Iliff Students & Alumni in the News

  • Jon R. Wallace (MDIV ’12), former disaster social services director, will read the Memorial Mission Statement of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum at a Ceremony to mark anniversary of Murrah Building bombing. Story in The Oklahoman, By Bryan Painter | Published: April 19, 2013
  • Roger Wolsey (MDIV ’95) will be giving the invocation for President Barack Obama’s address, Nov. 2, Boulder. Wolsey is the director of the Wesley Foundation, Boulder. Kay Walsh-Palmer (MDIV ’95 and DMIN ’10) called Iliff offices to report on her fellow alumus. Read Rev. Wolsey’s blog about the experience
  • In The Mennonite, magazine for the members of the Mennonite Church USA, the Leadership Discernment Committee of Mennonite Church USA announces Patricia Shelly (MDIV ’80, PhD ’92) of Newton, Kan., as its nominee for moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA. The denominational delegate assembly will vote on the nomination in July 2013 during the biennial convention in Phoenix. Shelly is currently in her eighth year of service on Mennonite Church USA’s Executive Board.
  • United Church of Christ News (July 17, 2012) The United Church of Christ has announced new staff members on its Ministerial Excellence, Support and Authorization Ministry (MESA) Team. The Rev. Malcolm Himschoot (Iliff MDIV, ’04) joins the MESA team as minister for ministerial transition. With 10 years of experience in UCC settings as a transitional pastor, Himschoot will support clergy and covenant partners during significant seasons of change: interims, retirements, denominational journeys, and search-and-call processes. Other responsibilities will include engaging partners in researching, developing and disseminating resources on ministerial transition in the UCC, and supporting interim ministers in the UCC.
  • The Denver Post (Jan. 10, 2012) “Honorees saluted at annual MLK Humanitarian awards in Denver,” article by Joanne Davidson. Rev. Ronald Wooding (MDIV ’98), Epworth UMC, was honored as a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian at the 22nd annual awards presentation, Boettcher Concert Hall. Wooding is known for involving his Epworth flock in the “Daddy Bruce” Randolph Thanksgiving basket giveaway, a program that now reaches 9,000 low-income families, and for his work as a spokesperson for Agape Child Care Center in Durban, South Africa, whose residents are orphans impacted by the HIV virus.
  • OutFront Magazine (Nov. 11, 2011) In the articles, “Queering the spiritual quandry,” Jeremy Shaver, Iliff alum (MDiv ’05) is pictured and profiled about his work in the positive movement toward the inclusion of LGBT individuals in faith communities. Shaver is director, Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, and Christian Education Director, Park Hill Congregational Church, Denver.
  • Faith & Leadership, an online magazine published by Duke Divinity School posted an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber, Iliff alum. (Aug. 30, 2011) “You have to be really deeply rooted in tradition in order to innovate with integrity.” Nadia Bolz-Weber likes to have both tradition and innovation happening at the same time in House for All Sinners and Saints, a mission church she founded in Denver, Colo., that’s part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  • The Gazette.com (June 18, 2011) – Matthew 25, led by brothers Clint Twedt-Ball and Courtney Ball (MDIV, ’04), both ordained ministers, has drawn more than $7 million in private and local, state and federal grants and many in-kind donations for its projects. It’s been praised by former (Iowa) Gov. Chet Culver, and endorsed by many local public and private officials and non-profit foundations. …To date, Block by Block has helped rehabilitate or is rehabilitating more than 300 flood-damaged homes on 24 blocks (of Cedar Rapids in 2008 floods).
  • Phil Campbell, alum, former Iliff professor and current pastor of Northern Lights Church in Juneau, Alaska, was featured in articles in The Denver Post, NPR (National Public Radio), Parade magazine (insert in the The Denver Post, June 12) and in a UMNS Feature, Calling All Phil Campbells!. The stories chronicle his involvement with other Phil Campbells from around the world who were drawn to the town of Phil Campbell, Ala. to help rebuild the tornado-ravaged community that by coincidence bears their name.
  • Christa Brown profiled in Réforme magazine. (March 10, 2011 – French publication) Brown is a student in the Joint University of Denver/Iliff Ph.D program.
  • Rev. Rev. Malcolm Himschoot, The Denver Post' (March 14, 2011) – ‘Church’s transgender pastor grateful for life “beyond my wildest dreams” by Electa Draper.