MLFlash.org - A Meadville Lombard blog discussing seminary news and direction

Heat Restored to Meadville Lombard Main Building

With installation of a new boiler, operations returned to the Main Building on Meadville Lombard Theological School's campus in Chicago. Installation was finished last week; faculty and staff reoccupied the building on February 17.

The demise of the previous boiler was reported February 8 on this blog.

Provost Sharon Welch to Speak at Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought Conference in California, Feb. 25-26

Provost Dr. Sharon Welch will speak on politics during the Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought Conference in Claremont, California, on February 25 to 26.

Dr. Welch's topic is, "Aesthetic Pragmatism and a Third Wave of Radical Politics."

The conference features national scholars from diverse backgrounds and religions speaking on the varied religious experiences of women of African descent in pursuit of justice, wellness, wholeness, freedom, and quality of life. The event is open to the public.

The conference will be held at the Claremont School of Theology, affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located at 1325 North College Avenue, Claremont.

Operations Relocated From Main Building During Emergency Boiler Replacement at Meadville Lombard

Meadville Lombard Theological School was forced to relocate many operations from its Main Building today in the wake of a heating boiler malfunction. The timetable for an emergency boiler replacement could mean the relocation will last two weeks.

A boiler problem on Friday led to the conclusion that new boiler repairs would be ineffective and that an entire boiler replacement was required immediately.

More details will be reported here as they become available. For now, please read this morning's message from Meadville Lombard President Lee Barker to the students, faculty, staff, and members of the ML Board of Trustees concerning immediate operational changes at the school:

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Our amazing staff met first thing this morning to assure that we will be able to continue all operations while the boiler is being replaced in ML’s main administrative building. In the next hours, you will receive email updates that will tell you more of the specifics, but I want to first give you the broad outline of the plan. Only the main administrative building is effected.

It is expected that the building will be without heat for one or two weeks. During that time, our overall goals are to meet the needs of our students, continue to facilitate classroom instruction and still provide a comfortable, healthy work environment for our employees.To those ends:

Although the building will remain locked for large portions of each day, all classes will take place, although in different locations.

The library will remain open and the library staff will be there to assist you.

Some staff members will move their offices into Ryder and/or Hunnewell.

Some faculty members and staff members will be working from home, coming to campus for meetings and events only.

At this writing, a number of staff members are engaged in activities that will facilitate these temporary moves. There are, of course, a number of details yet to be worked out. As I stated earlier, you will be apprised of those details as they are worked out. If you run into any related problems, please be in touch with Debbie Bieber or myself. We will do our best to accommodate you.

Let me conclude with a word of gratitude to our entire community, especially our staff and faculty, who are taking the leadership for meeting this challenge. They so clearly care about what we are doing here. The building may be cold, but the heart is warm!

Thank you, Lee

Obituary for Rev. Dr. William J. Metzger, DMin '79, Published in Denton, Texas, Newspaper

An update concerning this blog's earlier post about the death of the Rev. William J. Metzger, DMin '79: An extensive obituary notice was published on Thursday, February 4, in the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle. Here is a link.

Also, this blog apologizes for using the wrong middle initial for Rev. Metzger. The earlier post has been corrected.

In Memoriam: The Rev. Muriel A. Davies, LHD '01; The Rev. Dr. William J. Metzger, DMin '79; and The Rev. Suzanne Meyer, MDiv '83

Meadville Lombard Theological School sadly notes three recent deaths among alumni/ae. Two of the deceased were also past members of the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees.

The Rev. Muriel Hannah Avenbury Davies, LHD '01, and Former Member of the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees.
Rev. Davies died December 20 at her home in Derwood, Maryland, at the age of 103. She was, according to the citation for her honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard, an "innovator, organizer, religious educator, and dedicated worker within Unitarian Universalism." For her accomplishments and longevity, she was a doyenne among UUs.

Arriving from England in the United States with her husband, the Methodist minister Rev. A. Powell Davies, DD '47, they together sought out and joined the liberal religious movement of Unitarianism. After supporting the ministry of Powell Davies at the Unitarian Church in Summit, New Jersey, and at All Souls Church, Unitarian, of Washington, D.C., Muriel Davies became a young widow in 1957 with the untimely death of her husband.

Entering this new phase of her life, she led the creation of River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, and also founded the River Road Unitarian School of Religion, leading it as director for 11 years. Dedicated to the future of Unitarian Universalism, she was a member of the UUA Board of Trustees for six years at the time of Unitarian and Universalist consolidation 50 years ago. She served on the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. And she served on the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees, where she was a voice for religious education within theological education. She received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Meadville Lombard in 2001.

At her 100th birthday in 2006, Muriel Davies was ordained as minister emerita by the congregation of River Road.

Rev. Davies was preceded in death by her eldest daughter, Gwen Offenbacher. She is survived by her daughter, Bronwyn Gordon; four grandchildren, Wade Offenbacher, Gary Offenbacher, Laurie Coleman, and Tara Adams; six great-grandchildren, Michael Offenbacher, Brian Coleman, Megan Coleman, Rowan Cantua, Devin Cantua, and Mikalh Adams; and numerous neices, other relatives, and friends.

The life of Rev. Davies was remembered during a memorial service at River Road on January 30, 2010. An obituary notice from the Washington Post is available here. Memorial contributions may be made to the River Road UU Congregation Endowment Fund (6301 River Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20817) or to the A. Powell and Muriel Davies Scholarship at Meadville Lombard by completing the online donation form and indicating "Davies Scholarship" in the comments section, or by writing to the Development and Alumni/ae Affairs Office of Meadville Lombard at 5701 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637.

The Rev. Dr. William J. Metzger, DMin '79.
Dr. Metzger, age 73, died January 30 at Denton Regional Medical Center in Denton, Texas. He was consulting co-minister of Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship with his wife, The Rev. Diana Heath, who survives him.

Dr. Metzger was an accredited interim minister and served churches in many states including, most recently, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama. He also was editor of The Quest, a magazine published by the Theosophical Society in America from its founding in 1988 until 1988. He had also been editor of The American Theosophist.

According to Under the Ancient Oaks , a blog authored by a Denton UU Fellowship member, the fellowship reported in an email message that Dr. Metzger's children, David and Christine, were with him while he was in hospice care at the Denton hospital.

The blogger, who writes under the name "JohnFranc," wrote in his post about Dr. Metzger:

I was impressed with Bill from the first time I met him, when I was Chair of the Ministerial Search Committee and he and Diana came to interview with us. He was kind and gentle, but it was clear there was a strong intellect and a strong spirituality about him. He spent twelve years as editor for the Theosophical Society — I tried a time or two to pick his brain about those years, but never got very far.



Bill was not in good health by the time he came to Denton. I always enjoyed listening to him preach, but I couldn't help wishing I had heard him ten years earlier, when his body and voice were still as strong as his mind.



I'm blessed to have known Bill — I will miss him.

A service celebrating the life of Dr. Metzger will be held at the Denton UU Fellowship on Saturday, February 6, at 2 p.m. with The Rev. Davidson Loehr officiating. A memorial service is also planned for Saturday, February 20, at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin, Illinois, which Dr. Metzger served from 1978 to 1986.

The Rev. Suzanne Pike Meyer, MDiv '83, and Former Member of the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees.
Rev. Meyer died of cancer on January 23 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at age 56. She had been minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne since 2008.

Rev. Meyer was born November 24, 1953, in Dallas. She was the only child of Robert and Pansy Pike.

She graduated from the University of Houston in 1976 with a degree in broadcast journalism. After earning her masters degree in divinity at Meadville Lombard in 1983, she became the alumni/ae representative on the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees.

Her marriage ended in divorce, with no children

Ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 1983 by the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, British Columbia, she served churches in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, as well as Wyoming. She was nationally recognized for her preaching, teaching, and writing.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 5, at 11 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne. The Rev. Dana Lightsey of the Cheyenne UU Church will officiate. The Rev. Dr. Marc Salkin, MA '72, DMin '73, of Foothills Unitarian Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, and The Rev. Jack D. Bryant of Hope Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will participate.

A second service will be held on Wednesday, February 10, at Hope Unitarian Church in Tulsa. 

A eulogy for Rev. Meyer was delivered January 31 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, Georgia,by The Rev. Anthony David, MDiv '03. Rev. Meyer had served as associate minister in Atlanta from 2001 to 2003. The eulogy is posted on Thousand Voices, which is Rev. David's blog. Rev. David wrote in the eulogy:

Suzanne was a consummate professional. But at times, she had to assert this against unfair prejudice. Undeserved cruelty. Beth Stevenson recalls a story she once told, about how, as a female minister, she went to a funeral home wearing her black robe to officiate at a service. As the time to begin neared, she approached the funeral director and pointed this out. Time to start. But this is what the funeral director said, to Suzanne, standing there in her black robe: “Don’t you think we should wait for the minister?” Too many of my female colleagues have had to struggle through prejudice like this, from men and from women, even in the here and now. Pettiness like this.

But she was undiminished — the torch of her life burning brightly. A force of nature, in service to a mighty purpose. Says Helen Borland, “I remember that she was an extremely fast speaker and I didn’t know if it was because she thought she’d only have one chance to speak in our pulpit and had a lot to say, or if that was her style.” It was her style. Lots to say. A brilliant mind and brilliant writer. “Because our theology is ethical rather than metaphysical,” says Suzanne, “we emphasize two things: relationship and behavior. What is our relationship to the moral imperative, to each other, to the earth, and so forth? What does it mean in this context to be a good human being? What is right relationship? What is our duty here and now at this juncture of history?” All these urgent questions, rolling down like thunder in and through her ministry.

She loved what she did. And it helped ease a pain that she carried with her most of her life, which was loneliness — her long sorrow at not having a spouse and children. As an only child she dreamed of being surrounded by a large, loving family. But it was not to be. Or, it was to happen in only a partial way, through collegial relationships and service in congregations around the country.

Colleagues and congregants meant everything to her. Elaine Eklund talks about her friendship with Suzanne, how they shared a common culture growing up: “poor white trash ancestors who moved into the middle class.” Also a love for southern culture and flashy fashion. Just before Suzanne left UUCA to become the Senior Minister of First Unitarian in St. Louis, Elaine took up money for a gift and bought her, she says, “an ‘in your face jacket’ from Chico’s (her favorite store) and a copy of The Encyclopedia of South Culture. Says Elaine, “I wanted a copy so badly I could taste it, so I knew she’d like it.” A genuine Steel Magnolia.

Rev. Meyer requested that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne, 3005 Thomes Avenue, Post Office Box 2331, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003.

Update on February 7, 2010: Rev. Metzger was the subject of an extensive obituary in the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle. Link to obituary. His middle initial, originally in error, has been corrected in this post.

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Alumni Profile: Rev. Dr. Straube, DMin '79, Explores Multicultural Bi-Campus Worship in Southern California

Just five miles from the nation's southwest corner — which is also to say just five miles from Tijuana, Mexico — lies the brand-new location of Unitarian Universalists of the South Bay in Chula Vista, California. They took possession of the property just this month.

South Bay is one of the nation's most interesting experiments in congregational growth and multiculturalism. The congregation is an extension campus, but not a spinoff, of First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego.

At South Bay, some 40 to 50 Unitarian Universalists worship weekly. They often watch a video of the previous week's sermon in San Diego as part of their bilingual program. A handful of the congregants worship entirely in Spanish, thanks to a simultaneous translation offered at South Bay.

The lead minister (on both campuses) is a Meadville Lombard Theological School graduate, Rev. Dr. Arvid Straube, DMin '79. This year, his intern minister is a Meadville Lombard student, Elka Cartmell Ladd.

Dr. Straube said demographics drove the decision for First Church-San Diego to begin a new ministry in Chula Vista.

"It's the fastest-growing area of San Diego County," he said. "It's the area least served by a Unitarian Universalist congregation. So it was a lot of growth with no UUs."

The UUs of the South Bay opened about a year ago. The Spanish translation has been offered for the past few months. A First Church-San Diego staff member, Mar Cardenas, is the South Bay ministry coordinator and provides the Spanish translations.

First Church of San Diego is a long way — almost 2,000 miles on the nose — from the Chicago campus of Meadville Lombard. But Dr. Straube [email link] enjoys his memories and association with Meadville Lombard.

"I'm very loyal to the school," he said. "I really think a lot of it. At Meadville Lombard, I imbibed Unitarian Universalist culture in a Unitarian Universalist network, kind of understood the inside of Unitarian Universalism, and I think it's still an advantage of Unitarian Universalist schools — and why we need them."

Dr. Straube is excited by the new community-focused educational model at Meadville Lombard. But, like other alumni/ae, he is concerned that the new internship program for seminarians is not as effective as the previous fourth-year internship.

"I still wonder if not having a parish internship full time is not a good idea," he said. "I learned a lot in mine. I hope the interns learn a lot. I'm trying to keep an open mind."

On the other hand, he is excited about the current exploration of Meadville Lombard forming a partnership with Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts.

"I like the idea of Meadville Lombard and Andover Newton," he said. "I'd love it if Meadville Lombard could be on its own, but I know in the current climate survival is not possible like that. ... I think Meadville can keep its UU identity, and I think Andover is a good match.

"I think it's the best chance for a UU-identified school to survive, in a consortium with other schools. We have to try new things in a new century. Besides, Lee Barker is a classmate of mine, and I know he knows what he's doing."

Dr. Straube is also pleased that a lot of members at First Church of San Diego know about Meadville Lombard and its role in forming ministers for the next generation of Unitarian Universalists. The church has a long tradition of ties with Meadville Lombard.

The church's ministers emeriti, Revs. Drs. Carolyn Owen-Towle, DD '88, and Thomas Owen-Towle, DD '94, both hold Meadville Lombard degrees. In addition, Carolyn Owen-Towle is a former member of the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees.

Moreover, Ed and Betty Law of First Church-San Diego have funded a scholarship for a student at Meadville Lombard, and a student with connections to First Church has first priority for the scholarship.

"It helps to have a scholarship where the first person in line is someone from our church," Dr. Straube said.

Naturally, he said, Californians seeking a UU-identified seminary have a predilection to explore the in-state alternative at Starr King School for the Ministry. But because of its strong ties to Meadville Lombard, potential seminarians from San Diego tend to look at both schools, he said.

But even with the availability of distance learning from home, the January intensive courses at Meadville Lombard in Chicago give pause to seminary candidates from Southern California.

"Too many of them don't want to leave California," he said. "They can't get over the idea of below-zero weather and huge winds in Chicago in January. It's a tough sell to get people to Chicago from here."

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Just before publishing this post, the blog editor came across this resource on the UU South Bay website:

Lead Minister Arvid Straube delivered a workshop on the formation of the UUs of the South Bay at General Assembly in the summer of 2009. The video below was produced to document how building our congregation has progressed from idea to reality, with thoughts on the next steps we're planning for 2010 and beyond.

Margot Adler to Teach Course on NeoPaganism at Meadville Lombard Theological School

Margot Adler, long-time commentator on National Public Radio and author of Drawing Down the Moon, and Heretic's Heart, will teach a half-credit, weekend course, “Contemporary Paganism: Now; Its History; Its Future.” Registration for the class opens March 15, 2010, and all are welcome to register: students, ministers and lay leaders, alike. Keep tuned to email and the Meadville Lombard website for more details.

Alumni/ae News From All Over: January 2010

NOTE: This post updated on February 4 to add information about Rev. James Hobart, BD '64

Recently, Meadville Lombard Theological School's Office of Alumni/ae Affairs office issued one of its periodic calls for news from alumni/ae. News contributed to this roundup is presented here with alumni/ae listed in alphabetical order by family name.

News from The Rev. Jean Cook Brown, ISP '92:

I am now retired and have been given the honor of Minister Emerita of The Universalist Church of West Hartford, Connecticut, with the program center there now named after me. I have been diagnosed with inoperable, incurable, but controllable lung cancer and have been receiving chemotherapy every three weeks. I am doing well and continue my responsibities caring for my husband, volunteering as organizer of programs, as a discussion leader, and occasional worship leader at the Chapel at Avery Heights Retirement Community where we live. I expect to see 2011, 2012, and more.

The Rev. Dr. Randy Hammer, DMin '04, recently celebrated the release of his fifth book, The Singing Bowl: 26 Children's Sermons with Activities, by Pilgrim Press. It is Dr. Hammer's third published book of children's sermons. The first was his doctor of ministry project titled, Everyone a Butterfly: 40 Sermons for Children, published by Skinner House. Dr. Hammer is minister of the The United Church, Chapel on the Hill, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Rev. Dr. Richard Henry, DD '70, writes:

As for "news," I've been working the last four years on a second book (my first, the biography Norbert Fabian Capek: A Spiritual Journey, published by Skinner House in 1999). This one is titled simply Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, and the Politics of Hope. Theirs was a mentor-mentee relationship whose consummation should have been to elect a truly great human being to the presidency in 1952. Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. is the publisher and publication date should be later this year.

The Rev. James A. Hobart, BD '64, began service in January as interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Woodstock, Illinois. A Service of Transition was conducted on January 31 featuring UU Central Midwest District Executive Rev. Dr. Ian Evison, DMin '80. An article about Rev. Hobart's new ministry appeared in the suburban Chicago Daily Herald.

The Rev. Lyn Oglesby, MDiv '05, sends this note: "I am currently in India, having just attended five days of teachings with the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, visiting Varanasi, and on my way to Meghalaya to preach and give some workshops in the Khasi Hills."

The Rev. John L. Saxon, MDiv '09, reports: "My news is that I've started a CPE residency program at Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, North Carolina, and am providing pulpit supply for several UU congregations in North Carolina."

The Rev. Dr. Alan Seaburg, DD '99, published two books in 2009. The first is Life of the Middlesex Canal, about a waterway operated from 1803 to 1852 to connect the port of Boston with locations in New Hampshire and Vermont. The second book is To The Western Ocean, a set of essays — many by UUs — that includes two compositions by Dr. Seaburg: "A Child's Universalism in Medford, Massachusetts" and "Frederick May Eliot at 25: A Retrospective."

Save Friday Night, June 25th, for Alumni/ae Dinner at General Assembly in Minneapolis

The annual dinner of the Meadville Lombard Alumni/ae Association will be held on Friday night, June 25th, during General Assembly in Minneapolis.

For the second year, members of the Meadville Lombard Board of Trustees are chipping in to underwrite the costs of the dinner. Last year's dinner in Salt Lake City was available at a price of $20 for alumni/ae of the school. This year, the alumni/ae and development staff expects the dinner will be priced per person between $20 and $25 for alumni/ae, depending on costs in Minneapolis.

More to come, including place, time, registration, and payment information. For now, save the date.