VOICES Archives - Page 3 of 3 - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

March 19, 2024

Public Theology VOICES

Rev. Shannon Dycus Illuminates the Sacred in Education and Ministry

For DMin student Rev. Shannon Dycus, faith and education have been foundational influences and pursuits. “My story,” Shannon shares, “includes the nurture of wonderful Black women in my life and lineage. My grandmothers and mother modeled faithful and bold ways of living out their calls with ministries that were not allowed to flourish in their contexts.” In high school, a counselor saw her creative and leadership potential for guiding others. At Butler University, she earned a degree in secondary education. While she enjoyed working with young people in the classroom and after-school programs, Shannon felt something was missing. “I felt the gap,” she recalls, “of how to care for their spirits and lead holistically.” (more…)

November 13, 2023

Chaplaincy VOICES

Alums Rev. Dr. Sue Allers-Hatlie and Rev. Lynda Lee Promote Healing in Prisons

Rev. Dr. Susan Allers-Hatlie (’85, ’04) and Rev. Lynda Lee (’14) are prison chaplains. Sue, an Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Certified Educator, teaches CPE to prisoners and seminarians inside Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Stillwater. Lynda, a trauma-informed care specialist, runs a grief and loss class at MCF-Lino Lakes. In their work, both have created uniquely effective means of ministering within prisons. (more…)

November 8, 2023

theology and the arts VOICES

Rev. Canon Tyrone Fowlkes Melds Art and Justice into His Ministry

Born into a religious family, DMin student Rev. Canon Tyrone Fowlkes grew up in what he describes as, for years, “the only Black Wesleyan Church in Indiana—what I affectionately call the ‘old church.’” He credits his upbringing in the church for giving him “the faith for which I will always be grateful.” These days, however, Tyrone has moved past his conservative upbringing and embraced a vision of ministering through faith, justice, and art. “Growing up,” Tyrone remembers, “I had an acute awareness of mistreatment and injustice…and was particularly attuned…when it occurred in the church.” He guesses that a desire to call out unjust treatment of women and those in the LGBTQ+ community perhaps fueled his sense of call to ordination. “I had a burgeoning career as an art director,” Tyrone shares, “when I noticed what felt like a tug at my spirit.” In 1995, he enrolled in an MDiv program at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS)—affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)—in Indianapolis. (more…)

November 7, 2023

Faith Legacy VOICES

The Lasting Legacy of Hildegard and Marion Bunge

For twin sisters Marion and Hildegard, life centered around church. Their father, Rev. John Bunge, was pastor of Pleasant Prairie Evangelical Church when they were born. Later, he served in judicatory roles and, at the time of his death, was pastor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ (UCC) in Welcome, Minnesota. Hildegard and Marion grew up in and stayed at St. Paul’s. As their niece, Lisa, explains, “I think church was important to them because that is how they were brought up. Their father was a minister, their mother played the organ, so doing church things were important. It is just what they did.” When their brother, Jonathan (’63†), decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, their mother enlisted the twins to help with tuition expenses. Like many students today, he was able to attend seminary because he had financial support. The sisters gave their first gifts to United in 1967. (more…)

July 4, 2023

Arts Unitarian Universalism VOICES

2023 Graduate Stephani Pescitelli and the Power of YES, AND…

Stephani Pescitelli, who graduated April 30, 2023 with an MDiv in Theology and the Arts, admits that United wasn’t even on her radar when she first felt called to seminary. She intended to enroll in a Unitarian Universalist (UU) seminary. Still, after a phone call with a kind soul in United’s admissions office, followed by a whirlwind visit with faculty, alums, and students during a February blizzard (naturally), the uniquely heartfelt and open sense of welcome, and United’s arts and theology program won her over. As she recalls, “I walked out into the bitter cold after that day carrying a warm, welcoming, enthusiastic YES! (more…)

June 21, 2023

Alums VOICES

Alum Marjorie Grevious (’18) Promotes Spiritual Wellness through Yoga Ministry | VOICES

Yoga and church were childhood pillars for 2018 alum Marjorie D. Grevious. She estimates that she started doing yoga alongside her mother at age three, and that the practice of yoga ran “parallel to my journey as a church girl raised in the Black missionary church tradition of the south.” Those two pillars remained constant, but separate, until United helped Marjorie connect her core beliefs as a Christian and her spiritual practice of yoga. The Path to United For most of her career—with an MS in Human Services and Community Counseling and Psychology—Marjorie worked with young people who were “caught in cycles of crisis (more…)

June 6, 2023

Alums Community Relationships UCC VOICES

Mizpah Church Offers United a Legacy Scholarship Fund | VOICES

Rev. Rebecca Lemenager (’01) was only seven when she knew she wanted to be a minister. All she needed was fertile soil in which to nurture that calling. Mizpah United Church of Christ (Mizpah), her home congregation in Hopkins, Minnesota, provided that nurture. Now, as Mizpah comes to the end of its life as a church, members have decided to provide a legacy of support for new pastors by establishing the Mizpah Church, United Church of Christ, Endowed Scholarship at United for UCC students who pursue ministry. (more…)