MILESTONES

The Rev. Phil Tom (M.Div., Class of 1976) has been appointed by the White House and Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis to serve as the Director for the Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives for the Department of Labor.  The office he will serve is one of twelve Cabinet level Faith-based offices that is coordinated by the White House Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership Office. Tom has been serving as associate for Small Church and Community Ministry in the PCUSA’s General Assembly Evangelism and Church Growth ministry area.

The Rev. Benjamin Larson-Wolbrink (M.Div., Class of 2004) will be installed as Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Beacon, New York, on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

The Rev. Elizabeth Knott (Class of 1963) is one of four women honored with the 2010 Women of Faith Awards by the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The women will be honored at the Women of Faith Breakfast on July 4, 2010 during the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Rev. Shawna Bowman (M.Div., Class of 2009) was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA on March 20 at First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. She is currently serving as a chaplain at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

The Rev. Patricia Locke (M.Div., Class of 2007) was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA on March 20 at First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton, Illinois. Pat was called as Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven, Michigan, where she has been serving since January.

The Rev. Malene Minor Johnson (M.Div., Class of 2005), has accepted a call to Third Baptist Church of Chicago as Staff Minister.

In March, the Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz (M.Div., Class of 2005) joined The Fund for Theological Education in Atlanta as Director of the Leading Generations Initiative.

Filmmaker David Barnhart’s (M.Div., Class of 2005) Tsunami documentary, Kepulihan: Stories from the Tsunami, has been chosen for a documentary slot on ABC and will be broadcast in the fall of this year. The project has a new executive producer and a new Web site for the project at thetsunamifilm.com.

The Rev. Dr. Larry A. Brookins (M.A.T.S., Class of 2008) has published It’s All About The Kingdom, Vol. I. Purchase it at www.authorhouse.com, or by visiting amazon.com and other online outlets.

The Rev. Susan d’Olive Mozena (M.Div., Class of 2009) was ordained on December 5 at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church.  She serves as coordinator of adult education at Gross Point. She reports that she was “honored to have Fred Holper preach the sermon at the ordination service.” In addition to her work at church, she hopes to be a hospital chaplain once she completes four units of CPE and becomes a certified chaplain.  Meanwhile, she continues her work as director of Behavioral Health at a local hospital.

Daniel Sack (M.Div., Class of 1989) has published a new book, Moral Re-Armament: The Reinventions of an American Religious Movement (Palgrave). He has also been elected to the Board of the Society for Values in Higher Education, a fellowship of teachers and others who care deeply about ethical issues – such as integrity, diversity, social justice and civic responsibility – facing higher education and the wider society. Sack is an administrator at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

The Rev. Joseph J. Genau (M.Div., Class of 2007) was ordained on January 10, 2010 at Collegiate Presbyterian in Ames, Iowa.  He was ordained to the CPE Residency he’s doing at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

The congregation of Normal Park Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, honored their pastor the Rev. Dr. Gregory S. Hardaway (M.A.T.S., Class of 1996, D.Min., Class of 2001) with a special worship service and banquet last fall.

The Rev. Luke Jones Roske-Metcalfe (M.Div., Class of 2008) was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in Tucson, Arizona, on October 11, 2009. Preaching and representing four generations of Jones family ministers was the Rev. David Bebb Jones (M.Div., Class of 1962). Luke and his wife, Andrea, are now on a four year assignment in Mexico City for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  Andrea coordinates all Lutheran volunteers in Mexico and Luke works with mission groups to interpret the issues and needs of Mexicans. Both previously served as Young Adult Volunteers for Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations.

The Presbytery of New Hope’s Administrative Commission has led Northgate Presbyterian Church to yoke with Iglesia Presbiteriana Emanuel under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Julio Ramirez-Eve (M.Div., Class of 1996). Both congregations use the same facilities under the leadership of the same pastor and have services in English and Spanish. Rev. Ramirez was installed as Pastor of Northgate Presbyterian on December 6.

Last fall, Jennifer (M.Div., Class of 2007) and Nate (M.Div., Class of 2009) Soule-Hill were named Co-Pastors of Family of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greeley, Colorado.

The Rev. Dawn H. Haeger (M.Div., Class of 2003) was installed as Associate Pastor of Congregational Life and Youth Ministry for The Presbyterian Church of Barrington, Illinois, on Sunday, October 25, 2009.

On October 18, the Rev. Jeff Binder (M.Div., Class of 2009) was ordained and installed as the Associate Pastor for Christian Education and Youth at First Presbyterian Church of Tequesta, Florida.

The Rev. Mark Bedford (M.Div., Class of 2003) is serving as Pastor for the New Windsor Presbyterian Church, New Windsor, Ilinois. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Chicago on October 25.

Last September, Guillermo Yela (M.Div., Class of 2008) was ordained at Second Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and installed as the mission developer of the Ecumenical Southwest Mesa Hispanic Development. The Development represents a cooperative venture by local Presbyterians and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

OBITUARIES

Clinton D. Morrison, Jr. (Class of 1948) died March 8 at the age of 78 at Corvallis Manor in Corvallis, Oregon. Read the full obituary written by his son, Clinton III here.

Former McCormick President David Ramage (Class of 1955) died on Sunday, February 14, in Fairfax, Virginia, after a prolonged illness. He was 79. Read more on Dr. Ramage’s life and legacy here and here.

The Rev. Dr. Arthur David Seeland (D.Min., Class of 1977) died on October 23, 2009. He is survived by his widow, Mary Ann Seeland.

The Rev. John B. Wintermute (Class of 1944) passed away on October 3, 2009.  Rev. Wintermute was a retired United Presbyterian USA minister with pastorates in Selmer and Savannah, Tennessee, Chicago, Las Animas and Rocky Ford, Colorado, and Kansas City, Kansas. A full obituary is available here.

Anita Faye (Cone) Blaisdell (Class of 1964) died on November 22, 2009 at her home in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She was 72 years old. Anita is survived by her husband, the Rev. R. Carter Blaisdell (Class of 1965), their four children and nine grandchildren. Read the full obituary here.

The Rev. David C. Turnbull  (Class of 1964) died on October 26, 2009.

The Rev. Dr. Goedeking (Class of 1956) died on November 8, 2009 at his home in Bad Bentheim, Germany.

The Rev. Samuel Gladson Maben (M.A.T.S., Class of 2003) died November 29, 2009 in Mumbai (Bombay), India.

Rev. Thomas E. Dietrich (Class of 1958, Distinguished Alumnus, 1994) of Oconomowoc, Michigan, age 78 years, died on November 29, 2009. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy G. (Gamber) Dietrich (MATS, Class of 1983), daughter Karen K. Dietrich, Corte Madera, CA., and son Rev. Stephen T. Dietrich (Dr. Ursula Bechert and her son Sean) of Corvallis, Oregon.  He is also survived by his sister, Marlea Sechtig of West Bend.

The Rev. Mary J. Duckert (Class of 1953), an author, children’s worker and Christian educator who touched the lives of countless Presbyterians during a decades-long career, died Oct. 25 in Portland, Ore., after suffering a stroke a month earlier.

The Rev. Dr. Hiley H. Ward (Class of 1955), 80, died on October 1, 2009. Dr. Ward is survived by his wife, Joan Bastel, two daughters, a sister, two  brothers, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.  Click here to read a full obituary.

- by Grayson Van Camp, Director of Alumni/ae Relations