Boston University School of Theology Nonprofit Inside: US Postage 745 Commonwealth Avenue PAID 7 Adventures in Ethics Boston, Massachusetts 02215 Boston MA Permit No. 1839 12 The Poet Preacher 17 Risking All for Gay Marriage Spring 2014 40 Why the Church Needs to Play It’s been more than 50 years since Martin Luther King, Jr., fought against these wrongs, but some communities still struggle Elizabeth Findley Hazel (’90) has always believed for a share of the Dream. Gift Plans That Work that “it is in community that we see God.” And she has felt the presence of God more in the Boston WHAT IS THE Spring 2014 University School of Theology community than Planned giving offers many CHURCH DOING anywhere else. alternatives to standard donations, ABOUT IT? including bequests, gifts of real Hazel supports the STH community through estate, and life-income gifts that outright gifts and a bequest aimed at relieving both provide tax-exempt income the financial constraints that can be a barrier for aspiring theology students. “The greatest strength and support BU. Working with the of planned giving for me is the ability to keep a scholarship running after Planned Giving office, many alums my death,” she explains. “I am a widow with no children. The money I use and friends of STH have found for living expenses could be made part of a larger pool of money that would meaningful ways to strengthen enable the scholarship to live on.” the School while honoring focus is made Hazel’s goal, she says, is “to keep the richness of Boston University School of possible by their own passions, educational Theology programs flowing—not the least because they open the awareness donations from BU STH alumni pursuits, and loved ones. of God’s presence to the communities surrounding other schools and and friends programs in the University. Making the distance between heaven and earth shorter is an important part of my faith.” To learn more, contact BU Planned Giving at 800-645-2347 or [email protected]. Boston University School of Theology Spring 2014 Dean MARY ELIZABETH MOORE He wasn’t just our teacher. Director of Development & Alumni Relations, retired He was our friend. TED KARPF (’74) Alumni Relations Ocer JACLYN K. JONES (’06) Editor JULIE RATTEY Journal Reviewer STEPHANIE A. BUDWEY (’04, ’12) Contributing Writers hat stands out “like a mini- LARA EHRLICH (UNI’03) ANDREW THURSTON Wskirt at a church social”? According to Time magazine in 1966, Designer the answer was motive, the former SHOLA FRIEDENSOHN motive magazine of the Methodist Student Produced by Boston University Movement. First edited by Harold Creative Services Magazine Ehrensperger, who was a profes- focus is funded by donations from sor at Boston University School of alumni and friends to the Boston goes Theology, and published from 1941 University School of Theology to 1972, the magazine was known for Annual Fund. Learn more at digital its avant-garde approach to issues www.bu.edu/sth/giving. including civil rights, the Vietnam War, and homosexuality. Methodist Opinions expressed in focus do activists and figures, including former not necessarily reect the views Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, of Boston University or the School credit the publication as a formative of Theology. influence, and the Columbia School of Journalism named it runner-up to STAY CONNECTED TO THE Life as Magazine of the Year in 1965. But though scholars study the pub- SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY lication, only the School of Theology Professor Harrell F. Beck (1922–1987) Keep up with STH, share and a few other institutions hold a complete archive, making it dicult to brought the Hebrew Bible to life as no one else could. your latest news, and access access. STH is digitizing its collection free religious articles at Help STH carry on his legacy with the for the public, with the cooperation of http://go.bu.edu/focus/alums. the United Methodist Church (which HARRELL F. BECK CHAIR holds motive’s copyright) and spon- sorship from STH’s Center for Global OF HEBREW SCRIPTURE. Christianity & Mission. Readers will be able to access the magazines free online and search for content using The goal is to raise $300,000 to fully endow Please recycle this historic position. keywords. STH expects to complete In keeping with Boston University’s the project this spring. Learn more commitment to sustainability, this publication is printed on FSC-certied about motive at www.bu.edu/cgcm/ To contribute, email [email protected], call paper. motive-magazine. q 617-353-2349, or visit www.bu.edu/sth/giving. Courtesy of the General Board of Higher Education & Ministry of the United Methodist Church 0314 TABLE of CONTENTS DEAN’S MESSAGE 2 JOURNAL: SEARCHING FOR JUSTICE Justice for the 18 Luisa Capetillo’s Dream 36 FEATURES LGBTQ Community Christian anarchists have long In the push for acceptance, churches struggled against oppression and State of Play 10 are among the cause’s greatest allies striven for an alternative vision Former soccer pro Austin and greatest opponents. of communal life. Washington (’16) switches up his By Robert Cummings Neville By Rady Roldán-Figueroa (’05) game as a new student at STH. Professor of philosophy, religion, Assistant professor of the history and theology and dean emeritus The Poet Preacher 12 of Christianity For four decades, Theodore Keeping the Faith 2 4 Lockhart (CAS’65, STH’68) has been Playing toward Liberation 40 For black women facing conict ghting—and writing—to end prejudice. Make-believe isn’t just for children. between what’s preached at church Playing at the kingdom of God helps Border Crossing 14 and what they experience in their make it a reality. A visit with Syrian refugees and daily lives, it takes creativity to keep By Courtney T. Goto activists taught Erin McKinney (’14) God and faith in the picture. Assistant professor of religious education about keeping the peace. By Phillis Isabella Sheppard Associate professor of pastoral Dreaming with Eyes Open 44 Faith behind Bars 16 psychology and theology As BU’s history reveals, it’s only How prison chaplain Jim Pall (’76) when we match dreams with deeds stays positive in a challenging Strength for the Struggle 28 that great change is possible. ministry When we suer a setback in the By Bishop Peter D. Weaver (’75, search for justice, we needn’t fear Hon.’13) Risking It All 17 that our dreams are out of reach. Why Dean Snyder (’72) puts his By Cameron Partridge Power of the Question 48 ordination on the line to perform Episcopal chaplain In our lifelong pursuit of God, same-sex marriages asking questions is just as important as nding answers. Songs of Justice 32 Following the example of By Ted Karpf (’74) civil rights-era black people, Director of development & alumni relations, the LGBTQ community is retired harnessing hymns to advance its own rights movement. By Stephanie A. Budwey (’04, ’12) ALSO IN THIS ISSUE STH News: Campaign Update, 4 the Rolling Stones, Women in the World, and More Lifelong Learning: Livestreaming 52 and Interactive Webinars at STH motive Magazine Goes Digital 53 Opposite: Photo courtesy of the Beck family DEAN’S MESSAGE A DEMANDING DREAM and to love your neighbor as yourself BY MARY ELIZABETH MOORE (12:29–31). Luke oers a dierent sce- nario for these same commands (10:25– What does the Lord require of you 38). His story unfolds with a volley of but to do justice, and to love kindness, questions when a man asks Jesus what and to walk humbly with your God? he must do to inherit eternal life. When (Micah 6:8) Jesus turns the question back to him, the man responds with the commands to Micah’s words pose a demanding answer love God and neighbor. In both Gospels, to the question, “With what shall I come the question has to do with how to live Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore before the Lord, and bow myself before or what God requires, and each time the God on high?” (6:6). He points beyond response is love. the sacricial practice of burnt oer- The commands set forth by Micah ings, even “thousands of rams, with tens and the Gospels are as captivating as they of thousands of rivers of oil” (6:7). He are daunting. They echo in King’s calls instead for a way of living that is Dream speech of more than 50 years thoroughly just, thoroughly loving, and ago; in the eorts of many Muslims, thoroughly humble. Jews, and Christians to build peace in Surely Micah, like Martin Luther the Middle East; in local and global King, Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59), had a eorts to eliminate poverty and provide dream that his people might be “free health care for all people. They echo in at last” if they opened themselves to eorts to create religious communities complete transformation. Such pleas for that include every race and ethnicity, justice are unrelenting in Hebrew scrip- gender and gender preference, social ture and in many traditional Jewish prac- class, sexual orientation, and theological tices, whether daily mitzvot, Sabbath, or perspective. Such comprehensive visions Jubilee. And as we see in Micah, justice require justice, kindness, and humility. and kindness are not opposing values; They cannot become realities if people each is a pathway to the other. True are unwilling to stand boldly for justice, justice opens people to deep respect for or if they trample others with unkind- the dignity of the “other,” while true ness, or if they settle for righteous indig- kindness demands justice. And both nation in place of humility.