January 2010 - May 2010 Archive
Vivia Lawton Fowler ('80)
Cynthia Hodell Dyer ('96)
Susan Kochanowski ('90)
Terri Stagner-Collier ('90)
Julian Gordy ('85)
Mitzi J. Budde (Class of '84)
Richard Bansemer ('66) & Philip Bouknight ('04)
Lane Bembenek ('95)
Becca Rietz ('01)
Paul Wesley Harmon ('81)
Bill Nabers ('80)
John Weaver ('61)
Keith A. Hunsinger ('84) & David W. Brobston ('93)
David W. Brobston ('93)
Michael Rhyne ('09)
January 1, 2010
Alumna Awarded Columbia College's Highest Honor
Dr. Vivia Lawton Fowler (Class of 1980) received Columbia College's highest award, the
Medallion, at a dinner and awards ceremony held Thursday, November 5. The Medallion is presented annually to those individuals whom the
College wishes to recognize for exceptional accomplishments, leadership,
and service.
She is Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs for Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. She received the B.A. in Religion and Sociology from Columbia College, the M.A. in Religion from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and the Ph.D. in Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of Education from the University of South Carolina. First consecrated a diaconal minister in 1980 and now an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, she served churches in S.C. for ten years before joining the faculty of Columbia College where she held teaching and administrative roles from 1986 to 2007. She became dean of Wesleyan College in June 2007, where she oversees all academic areas of the college.
Fowler's honors include Columbia College Omicron Delta Kappa Professor of the Year (1995), Columbia College Outstanding Professor (1996), S.C. Governor's Distinguished Professor Award (1997), and The United Methodist Church's Francis Asbury Award (2002). She has been nationally recognized for her work to support and advance efforts to improve student learning and transitions into and through higher education. She led Columbia College's Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College initiative and the College's participation in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education.
As a frequent speaker in churches, her passion is sharing the stories of biblical women through character presentations and biblical instruction. She has developed monologues for ten biblical women.
She and her husband Richard have two adult children. Richard lives in Columbia and is executive director of the Tri-County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Stephen, an attorney, and his wife Stani live in Charleston. Claire, also a Columbia College alumna, is a management recruiter and lives in Columbia.
January 1, 2010
Dream Weaver: Cynthia Hodell Dyer
By Connie Barnard from Sasee Magazine
It's a new year, a fresh start. Many of use are eager to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. Some are motivated by harsh economic realities of 2009, others by a deep persistent nudge to move in new directions, to re-invent or re-kindle inner spirits. For yet others, the tapestry of life has become so crowded that it may be time to step back and examine our lives more clearly.
Conway resident Cynthia Hodell Dyer's (Class of 1996) life has been a living lesson of continuous reinvention. Referring to herself as a "serial re-newer," Cynthia is first and foremost a seeker whose fine mind and lively spirit have constantly directed her down interconnected paths of learning. Over the last thirty years, she has been a social worker, a theatrical director, a college professor, an ordained minister, a wife and a mother. These days she is becoming a poet – and a weaver. While in Asheville last summer, Cynthia visited a loom shop and began the pursuit of a lifelong dream – to own a loom and learn to weave. She spent a day in Hendersonville with professional weaver Brenda Cameron where she learned to dress (load) a loom, then to weave – creating the long fringed shawl in rich jewel tones which she wore to her husband's college reunion in October. More recently, Cynthia attended the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair in Asheville and came home with a supply of weaving tools and yarns she describes as scrumptious. "All of a sudden," she says, "I am a weaver."
http://sasee.com/2010/01/01/dream-weaver-cynthia-hodell-dyer/
Alumna Named to Hospital Board of Trustees
From the North Dutchess Hospital Press Release
Rhinebeck, NY... Northern Dutchess Hospital is pleased to welcome Susan Kochanowski (Class of 1990) as a member of the NDH Board of Trustees.
A specialist in business management, leadership, and organizational change, Kochanowski is Assistant Professor of Management at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY. She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Studies from the University at Albany, State University of NY. Her Bachelor's degree is in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned a Master's degree in Psychology from Auburn University and a Master's degree in Religion from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
Previously, Dr. Kochanowski served as an independent organizational consultant, a senior manager in a global professional services firm, and a vice-president/general manager in international outplacement/career management firm. Additionally, she has experience as a clinical counselor and program developer for a healthcare organization. She also established and managed her own business as a clinical counselor and consultant, and taught as an adjunct instructor for several colleges and universities before returning to school to complete her Ph.D. and beginning her academic career at Marist.
A resident of Red Hook, Dr. Kochanowski previously served on the Board of the Bach Choir. Her professional memberships include the Academy of Management, the Southern Management Association, the American Society for Training and Development, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the American Counseling Association, and she is a Charter Member of the American Psychological Society. Ms. Kochanowki's research interests include leadership, organizational change, and strategic human resource leadership.
Northern Dutchess Hospital, a Health Quest affiliate, is a 68-bed, acute care hospital located in Rhinebeck, NY. The Health Quest system includes Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie and Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel. For more information about any of Northern Dutchess Hospital's services, log on to www.health-quest.org/ndh.
January 16, 2010
CROSS OF LIFE LUTHERAN WELCOMES SENIOR PASTOR
From the Beacon Newspaper, North Fulton, GA
Read full article at http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/news/Local-News-Briefs-of-The-Northside-1414
Cross of Life Lutheran Church in Roswell is pleased to announce that effective Feb. 1, Pastor Terri Stagner-Collier (Class of 1990) will join the congregation as Senior Pastor.
Stagner-Collier will take over the reins from Pastor Frederick P. Krautwurst, who has served as the church's Senior Transition Pastor for the past 17 months since the retirement of Pastor Noel Anderson in 2008.
ELCA Bishop Julian Gordy to Preach on Day 1 on Feb. 14, 2010
Southeastern Synod leader addresses relationshop of science and faith
From the Alliance for Christian Media
Bishop H. Julian Gordy (Class of 1985), who leads the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, is the featured preacher Feb. 14 on Day 1,
the nationally broadcast radio program also accessible by podcast at
Day1.org. The program includes a message by Gordy along with interviews
conducted by the programs host and executive producer, Peter Wallace.
Before his election as bishop in June 2007, Gordy served as pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Franklin, Tenn. (where he resides); Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Ocean Springs, Miss.; and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Morristown, Tenn. He received the A.B. in religion from Mercer University and the M.Div. from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
In his sermon for Transfiguration Sunday, based on Luke 9:28-36, Gordy helps listeners grapple with the relationship of science and faith: the two can be compatible because science can tell us the how of things but not the why. The job of science is to remove the mystery from the world, he says. Faiths job is to show us the mystery and holiness of God hiding everywhere.
The ELCA Southeastern Synod, with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., has over 54,000 baptized members in 170 congregations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Formerly known as The Protestant Hour, Day 1 celebrates 65 years of weekly broadcast in 2010. Distributed to 200 radio stations across America and overseas, it is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media in association with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. The program has received numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award and the Communicators Award for Excellence in inspirational radio.
For more information, call toll free 888-411-Day-1 or check the programs Web site, http://day1.org.
January 29, 2010
Alumna Joins Delegation to Visit World Church Leaders
(From the ELCA News Service, Chicago)
CHICAGO
(ELCA) -- An official Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
delegation of clergy and lay leaders will travel through Europe Feb.
3-17, visiting world Christian church leaders and key staff based in
London, Istanbul, Rome and Geneva. The 2010 Ecumenical Journey, led by
the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop and president of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), is part of the church's declaration of
ecumenical commitment, adopted by the 1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Mitzi J. Budde (Class of '84), head librarian and professor, Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA, is a member of the delegation.
Bishop Emeritus Richard Bansemer ('66) is the librettist and Aaron Garber, music director at College, Salem, is the composer and conductor of a full orchestra. Pastor Philip Bouknight ('04) of Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, will sing the role of Jesus and Dan Snyder, a tenor from New York City, will sing the parts of John the Baptist, the blind man who was healed, Pontius Pilate and Peter.
The oratorio features 18 pieces from the creation story from the first chapter of John to the final recorded meeting between Jesus and Peter in John 21. The Gospel of John presents the most profound account of the relationship between Jesus and his heavenly father, Bansemer said.
The devastating loss of John the Baptist, the nighttime meeting with Nicodemus, the healing of a man blind from birth, the raising of Nicodemus from the tomb-which gave cause for Jesus's crucifixion-are all presented in the oratorio, he said.
Bansemer and Garber have collaborated on two other oratorios-Job, the Oratorio, in 2004 and Mary, Mother of Jesus, in 2006. Ticket information is available from the Jefferson Center box office, 540-345-2550.
Several ELCA pastors, including the Rev. Lane Bembenek ('95),
South Carolina Synod (Joy Lutheran, Moore, SC) are serving as presiders
and preachers at the noon Eucharist at Washington National Cathedral in
the first six months of 2010. Frequently, members of their
congregations join with them at these significant ecumenical
celebrations. The Rev. Roy J. Enquist, Ecumenist at the Cathedral, has
shared with us this advance schedule and invites you to please publicize
these services of worship in the nation's capitol. Jun. 16 - The Rev.
Lane Bembenek, South Carolina Synod (preaching) and Pr. Enquist
(presiding). March 7, 2010
Music is at heart of career, hobby
(from The State, Columbia, SC)
It's with those goals that the Palmetto Children's Hospital music therapist sets out for work each day.
But when she heads to Village Square Theatre in Lexington, it's with the hopes of winning over her audience with song.
Rietz portrays Maria in the theater's production of "The Sound of Music," which opened Friday and runs the next two weekends.
And while music is at the heart of both her professional and recreational endeavors, she said she approaches the dual roles with vastly different goals.
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March 23, 2010
Harmon Named UMC Spartanburg District Superintendent'
From the South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church
The Rev. Paul Wesley Harmon (Class of 1981)
named superintendent of the Spartanburg (SC) District of The United
Methodist Church by Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor of the South Carolina
Conference. Harmon was born in Lexington, S. C. He is the sixth of
seven sons born to Harvey and Mertie Harmon. He is married to the former
Jan Shull of West Columbia, and they have two daughters, Leslie Hendon
(Trey) in Spartanburg and Amy in Lexington.
Paul attended the University of South Carolina (BA), the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (MDiv.) and the Theological School at Drew University (D.-Min.). He was preceded in the ministry by two of his brothers, Harvey Jr. and Sam. His appointments have been: Ashland (Columbia, as founding pastor), Main St. (Columbia, as associate pastor), Goose Creek Charge, Jackson Charge, Philadelphia (Fort Mill), Trinity (Spartanburg), and Washington Street (Columbia).
by Tonya Bina, Sky-Hi Daily News, Granby, CO
Nabers, the church's new pastor as of last week, not only delivers the "good news" to Lutheran parishioners, but was SolVista Ski Basin's newest part-time ski patroller.
Since his move to the area one month ago, the pastor has also joined congregation members for the Thursday morning "Ski with the Lutherans" outing, which occurs weekly starting at 10 a.m. from Snoasis at Winter Park Resort.
Originally from Roanoke, Va, Nabers served 17 years as the pastor at the Prince of Peace Church in the Blue Ridge Mountains. "I've always been partial to mountains," he said. Read More
Want to meet with Rev. John Weaver? (Class of 1961)Pull out your calendar and see if y'all can't work out a date, likely one a few weeks away—if he is free then.
"But you're retired!" Weaver says people say.
And so he is.
But since retiring as full-time pastor of Summer Memorial Lutheran Church in 1998, the 75-year-old has kept busy.
There's been the neighborhood association he's a part of, and theater as a Ritz Community Player. Plus he has church meetings and his third stint as a stand-in pastor where you'll hear him preaching these days at Whitmire's St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
And now he has a theory on the whole retirement thing, too.
"You have heard the expression, 'Gee, I retired and now I'm busier than I ever was.' Well, I think I've figured out the key to this: As we get older, it just takes us longer to do things," he says laughing. "So we think we're busier."
Read Full Story Here
Lohrmann Re-elected Bishop of ELCA Northwestern Ohio Synod, Two LTSS Alumni Receive Votes
From the ELCA NEWS SERVICE10-141-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Marcus C. Lohrmann was re-elected May 13 to a six-year term as bishop of the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the synod assembly in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Lohrmann, 59, was re-elected on the first ballot for bishop with 309 of 381 votes. Others receiving votes were the Rev. Keith A. Hunsinger (Class of 1984), a member of the ELCA Church Council and pastor at St. John Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor, Ohio, and the Rev. David W. Brobston (Class of 1993), St. Paul Lutheran Church, Defiance, Ohio.
Two local veterans groups involved in planning Memorial Day services Two veterans groups and a local church are teaming up for the annual
community Memorial Day weekend worship service slated Sunday at 9 a.m.
at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 671 Clinton St. "This is our eighth year and we are really excited," stated Roger
Gardner of Herman Hesselschwardt Detachment 758 of the Marine Corps
League. "We have received nothing but great comments from those who
attended past services and we cordially invite the public to join us at
St. Paul Lutheran this year." Defiance VFW Post 3360 is also involved in the planning. "Our post has participated in this program since its inception," said
Al Schnitz, who will serve as "officer of the day" for the service. "It
is fast becoming the area's premier Memorial Day worship service to
honor veterans. It is a privilege for us to be a part of this event." Gardner and Schnitz praised St. Paul Lutheran and its pastor, Rev. Dave Brobston (Class of 1993), for their cooperation in hosting and helping plan the service. "As a former military chaplain with family members still serving on
active duty, this is an opportunity to pay tribute to those who have
made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our great nation" said
Brobston, who will deliver the day's message. "It is also an opportunity
to worship God, who has given our country so many freedoms." Brobston's message is titled "Pro Deo et Patria," which stands for
"for God and country." It is the motto of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
by Jack Palmer, Crescent News, Defiance, Ohio
The
inaugural service was held in 2003 at Trinity United Methodist Church,
followed by Zion's Lutheran Church in 2004, First Baptist Church in
2005, Ayersville United Methodist Church in 2006, Family Christian
Center in 2007, St. John United Church of Christ in 2008 and St. John
Lutheran last year.
From plays to pulpits:
Preacher leaves the stage for role along spiritual lines
by Linda T. Gracey, Altoona Mirror, Altoona, PA
Pastor Michael Rhyne (Class of 2009) has gone from delivering soliloquies to writing sermons.
A former Shakespeare actor, Rhyne, 35, accepted the pastorate at Geeseytown-Newry Lutheran Joint Parish last summer. It is his first assignment since graduating from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 2009.
The decision to abandon curtain calls for a God-ordained one began about six years ago. Rhyne was an adjunct theater professor when he felt led to leave the stage for the sanctuary. He was giving a lecture one day when the thought "'you know, this is sort of like preaching" entered his head. "It shocked me so much that I put the thought away," he said.
Contact
Sandra Cline
Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations
scline@ltss.edu
803-461-3252
4201 Main Street
Columbia, SC 29203