr. Williams’ dissertation is entitled "Youth Ministry and Race: A Practical Theological Analysis."
School of Theology Associate Professor Shelly Rambo is a senior advisor for the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (CIL). CIL has many resources to assist chaplains during the current COVID-19 crisis, including articles and webinars. Please visit their resources page here for further information.
Dr. Rambo “is excited to share this link to resources that are being generated and creatively employed by chaplains working to respond to the spiritual needs of persons and communities most impacted by COVID-19. We hold all of these ‘spiritual first-responders’ in our prayers.”
This article was originally published on BU Today. Read the full article here.
New date uncertain, but leaders determined to hold in-person graduation
Boston University is postponing its 147th Commencement and related events, originally scheduled for May 15 to 17, 2020, to either late August or early fall, bowing to safety needs amid the coronavirus pandemic, President Robert A. Brown announced Thursday.
For the 7,200 soon-to-be graduates, it’s sure to be emotionally wrenching news, the postponement of a milestone moment in their young lives—a ceremony they’ve been anticipating not just for weeks and months, but for years. The date that’s been marked on their calendars, when their friends and family would see them walking proudly onto Nickerson Field, draped in a red gown, excited to fling their mortarboards into the air, is suddenly in flux.
“I made the postponement decision with a heavy heart, but I am also mindful of the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and our public safety obligations,” Robert A. Brown, BU president, wrote in a letter to graduates and their families. “Regrettably, it is impossible to be definitive about a date until the epidemic subsides and we feel it will be safe to hold the exercises.” He pledged to update the community by May 1.
This article was originally published at resourceumc.org. Find the full article here.
General Conference to move to 2021
Commission on the General Conference
March 23, 2020 – Nashville, Tenn.: Subsequent to theannouncementby the Executive Committee of the Commission on the General Conference that the 2020 General Conference will be postponed, the full Commission met March 21, 2020 to determine next steps to take in setting a new date.
After hearing recommendations from Sara Hotchkiss, Business Manager of the General Conference, and discussion of possible alternatives, the Commission made a determination that the General Conference will not meet in 2020 as originally planned and elected to work toward setting a date in 2021.
“As we looked at the complex issues that we will need to navigate to reschedule the event and the lack of options available, it does not appear feasible to plan for 2020,” said Kim Simpson, chair of the Commission. “These issues include the undetermined length of the pandemic, uncertainty around travel bans in different areas of the world, delays in processing visas due to government and business closures and other questions.”
In giving direction for next steps, the Commission resolved that holding the event in Minneapolis is a high priority and authorized the business manager to pursue negotiations regarding other dates available at the Minneapolis Convention Center in 2021.
