William Gilbert and Florence Leonard Jones Scholarship Recipient:
Young Kang
Young Kang is a PhD candidate in the New Testament at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. His research focuses on exploring the experiences of marginalized diasporic communities in the United States, particularly Korean Americans, through a postcolonial lens in Pauline studies. Young’s scholarly endeavors are driven by his desire to contribute to the greater theological dialogue and empower the next generation of Korean American churches.
As a Korean American, Young is deeply aware of the challenges faced by the community within the broader American cultural context. He envisions a community where individuals can authentically engage with their faith, find support and encouragement, and actively participate in the mission of the Church. This vision stems from his deep desire to bridge the generational, cultural, and language gaps widely experienced by second-generation Korean Americans in traditional Korean churches.
Young is currently under care for ordination with the Pacific Southwest Region, serving Yedidyah Christian Church in Norwalk, California as an assistant pastor. Yedidyah Christian Church envisions a multi-ethnic church community of worship and arts created by God’s beloved people and God-loving people. With his passion for biblical studies and dedication to nurturing the faith of others, he is eager to continue growing as a servant leader and making a positive impact in the Christian Church and broader community.
Ann E. Dickerson Scholarship Recipients:
Lynnette Li
Lynnette is working on her PhD at the University of Denver-ILIFF School of Theology’s joint doctoral program. For the past six years, Lynnette has been involved with theological consultations, research, and program development with the Council for World Mission. Their denominational involvement includes serving on the General Board of the General Assembly, the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, and participating in the youth programming team for the General Assemblies of 2013 and 2015. Lynnette is a proud member of Central Christian Church (Indianapolis, IN). They currently serve on the board of the Disciples Home Missions. They hope to contribute their scholarship, advocacy, and research to energize the ongoing work of the Disciples’ work toward being a movement for wholeness in a broken and fragmented world.
Ruth Schulenberg
Ruth serves as Director for Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education at Oregon State Hospital, a forensic psychiatric facility, while also working on her PhD dissertation at Brite Divinity School. She currently is recruiting narrative study participants from around the country to engage in 1:1 interviews and small visual-verbal focus groups exploring “Factors in Personal and Collective Resilience and Vocational Commitment Among Mental Health Care Workers During and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Her first interview with a study participant affirmed her excitement about this opportunity to talk with people about the personal, relational, and systemic factors that strengthen and undermine their resilience in and commitment to their care and advocacy for people living with mental illness.
Ruth has ministerial standing with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is a member of Salem First Christian Church in Salem, Oregon, while remaining a ministry partner with The Gathering, A Womanist Church in Dallas, Texas. After living in Texas and several other states in previous years, she returned in 2021 to Oregon, where she was born and raised. She is grateful for the technology that allows her to live in her home state while staying connected to people across the country and around the world.
When not working at the hospital or focused on her dissertation, Ruth enjoys time spent with her two small dogs, and sight-seeing, particularly on the Oregon Coast where she is doing some volunteer work with a marine biologist and enjoying whale-watching and other ocean life. Consistent with her dissertation study topic, Ruth finds her own resilience and commitment to her work in the mental health field and in pastoral theology bolstered by regular conversations with colleagues and friends within and outside her field, time immersed in the beauty of creation, and occasional opportunities to engage in art such as painting, mixed-media journaling, collage (which she is using with her study participants), and other creative media.
Zaemelys Ramos-Rodriguez
Zaemelys Ramos-Rodriguez is a member of Casa de Refugio Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Southern California, where she is a graduate student studying to obtain a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Zaemelys is very involved in her church and region, serving for over nine years as a worship leader and Sunday school teacher. Along with her involvement with the Church, she is also a freelance digital artist and after-school teacher.
Zaemelys feels a calling from God to serve her church and community through psychology, specifically, and to partner with Latin American communities to create culturally relevant interventions and accessible, affordable mental health care. She is currently working on a research project to bring a Christian-based mental health literacy workshop to Latin American churches, hopefully reducing faith-based stigma and increasing positive attitudes toward seeking mental health services.
After graduating, Zaemelys plans to collaborate with churches within the Pacific Southwest Region and various Disciples organizations, such as the National Benevolent Association, to promote mental health care within the church, and to find innovative ways to bring about accessible mental health screenings and culturally responsive approaches to increase mental health literacy.
HELM Ph.D. Book Award Recipients:
Jason Coker
Jason Coker is the Co-Lead Minister at The Oceanside Sanctuary in Oceanside, California where he has served since 2015. He earned his M.A. at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2010, and is currently a second year Ph.D. student in Fuller’s Intercultural Studies program where his research focuses on developing an intercultural theology at the intersection of moral development and religious disaffiliation in the U.S. Jason is also a part-time member of the Human Development faculty at Cal State University San Marcos where he has taught undergraduate courses in human services leadership, social policy and social programs, and human development theories since 2013. He is ordained with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Vineyard Community of Churches, USA.
Jason’s doctoral research is directly connected to his deep concern for how religion has been co-opted by powerful interests in the U.S. to harm marginalized people. He is highly active in ecumenical, interfaith, and faith-based community organizing efforts in the San Diego area to advocate for just policy changes and has served as a board member for The San Diego Organizing Project, a local federation of PICO California. He is the founder of the North County Clergy Coalition, a fellowship of over three dozen interfaith clergy in North San Diego County. Through this coalition, Jason spearheaded the Trans Ally Clergy of San Diego campaign in 2022 to defend the rights of transgender persons coming under attack at local school board meetings across the county. He is also active in the Pacific Southwest Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), having served as a board member for the PSWR and Co-Chair of the Church Transformation Committee from 2018 to 2022. He is passionate about helping churches adapt to the cultural transitions that are leading to religious disaffiliation, transforming the trajectory of congregational decline at the organizational level, and empowering people of faith to navigate the healthy lifelong processes of spiritual change, growth, and development.
Jason is married to Jenell Coker, with whom he co-leads The Oceanside Sanctuary. They previously worked as partners in ministry to serve small and large congregations in Utah and Ohio for fifteen years before moving to Oceanside in 2008. They have three adult daughters, one grandson, two golden retrievers, and one orange tabby cat.
Dain Alexander Smith
Dain Alexander Smith is a PhD candidate in Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. His research interests are focused on the New Testament, Paul’s Letters, Intertextuality, Hermeneutics, Literary Theory, Postcolonial Theory, and Historical Contexts.
Dain has published peer-reviewed academic articles in Novum Testamentum and Horizons in Biblical Theology, and he is currently writing his dissertation on the politics of peace in Romans. He also has a growing YouTube channel named, Bible Geek, that produces biblical and theological education that is easily accessible and free. Dain is an ordination candidate, and he is currently the Interim Discipleship Minister at South Elkhorn Christian Church in Lexington Kentucky. Dain met his wife, Jennifer, in a New Testament Greek class, they have been married for seven years, and they work together with the youth in their church community.
At the foundation of Dain’s vocational and academic goals is the desire to help the Church understand how the Bible relates to their faith and practice. When people misunderstand the Bible, the Bible can become weaponized and used against people to promulgate harmful ideologies like xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, Christian nationalism, and more. However, when people have a proper understanding of God, Scripture, and themselves, they can live in the love Christ calls them to—a love that unites all people in equality, justice, and peace. Thus, as a Disciples of Christ minister and scholar, Dain sees himself as someone who calls people into a deeper love of Scripture so that they can be empowered to love God and neighbor.