Fellows News: Winter 2012

Devon Anderson (2007) has been called as the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, Minnesota.  She began her work on December 5. 

Claude Barbre (1995) presented “The Haunted Playwright: Madness, Melancholy, and Trauma in Shakespeare’s Hamlet” in October as part of the Shakespeare the Psychologist year-long lecture series at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. This January, as part of the Community Impact Conference, Claude will interview directors and producers Brad Besser, Vince Clemente and Dan Billups about their new documentary The World of Z: Art, Insanity, And Love through Cinematic Lens—a four-year journey into the eccentric life of Chicago manic-depressive artist Zbigniew Fiks (www.zdocumentary.drupalgardens.com ). Claude is Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Department, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

John Dally (1988) was the keynote speaker for the convention of the Diocese of Oregon November 10-12 in Salem.  His book, Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God (Alban Institute, 2008) had been purchased for clergy of the diocese by the Rt. Rev. Michael Hanley, Dally's former doctoral student. His presentations were collectively titled "Still at Hand: Welcoming the Reign of God into Our Midst."

Ellen Davis (1984) spoke in November at Grace Cathedral’s forum on “Bible, Food and Sustainability.” Dr. Ellen F. Davis is an author and professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. Her most recent book, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible integrates biblical studies with a critique of industrial agriculture and food production. 

Joseph Duggan (2008) is the founding series editor for Palgrave Macmillan's new Postcolonialism and Religions series. The first volume, Decolonizing the Body of Christ: theology and theory after empire?, co-edited by David Joy and Joseph Duggan, will be published in spring 2012.  

Leander Harding’s (1986) article “Choose Inclusive Justice” was recently published in The Living Church. Writing about the Episcopal Church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops’ recent review of the actions of the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence, bishop of South Carolina, Harding writes “The members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops are unlikely to conclude that they can ignore their responsibilities under what many are now recognizing is a very flawed law.” The abandonment claim against the bishop of South Carolina has since been dismissed. Leander is also presently working on a book of meditations on the priesthood, doing research on the ecumenical and missionary theology of Lesslie Newbigin, and he will serve as the summer chaplain at Trinity Chapel in Kennebunk Beach, Maine.

Earl Kooperkamp (1985) was one of 30 people arrested in October while protesting against the New York Police Department’s Stop and Frisk policy, a policy which a New York Civil Liberties Union analysis has described as disproportionately targeting blacks and Latinos. “The analyses found that more than 80 percent of those stopped are black or Latino, and that over 85 percent are totally innocent at the time of the search, according to the police department’s own reports.” Earl is also mentioned in the following New York Times article on Trinity Wall Street’s response to Occupy Wall Street protestors.

Ann Lammers (1983) served as editor and translator for the recently published book The Jung-Kirsch Letters. This is her second book on Jung’s correspondence, the first being The Jung-White Letters which was published by Routledge in 2007 and which received significant praise in the Journal of Analytical Psychology. The review notes “Lammers, exceptionally, was allowed sight of White's letters by the Jung heirs, who were so impressed by the quality of her work that they judged Jung's preconditions for release of the letters to have been met, and allowed the present co-editors to prepare this volume of both sides of the correspondence.” Ann is a licensed psychotherapist in California and will soon be licensed in New Hampshire.

Mary June Nestler (1987) spoke in November at Mormon Stories’ “Circling the Wagons”, a three-day conference dedicated to the issues of homosexuality within LDS faith and culture.

Lesley A. Northup (1982) has been named permanent dean of the Florida International University Honors College. Prior to her appointment, Lesley had served as Interim Dean there for a number of years. 

William H. Petersen (1970) has been serving as interim consultant in the Ecumenical and Interfaith Office while the Episcopal Church is between Ecumenical Officers. This summer he concluded 18 years of service on the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission at its meeting in Jerusalem.

Ephraim Radner (1990) published “Covenants and Fragments” in the January 2012 issue of The Living Church. Ephraim writes “The recently disclosed rupture in the relationship of the Rwandan House of Bishops and bishops of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, although hardly yet resolved or completely transparent, illumines at least a couple of key elements about ecclesial existence, especially among Anglicans.”

Jane Shaw’s (1991) book Octavia, Daughter of God: The Story of a Female Messiah and Her Followers was reviewed by Adam Kirsch on Salon.com. In his article, “The lunatic cult that history forgot”, Kirsch writes “Concentrating on the first two decades of the Panacea Society’s existence, Shaw explains how its extraordinary eccentricity was rooted in and reflected wider British culture. Octavia’s preaching of a female-centered Christianity, she shows, fit nicely with the feminism and spiritual experimentation of the period.”

Carolyn Sharp (1994) wrote the reflection “Magnificat for a Broken World” for the Huffington Post this past December. She asks “What does it mean to wait for God in a broken world? What does it mean to wait in a time in which God's promise of redemption is met by the despair of the poor, the greed of those who exploit others, and the rage of those who commit violence? What does Advent mean for the real world?”

Stephanie Spellers (2008) spoke on “Anglican Remixed: Embracing our Traditions and Embracing the Other” in October at Grace Cathedral’s forum in San Francisco, CA. Stephanie was later featured in video and in news articles in her role as protest chaplain at the Occupy Boston protests.

Charles Stang (2002) delivered the Sternberg Lecture on the Study of Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on November 13, 2011.  The topic was "Doubting Thomas, between Athens and Berlin."