Horsch Radish, 209 N. Sangamon Ave. in Gibson City, is this week's pick for Eats of the Week.
Alumni News
Prof. Rady Roldán-Figueroa appointed to Robert Randall Distinguished Professorship at Providence College
Associate Professor of the History of Christianity Rady Roldán-Figueroa was recently appointed to the Robert Randall Distinguished Professorship in Christian Culture at Providence College for the fall 2023 semester. In this role, Prof. Roldán-Figueroa will direct student research, deliver public lectures, and contribute to undergraduate learning in his areas of expertise.
“The Randall Professorship is held by a recognized scholar whose work concentrates on an understanding of culture that embodies a Christian view of human achievement,” said Dean G. Sujin Pak in an announcement to BUSTH faculty and administrators. “Congratulations, Dr. Roldán-Figueroa, for this fine recognition of your scholarship, teaching, and academic leadership!”
Early Childhood Teacher, Gig (Paid Per Appearance), Unitarian Universalist: Cambridge, MA
First Parish is looking for a warm, engaging Early Childhood Teacher to support Religious Education on Sunday mornings, along with occasional additional events. This teacher, along with an assistant, cares for the youngest children, age four and under, during the Sunday worship service, as well as supervising children whose parents are occupied with worship preparation or classes prior to the service or directly after. The childcare program engages children in creative activities, songs, stories, and safe play. Childcare is provided from 9:00 to 1:00, although most children will attend nursery during the church service, from 11-12:15. Coverage preceding or after the service may include elementary age children, and the teacher may be asked to assist the elementary educator as needed, especially if there are no nursery children on a given Sunday.
Pay is $100 for 4 hours on Sunday mornings and $25/hour for additional occasional family events.
The ideal candidate will have experience in early childhood education and childcare, particularly with working with groups, as well as experience with neurodiversity and inclusivity. A gentle, kind, playful approach is a must.
Job Duties:
Engage children in creative activities, stories, and safe play
Supervise volunteers and any assisting staff
Create a warm and welcoming environment for children and parents
Set up and clean up the nursery classroom
Maintain attendance log for the nursery classroom
May be asked to assist at family events, holidays, field trips, and all-church special events at times other than Sunday mornings
Work collaboratively with other staff to register children, track attendance, and implement safety policies, such as our Safe Congregational Policy.
Communicate with parents regarding any specific child needs
Check in with the Director of Ministries for Families and Children each Sunday morning.
Assist in the elementary classroom if no nursery children are present.
To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Jobs@FirstParishCambridge.org. Please no phone calls regarding this position.
Additional Information: https://www.firstparishcambridge.org/job-openings/
Elementary Educator, Gig (Paid Per Appearance), Unitarian Universalist: Cambridge, MA
First Parish in Cambridge is looking for an Elementary Educator to support Religious Education on Sunday mornings, along with occasional additional events. This position is the Lead Educator for the elementary classroom, reporting to the Director of Ministries for Families and Children. The elementary educator implements the curricula and lesson plans with a volunteer assistant, assists with religious education events such as church services, special family events, and field trips, encouraging spiritual exploration. Religious Education takes place during the church service on Sunday mornings, which is at 11:00AM. Meetings and preparation take place during the week. The position is at least 5 hours/week, but if there is an additional family event – like a congregation picnic, movie night, or a Harvard Square street fair – more hours would be required. $125/week and $25/hour for additional occasional family events.
The ideal candidate will have experience with elementary age children, education, leading group activities including music, art and games, working with neurodiversity, and stepping forward to support social justice, as well as a knowledge of or willingness to learn about Unitarian Universalism.
Job Duties:
Preparation for Sunday morning activities
Implement lesson plans with the children
Supervise volunteers and any assisting staff
Create a warm and welcoming environment for children and parents
Set up and clean up the elementary classroom
Maintain attendance log for the elementary classroom
Help with A Time for All Ages during the service on Sunday mornings
Assist at family events, holidays, field trips, and all-church special events
Research stories and activities supporting the lesson plans, along with the Director of Ministries for Families and Children.
Work collaboratively with other staff to register children, track attendance, and implement safety policies, such as our Safe Congregation Policy.
Communicate with parents regarding any specific child needs
To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Jobs@firstparishcambridge.org. Please no phone calls regarding this position.
Additional Information: https://www.firstparishcambridge.org/job-openings/
Worship Leader, Part-Time, American Baptist: Jamaica Plain, MA
The First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain Worship Leader Job Description
GENERAL UNDERSTANDINGS:
Music is a vital part of the life of faith. In coordination with the pastor, the Worship Leader exercises an important ministry that reaches out to all members of the congregation and the community. To this end:
- The Worship Leader agrees to recognize and facilitate the pastoral dimension of this position by serving as a minister, educator, and principal musician of this congregation.
- The Worship Leader and the Pastors agree to meet regularly so as to affect collegiality in the ministry of music.
HOURS OF WORK:
4-5 hours per week--including Sunday mornings and other hours as required (worship planning or staff meetings)
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
Compensation is $8,000/year, paid bi-weekly. At this time there are no other benefits associated with this position. Both the Worship Leader and the Church may terminate employment at will, but recognize that 30 days of advance written notice is preferable.
MAJOR AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:
- Support the mission and ministry of our intergenerational, multi-cultural, welcoming and affirming congregation.
- Lead singing and music for weekly worship services and special occasions in the life of the church. An understanding of Christian worship and a wide musical repertoire is expected (hymnody, gospel, jazz, folk, world, classical, pop/rock etc.)
- Work as a team with the pastors, pianist and other staff to coordinate, plan and integrate music into the life of the church.
- Facilitate and encourage participation of church members in the musical life of the church, for example, congregational singing, musical groupings (e.g. choir) and soloists/instrumentalists.
- Bring in guest musicians as needed. Assist in finding a substitute when necessary.
- Communicate with staff and volunteers as required, provide resources and advice for pastor and church members, attend occasional meetings.
CONTACT
Please email a cover letter and resume to Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird at pastor@firstbaptistjp.org
We hope to hire immediately.
First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain is a multi-cultural, theologically progressive, welcoming and affirming congregation.
BUSTH Announces Distinguished Alumni for 2023
The Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is pleased to announce this year’s Distinguished Alumni for 2023. A list of previous winners can be found on the BUSTH website.
“The Distinguished Alumni this year really set the bar high!” says G. Sujin Pak, dean. “Their efforts have traversed international borders, impacting communities across the globe for social good from South Africa and Austria to Indonesia to the Pacific Ocean to Puerto Rico. They exemplify the ways that courageous, compassionate advocacy fosters concentric circles of transformation toward peace and justice. I am grateful for the ways they embody and bear witness to ethical leadership, theological education, military chaplaincy, and liberation theologies. Each offers a stunning vision of hope for a hurting world.”
A celebration of these alums and their achievements will be part of our annual Community Day, scheduled for Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
2023 School of Theology Distinguished Alumni
Walter E. Fluker, Ph.D. (GRS'88, STH'88)
Reverend Dr. Septemmy Eucharistia Lakawa (STH'11)
Reverend John Michio Miyahara, BCC, CDR, CHC, USN (STH'95)
In the category of Emerging Leader:
Dr. Yara González-Justiniano (STH'14,'19)
2023 Distinguished Alumni Biographies
Walter Earl Fluker (1988, PhD) is the founder of Walter Earl Fluker & Associates. He serves as Distinguished 
Professor of the Howard Thurman Center, Hartford University for Religion and Peace; Dean’s Professor of Spirituality, Ethics and Leadership, Candler School of Theology, Emory University; Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership (formerly the Martin Luther King, Jr Chair) at Boston University and the editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project. He was founding executive director of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership Center and the Coca-Cola Professor of Leadership Studies at Morehouse College. Dr. Fluker is a featured consultant, speaker, lecturer and workshop leader at foundations, businesses, corporations, colleges, universities, governmental and religious institutions, nationally and globally. Among many prestigious honors and awards, Dr. Fluker was recently chosen as the 2023 Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom of Worship Award Laureate.
His publications include Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility and Community (2009); The Ground Has Shifted: The Future of the Black Church in Post-Racial America (2016) and the multi-volume series entitled The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, published by University of South Carolina Press (2009-2016). He is also the editor of the recently released, The Unfinished Search for Common Ground(2023).
He earned a PhD in Social Ethics from Boston University, a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Seminary, a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and the Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa, Lees-McRae College, Banner Elk, North Carolina. He is married to Dr. Sharon Watson Fluker and is the father of four children and seven grandchildren.
Rev. Dr. Septemmy Eucharistia Lakawa (2011, ThD) received her Doctor of Theology from Boston University School of Theology in 2011.
Dr. Lakawa is the first female president of Jakarta Theological Seminary (2019–2023), the oldest Protestant/ecumenical seminary in Indonesia. One of her contributions has been establishing the foundation for the twenty-year Grand Plan of Jakarta Theological Seminary (2022–2042). The first phase is a five-year program called Green Campus Blue Seminary (2022–2027), which is oriented toward ecological sustainability and habituation. Her leadership has also initiated and integrated mental and spiritual health approaches into the spiritual-ecumenical life at the seminary. She is an associate professor of Mission Studies, Feminist Theology, and Trauma Theology. She is also a World Vision of Indonesia board member.
Her research and work on the intersections of mission studies, feminist constructive theology, trauma theology, the role of art in trauma healing, and interfaith women’s networks have been her main contributions to shaping theological, ecumenical, and interfaith discourse and collaboration within and beyond Indonesia. This includes her work as a research associate under a fellowship from the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School (2015–2016). Her latest book, published in the Indonesian language, is Compassion and Trauma: A New Imagination of Christian Mission, with a foreword by Professor Dana L. Robert, and her most recent article is titled “Toward a Blue Missiology: Theological Education as Eco-Missional Formation” published in the journal Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies.
Rev. John Michio Miyahara (1995, MDiv) is a native of Denver, CO, but now claims Honolulu, HI, as his hometown. 
In 1995 he graduated from the Boston University School of Theology and the same year was also ordained Deacon in the former Rocky Mountain Annual Conference. Rev. Miyahara was ordained Elder in 1998. In 2017 he transferred his membership to the California-Pacific Annual Conference. Throughout his ministry career he has served on annual conference and denominational leadership teams.
Rev. Miyahara served parish churches in Washington State and Colorado from 1995-2001. In 2001 he moved to Carlisle, PA, where he was the Director of Religious Life & Community Services at Dickson College until 2007.
Chaplain Miyahara entered the Navy reserve in 2001 and went to full-time active duty in 2007. He has been assigned to shore and operational billets in Earle, NJ, Norfolk, VA, Quantico, VA, New Orleans, LA, Pensacola, FL, Washington DC, Guam, San Diego, CA, Pearl Harbor, HI, and Bremerton, WA. CDR Miyahara is currently stationed in San Diego, CA.
John’s higher education includes an A.A. (Marymount College-1986), B.A. (Loyola Marymount University-1989), MDiv (Boston University-1995), and a MA (US Naval War College-2023). He is currently a DMin student at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Chaplain Miyahara earned 4 Units of CPE in 2015 at the Naval Medical Center San Diego. In December 2022 he completed the MHICS (Mental Health Integration for Chaplain Services) Certificate, a joint program between the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He is a Board-Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains.
John currently lives in San Diego with his wife Andrea and their son Ben.
Emerging Leader
Yara González-Justiniano (2014 & 2019, MDiv & PhD) is Assistant Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture with emphasis in Latinx Studies at Vanderbilt University. She is also affiliated faculty of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies.
She received a PhD in Theological Studies with concentration in church and society from Boston University School of Theology, where she also received her Master of Divinity. At the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. González-Justiniano earned a BA in Audiovisual Communications with a concentration on film; she also double majored in theater and modern languages. Her educational journey of interdisciplinarity inform the ways in which she approaches theological studies. She is also currently under care in the ordination process with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the New England region.
Her most recent publication Centering Hope as a Sustainable Decolonial Practice: Esperanza en Práctica (2022), wrestles with answering the question of what does hope look like amid socioeconomic crises. Her interdisciplinary approach to this inquiry grounds itself in ethnographic research in hopes of finding practices that enable a hope that can sustain the collective.
Dr. Sheila A. Otieno (STH’21) Honored with Endowed Professorship at Elon University
The following is an excerpt from the Today at Elon article “Five Elon faculty members honored with endowed professorships” by Trajan Warren, featuring alum Dr. Sheila A. Otieno (STH'21), published on August 15, 2023.
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Sheila Otieno has been honored with the Distinguished Emerging Scholar in Religious Studies professorship.
Otieno teaches religion and religious ethics focusing on African and African American religion. As a comparative ethicist, her research and teaching areas center on alternative belonging and indigenous epistemologies, particularly those which generate social change and transform moral behavior.
Reverend Vernon Walker (STH’16) Running for Cambridge City Council
The following information comes from Reverend Vernon Walker's
campaign website, which can be found here.
STH '16 Alum, Reverend Vernon Walker, has announced his candidacy for Cambridge City Council.
Reverend Walker has been endorsed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Greater Boston Labor Council, the Run on Climate, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and the Boston Plasterers and Cement Masons.
Samuel Green Horsch (STH’19) Opens Horsch Radish
The following is an excerpt from The Pantagraph article “German fare with a twist at Gibson City's Horsch Radish” by Olivia Jacobs, featuring alum Samuel Green Horsch (STH'19), published on April 25, 2023.
Image credit to Horschradish.
The German restaurant, co-owned by Sam Horsch and his parents Barb and Dwaine Horsch, opened Aug. 4. Sam Horsch said the restaurant offers premium meat and produce — and it's not traveling far.
"We're getting most of our produce and meats from farmers, some just five miles east of here, so it's coming very locally," said Sam Horsch, a sixth-generation farmer from Gibson City. "It's a really great way for people to support their local farmers. Beyond that, we are also a restaurant that is committed to, as much as possible, doing full service."
Sam Horsch said one of his biggest drives in life has been to figure out ways to feed people. His grandfather was president of the Gibson City bank board when the original owners of the community's previous German restaurant, Bayern Stube, were given a loan to open it. He has many childhood memories of eating at Bayern Stube, which means "Bavarian Hall" or "meeting room" in German.
Reverend Dr. Alfred J. Hubler (STH ’57)
This obituary was originally posted by The Plain Dealer and can be found here.
Alfred "Al" Hubler, age 91, of Wesleyan Village, Elyria, passed away July 31, 2023. He was born July 3, 1932 in Cleveland, OH, to Barbara (Kusa) and Lloyd E. Hubler, Sr. Al graduated from Garfield Heights High School in 1950. He received degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1954, and Boston University School of Theology in 1957. Baldwin Wallace University honored him with a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1995. Al and Lois Malish (GHHS '49) met at Garfield Heights Methodist Youth Fellowship. They were married on Sept 6, 1952, and enjoyed 68 years of marriage. Lois passed away in May 2021. Their survivors include daughters Barbara S Hubler of Pacifica, CA, and Sandra J Scherrens (Morrie), of Newberry, SC; grandchildren Jeffrey (deceased) (Emily), Carly and Dylan; great grandchildren Cedar and Sorrel; his brother-in-law Terry J Malish (Cecile) of Jensen Beach, FL; and nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother, Lloyd E Hubler, Jr (Pauline) of Brookville, OH. As an ordained United Methodist minister, Al, together with his wife, Lois, served UM churches in Warrensburg, OH (1952-54), Waltham, MA (1955-57), Bennett's Corners (1957-60), Boardman (1960-62), Solon (1962-65), Bellevue First (1965-73), Poland (1973-79), Akron District Superintendent (1979-83), Bay Village from 1983 until their retirement in 1995. They lived in Linwood Park, Vermilion, OH until 2017 when they moved to Wesleyan Village in Elyria. Body donation was made to Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. A memorial service will be held in Bay UM Church in September.
Prof. Nimi Wariboko mentioned in BBC News Afrique on Pentecostalism
The following is an excerpt from BBC News Afrique’s article “The Song of the Bell: How the Growth of Christianity in Africa Saves a Family Business” by Ben Henderson of BBC World Service, mentioning Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics Nimi Wariboko, published on August 18, 2023.
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Pentecostal movement
The story of the growth of Christianity in Africa is not complete without mentioning Pentecostalism, the fastest growing religious movement in the world.
Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the direct experience of the presence of God by the believer.
Nimi Wariboko, a Boston University professor and author of books on global Christianity, says the number of Pentecostals on the continent has grown from 107 million in 2006 to 230 million in 2020.
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