Judith A. Berling, professor of Chinese and comparative religions at the GTU, has been named a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for 2001-02 by the Association for Theological Education. Dr. Berling will devote a twelve-month leave to researching a book for theological faculty, students, graduates, and thoughtful Christians seeking to understand and become more adept at the process of learning non-Christian religions.

Andrew Dreitcer (Ph.D. ’93) has begun a new position as associate professor of spirituality and director of spiritual formation at Claremont School of Theology, after fourteen years at SFTS. In addition to teaching, Dr. Dreitcer has been helping faculty integrate spiritual formation into the curriculum. Some of his music has been published in a collection called Spirit Anew: Singing Prayer and Praise. He has also written “Traveling without a Map,” an essay about Henri Nouwen in Nouwen Then: Reflections on Henri, and co-authored Beyond the Ordinary: Spirituality for Church Leaders.

Clare Fischer (Ph.D. ’79), professor of religion and culture at Starr King School for the Ministry, spent her fall 2000 sabbatical in Indonesia. Dr. Fischer took part in a major research project to study the role of an interfaith organization in Central Java, and taught courses on religion and politics, as well as feminism and theology, to Indonesian ministers.

Susan Hedahl (Ph.D. ’88) is beginning her ninth year as associate professor of homiletics at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary in Pennsylvania, where she is also the new director of the Master of Sacred Theology program. Her latest book is Listening Ministry: Re-Thinking Pastoral Leadership. She has a book forthcoming on Preaching I Corinthians 13, co-authored with Richard P. Carlson.

Megan McKenna (Ph.D. ’83) has published Prophets: Words of Fire. Drawing on the prophetic tradition in scripture as well as stories from the Jewish tradition, her book illustrates how the issues of poverty, injustice, idolatry and abuse of power that concerned the biblical prophets are with us today. Dr. McKenna has published several other books and also leads retreats.

Rebecca Parker, president of Starr King School for the Ministry, traveled to Washington in November 2000 for the First White House Interfaith HIV/AIDS Summit. Dr. Parker met with 50 religious leaders from around the globe and with President Bill Clinton to reflect on the role of religious communities in preventing the spread of HIV and in calling politicians and governments to greater humanitarian concerns.