Andover Newton Alumni/ae Convocation 2018

Event time: 
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - 12:00am
Location: 
Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School See map
409 Prospect St.
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

*Updated with new deatils on 10.2.18.*

Register today! Registration is still open!

To help defray the cost of meals and transportation for speakers, there is a $30 registration fee this year. If you are unable to cover this registration fee, please contact Ned Allyn Parker (ned.parker@yale.edu). If you graduated this past year (2018), the event is free.

Andover Newton Alumni/ae Convocation will take place the Tuesday before a series of events for alumni/ae at Yale Divinity School. Andover Newton alumni/ae are welcome to register for and attend the entire series of events, or just the Tuesday Andover Newton programs. Registration is now open.

The speaker for Andover Newton’s Convocation will be Professor Robert Pazmiño, who will speak on the theme of: “In the Beginning Was the Word: Memoir as Spiritual Practice.” All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Prof. Pazmiño’s memoir, A Boy Grows in Brooklyn; An Educational and Spiritual Memoir. 
 
A draft of the complete schedule and a description of the workshops can be found below.
 
If you are planning to spend some time in New Haven, or you need help getting around, please see the Travel and Lodging page on the YDS Alumni/ae site. You’ll find information on flying and driving into New Haven, as well as possible accommodations .
 

Schedule and Events

8:30 a.m. Registration Table Opens – Sarah Smith Gallery
 
8:30 a.m. Tours of the Sterling Quadrangle
Alumni/ae and Development Officer, Ned Allyn Parker (MDiv ’10), and current Andover Newton Seminary students will give tours of the quad to orient new and returning visitors to the layout of the building. The tour will include a brief history, as well as areas of the campus where Andover Newton artifacts can be found.
 
9:15 a.m. Pick-up Choir Rehearsal with Burns Stanfield - Marquand Chapel
 
10:00 a.m. Welcome and Opening Convocation Worship – Marquand Chapel
Worship will feature Prof. Bob Pazmiño speaking on our theme for the day. We will also hear from current Andover Newton students and faculty members. 
 
12 Noon. Andover Newton Alumni/ae and Trustee Lunch – Old Refectory - NE Wing
 
1:00 p.m. Alumni/ae Annual Business Meeting – Old Refectory - NE Wing
 
1:45 p.m. Break
 
2:00 p.m. Workshops 
  • “Writing for the Church and Beyond” – Martin B. Copenhaver (Room S223)
  • “Leadership and Belonging” – Sarah B. Drummond (Room S117)
  • “Testimony: The Gift of Witness for Community” – Mark and Melissa Heim (Room S212)
  • “The Memoirs of God: The Bible as Divine Autobiography” – Gregory Mobley (Room S202)
  • “Writing Our Spiritual Memoirs.” – Bob Pazmiño (Room S104)
  • “The Social Gospel Through Social Media: A Call to the Church”  This Workshop has been cancelled.

3:30 p.m. Break

3:45 p.m. The Andover Newton Seminary Experience – Great Hall (N100)

Join current Andover Newton Seminary students, faculty, and administrators for this conversation about the Andover Newton experience at Yale Divinity School. Hear more about the new academic program, and take the opportunity to ask questions about what Andover Newton is up to as we settle into our new home.
 
5:00 p.m. Break
 
5:30 p.m. Reception – Common Room, 2nd Floor (N226)
 
6:00 p.m. Closing Dinner Banquet – Common Room, 2nd Floor (N226) - The banquet will include an address from President Copenhaver, along with the Spirit of the Hill Award.
 

Workshops

“Writing for the Church and Beyond” – Martin B. Copenhaver (Room S223)

In this workshop Martin Copenhaver (President of Andover Newton and a prolific author) will help participants reach wider audiences for their writing.  Topics to be addressed include: the ways in which writing can be an extension of one’s ministry; how to break into publishing; how writing done for the church can find a wider audience; opportunities to improve your writing; the various media that can be used; the myths about publishing that need to be debunked and the key strategies to keep in mind.

“Leadership and Belonging” – Sarah B. Drummond (Room S117)

In this new era of tribalism, many of us worry that factions are tearing our communities apart. And yet the desire to belong to something greater than ourselves can also bring out the best in ourselves and others. How can leaders mobilize the human desire to be known and understood into a force for good? Blending social theory on tribalism and theological perspectives on community, Sarah Drummond will commend particular practices that cultivate a “tribe” that blends love for tradition, the satisfaction of belonging, and radical welcome.

“Testimony: The Gift of Witness for Community” – Mark and Melissa Heim (Room S212)

Testimony is a key part of our tradition in congregationally ordered churches, in terms of internal governance and in terms of our face toward the world. It is also a spiritual practice that is helping to revitalize contemporary congregations. In this workshop, Mark Heim will review the importance of this feature in the distinctive Christian traditions Andover Newton represents and Melissa Heim will share the role it plays in the new worship and community life the school has been developing at Yale, in our Emmaus evenings.

“The Memoirs of God: The Bible as Divine Autobiography” – Gregory Mobley (Room S202)

In keeping with the theme of Andover Newton Seminary’s 2018 convocation, “In the Beginning was the Word: Memoir as Spiritual Practice,” join Professor Gregory Mobley for a workshop that traces, with faith and imagination, the inner life of God as revealed in the Old Testament. Such a perspective is hardly new; for centuries Jewish mystics read the Torah as the log of a fantastic voyage inside the divine mind. 

 “Writing Our Spiritual Memoirs” - Bob Pazmiño (Room S104)

We will share spiritual memories and first glimpses of God with neighbors in the session and practice the actual writing and reading of them in our time together. Suggestions will be shared to guide our writing on spiritual themes. Please bring preferred instruments (paper, computer) for your writing.

“The Social Gospel Through Social Media: A Call to the Church” – Kurt Walker (MDiv ’10) Unfortunately, this workshop has been cancelled.

Register today! https://divinity.yale.edu/alumni/convocation-and-reunions

Contact: 
Ned Allyn Parker, Alumni/ae and Development Officer
(203) 464-2287
ned.parker@yale.edu