Seminary News 
      

Faculty Notes

from a recent edition of Praxis

Ibrahim Abu-Rabi’ is on sabbatical this semester. He received a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach “National-Building, Multiculturalism, Secularism and Religion in Contemporary Singapore” at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Efrain Agosto's book, Servant Leadership: Jesus and Paul (Chalice Press) came out in late November 2005.  He lectured on it at the Seminary on January 26 and has preached and spoken on leadership issues in various churches and organizations since then, including Immanuel Congregational (February), Church of St. Mary (March) and the Christian Conference of Churches board meeting (March). In March, Agosto did a workshop on leadership at a Stewardship conference in Worcester, MA, and a Latino Leadership Summit in New Jersey. Along with Bishop Jeremias Torres of House of Restoration Church, Agosto introduced a group of local Hartford leaders to Hispanic Pentecostalism as part of the Hartford Religious Landscape series He responded to a study on secularism in the Latino community at a Trinity College forum in March and delivered on address on "Who are the Publics for Theological Research" at an Association of Theological Schools conference on theological research in Pittsburgh in February.

Dale Bishop participated in a forum sponsored by the Middle East Institute of Columbia University in December on the role of missionaries in the Middle East. Papers presented at the forum will be gathered in a forthcoming book to be published by Columbia University Press. He preached at First Congregational UCC in Rhinelander, WI, and Union Congregational UCC in Three Lakes, WI during February and March. Also in March, Bishop presented a workshop on "Our Muslim Neighbors" for "Celebration VII," the UCC New England Women's Gathering in Burlington, VT, and led an event for clergy of the Middlesex Association of the Connecticut Conference of the UCC in Glastonbury, CT.

In March, Steven Blackburn spoke at the Plantsville Congregational Church on “Islam and Christianity: Two Abrahamic Religions” as part of their Lenten series.

Kelton Cobb participated in the January term "Building Abrahamic Partnerships" course at the Seminary, and began his spring sabbatical in February to pursue research on a new book that examines historic blunders in the church's past and how these came to be recognized by Christians and addressed.  In March, he attended a Wabash Center meeting on "Education Clergy," and gave a paper on H. Richard Niebuhr and Said Nursi at a workshop in Istanbul.

Carl Dudley preached at the United Methodist Church of Hartford in January.  He coordinated the Seminary’s eight-week series on religion in Hartford, “The Hartford Religious Landscape from Within: On Site, In Person,” in February and March. Dudley lectured on Congregational Studies for Orthodox Churches at Hellenic College, Brookline, MA, in February; participated in a conversation of the Congregational Studies Project Team in Miami Beach in March; and consulted with the Presbytery Executives, Synod of the Northeast, PCUSA, in March. Also in March, he was the speaker for the Monmouth Presbytery, New Jersey.

In December, Heidi Hadsell preached locally at two congregations and published an article, “The Vigorous Practice of Being Citizens” in New England Watershed, December 2005-January 2006. Hadsell traveled to Geneva, Switzerland in January to attend a meeting of the Committee on the Content of Ethics Education, Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children, Arigatou Foundation. In February, Hadsell attended the World Council of Churches Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She made presentations on (1) Interfaith Theological Education at Hartford Seminary, (2) the Content of Ethics Education for the Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children, and (3) her new book Beyond Idealism: A Way Ahead for Ecumenical Social Ethics which she edited with Robin Gurney and Lewis Mudge and for which she wrote a chapter. In March, Hadsell attended the Globethics.net board meeting in Beirut, Lebanon. At a workshop there co-sponsored by the board and the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue, she presented a paper on “The Use of Scriptures for Conflict Resolution in a General Christian Perspective.” Later in March, she spoke on “The Role of Religious Minorities in Pluralistic Societies” at the Centennial Conference of the American Waldensian Society in New York City.

Uriah Kim finished a chapter to be included in the second edition of Judges and Method (ed. Gale Yee; Fortress Press; forthcoming), wrote an article, “Making Enemies Out of Neighbors,” for Zion’s Herald and wrote a review article, “Time to Walk the Postcolonial Talk,” of The Postcolonial Biblical Reader for Reviews in Religion and Theology. In December, Kim gave a public lecture at Hartford Seminary entitled “King Josiah’s Death: The Politics of Interpretation and Identity,” which was based on his book, Decolonizing Josiah. In February 1, he gave a lecture on Hebrew Bible at Saint Joseph College and in March he gave a lecture on Asian American approach to reading the Bible at Yale Divinity School. Kim also participated in the Educating Clergy Conference sponsored by Wabash Center in March. 

Yehezkel Landau took part in several meetings of the Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur. In December, he spoke on “Peace as a Religious Issue in the Holy Land and the Middle East” at Trinity Episcopal Church, Newport, RI. In January, Landau was guest preacher at the Martin Luther King Day memorial service at Williams College, Williamstown, MA. Landau led a seminar for two Muslim Ph.D. candidates on the subject “Particularism and Universalism in Jewish Tradition:  Biblical, Rabbinic, Medieval, and Modern Texts” in February. His March speaking engagements included: A talk on “Healing the Holy Land” at Trinity Episcopal Church, Southport, CT; a presentation in Manhattan entitled “A Religious Zionist Peace Perspective: Halakhic and Political Aspects” at a Sabbath gathering of 300 Orthodox Jewish university students sponsored by Yeshiva University; a presentation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a group of Jewish and Muslim students from Wesleyan University in advance of their joint trip to Istanbul and Jerusalem; a lecture on Islam, Christianity, and interfaith relations as part of a conversion-to-Judaism course at Temple Beth Shalom in Manchester, CT; a speech about the Open House Center for Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Ramle, Israel, at Temple Shalom in Auburn, ME; and a lecture on Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at the Portland campus of Bangor Theological Seminary.

Worth Loomis has been participating in meetings of the Kazanjian Foundation, the Hartford Courant Foundation, Mayor Perez’s Future Workforce Investment System, and Myron Congdon’s project to aid youth in the Asylum Hill area.  As Associate Development Officer, Loomis is helping Lawrence Wilson, director of institutional advancement, meet the Seminary’s constituency.

Speaking engagements for Ian Markham were: (January) As consultant to Leeds Metropolitan University in Great Britain, Markham addressed the staff, faculty and trustees on “Islam in the Modern World.” Two graduates of this university were involved in the July 7 bombings in London. Markham was the keynote speaker on “Religious Diversity and Theological Education” at the Theological Consortium of Columbus, Ohio. He offered a series on “Comparative Religion” at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fairfield, CT. (February) Markham traveled to Istanbul to deliver a paper on “Said Nursi and the State” at the Center for the Study of the Risale-i Nur. He spoke on “Sexuality and the Church” at the First Congregational Church in Watertown, CT. (March) Markham lectured on “Will Episcopalians be Left Behind?” at the adult education forum at St. James' Church, New York City. His publications included: Response to Steven Kepnes in Iqbal Review: Journal of Iqbal Academy of Pakistan, April, October 2005; “Truth and Toleration: Hebblethwaite, Hick, and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi,” in Julius Lipner (ed.) Truth, Religious Dialogue and Dynamic Orthodoxy; and “Global Peace and Justice: The Christian Perspective” in Policy Perspectives, April 2005.

Ingrid Mattson returned from her fall sabbatical having completed much of her book, The Qur’an and its Place in Muslim Societies. Before returning to teaching, Mattson spoke in Colorado Springs at a NORAD-USNORTHCOM conference, “Exploring the Dynamics of Militant Extremism.”  Mattson guest lectured in the January “Building Abrahamic Partnerships” class and this semester, Mattson is teaching “Introduction to Islamic Law” on-line. In February, Mattson appeared on Public Broadcasting System’s NewsHour to comment on the controversy around the 12 cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper. In March, Mattson and Islamic Chaplaincy Program students met with Chaplain Administrator Susan Van Baalen and four other chaplains from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

Doreen McFarlane, Adjunct Professor of Languages, has written her first book, The People are Holy: the History and Theology of Free Church Worship, with Graydon Snyder. It was published last fall.

During December and January, James Nieman reviewed and acted on more than one hundred grant applications as a board member of the Louisville Institute. During February, he finished editing the most recent issue of the International Journal for Practical Theology, for which he is English-language co-editor. This issue will include lead articles on practical theology in Argentina, and a practical theology assessment of research in church leadership and administration. He also began a semester-long review of the Doctor of Ministry program in his role as its director. More recently, the Lilly Endowment awarded Hartford Seminary a $50,000 grant for the “Discerning Theologies” project that he will direct. During March, he presented drafts of the opening chapters of a new book in practical theology during a working group meeting held at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The book is being co-authored with Kathleen Cahalan.

In 2005, Wayne G. Rollins, Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies, published a book review of Matthias Beier’s A Violent God-Image: An Introduction to the Work of Eugene Drewermann in the on-line publication of the Society of Biblical Literature’s Review of Biblical Literature. In May, Rollins delivered the opening lecture at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City on “An Overview of the Work of Walter Wink” in celebration of Wink’s contribution to biblical interpretation. In November he chaired a section on “Personality, Development in the Biblical Context: Heart, Soul, and Mind” in the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.  Late summer saw the publication of his article in French translation on “A Psychological Reading [of the Bible]” in a volume entitled “Guide des Nouvelles Lectures de la Bible.” In October and November as part of a “Season of Conversation on Diversity and Inclusiveness” sponsored by the Task Force on Inclusiveness at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, Rollins preached on “Lessons from the Ark for An Inclusive Church in 2005” and in subsequent weeks delivered lectures at morning and evening sessions on “The Bible, Inclusiveness, and You” and “The Bible, Gays and Straights, and You.”

In early January David Roozen traveled to St Louis to consult with the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Restructure and Blue Ribbon Commission on Mission Funding.  Two weeks later he traveled to Florida for a three-day meeting of the Interdenominational Executive’s Group, a peer support and learning community of chief executive officers from ecumenically oriented North American denominations.  Immediately upon his return to Hartford, he shared in the leadership of the opening session of Yehezkel Landau’s week-long, Building Abrahamic Partnerships.  In early February Roozen provided leadership for the opening session on Mainline Protestanism of the Hartford Religious Landscape from Within: On Site, In Person series, offered in partnership with Leadership Greater Hartford and Program on Public Values, Trinity College.  The end of the month saw the publication of the first issue of Leadership and Transformation during his tenure as editor.  L&T is the electronic newsletter of the Seminary’s Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership. 

Jane Smith was the moderator in December for “Conversations with Our Neighbors of Other Religions: How Faith Shapes our Lives,” at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford, in a program co-sponsored by the Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding and Hartford Seminary. Her speaking engagements included: “Reflections” for Service of Lamentation, St. Patrick/St. Anthony Church, Hartford, in February and five talks in March: “Women and Islam,” Greater Waterbury American Association of University Women, Prospect Public Library; “Immigration and Religion,” Adult Forum, Presbyterian Church, Hartford; “Islam in Greater Hartford,” Islamic Association of Greater Hartford, Berlin, with Imam Ali Antar and Chaplain Sohaib Sultan; “The Faith of Islam: Continuity and Contrast?” School of Social Work, Greater Hartford Campus of the University of Connecticut, West Hartford; and an address to the Muslim Student Association, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

The past few months Scott Thumma has focused on megachurches and the media.  In December, he finished a six-month study of megachurches in the United States.  He released an initial summary report of the information in late January. Following this release Thumma received a flurry of press and media attention.  The survey was mentioned in more than 100 newspapers and magazines, radio programs, TV shows and Internet blogs.  Thumma gave interviews to press associated with the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Morning News, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, CNN, AP and several religion wire services, as well as media in Great Britain, Japan, Australia and France.  He has also accepted invitations to speak several places on his new research which can be found at http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/faith_megachurches.html. This research increased the web traffic to the Harford Institute web site by 100% for the first quarter of 2006.  Thumma presented a paper at the regional Sociological Association meeting in Boston in February, participated in the Faith Communities Today planning meeting and organized and chaired a group of Lilly Endowment funded web sites in Virginia.  In March he spoke at a conference on small churches and then presented a talk on Evangelicalism for the Religion in Hartford project. 

Miriam Therese Winter’s reflection on the challenges of being Catholic was published in the January edition of The American Catholic. In February she visited Texas Lutheran University in Seguin (near San Antonio) to give a keynote lecture on “Poetry as a Means of Social Change” at the university’s annual Philosophy/Theology Symposium and to preside and preach at chapel.

In December, Cynthia Woolever participated in a consultation with the American Bible Society related to congregational practices. In January, she led a daylong intensive workshop for the Episcopal Diocese of New York with clergy/lay leader teams from sixteen parishes as part of a renewal effort underway in the diocese and led a daylong intensive workshop for the Timothy Project, an effort to revitalize congregations by the UCC Massachusetts Conference. Clergy and lay leader teams from ten congregations participated as well as congregational coaches, consultants, and conference staff. Woolever worked with the Episcopal Church Pension Group to launch a national study of Episcopal parishes through use of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, whose goal is a denominational portrayal of the unique strengths of the Episcopal Church and their local congregations. In January, she also reviewed a journal article for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. In March, Woolever co-authored three articles published in the Journal of Beliefs and Values, a special volume on the International Congregational Life Survey, edited by Mandy Robbins: “What Do We Think about Our Future and Does it Matter: Congregational Identity and Vitality,” “The Gender Ratio in the Pews:  Consequences for Congregational Vitality,” “Fast Growing Churches:  What Distinguishes Them from Others.” 

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