The 2023 Distinguished Alumna of the Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago, Cynthia Gano Lindner, has taught and nurtured religious leaders for over twenty years in her role as Director of Ministry Studies at the Divinity School. Her book, Varieties of Gifts: Multiplicity and the Well-Lived Pastoral Life, urges emerging religious leaders to reclaim the multi-faceted nature of their own lives, an insight that is increasingly relevant for a rapidly changing landscape of higher education.
Nestled in the city’s south side, the University of Chicago’s Divinity School continues to grow in ways that reflect the historied, pluralistic environment of Chicago. Newly appointed Dean Jim Robinson shared with DDH recently about faculty searches in Global Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Early Modernities, complementing the decade-long transformation of the M.Div. program into uniquely multi-faith cohorts under Cynthia’s shepherding.
DDH Chicago continues to embrace its own varieties of gifts by fostering the growth of religious leaders, theologians, academics, activists, and above all, human beings. It supports students through tuition payment, housing, stipends, and the broadening of their educational experiences. Scholarships have placed students as interns in Disciples congregations and offered ecumenical encounters by supporting travel to the World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, among supporting a variety of other programs.
DDH Chicago offers programs that reflect the multiple lived realities of students and faculty. Final-year MDiv students often choose a Monday Night Dinner at DDH as the setting for their ministry thesis presentations, sharing what has been incubating during their academic career–and their lives–in profound acts of public theology. DDH Chicago also partners with community members, such as inviting local chaplains to reflect on spiritual care and space-making, and mining the rich field of the arts for theological inquiry at the Smart Museum of Art and the Court Theatre.
Ministry, academics, and life require much from us, including that we show up in complex and realized ways. Much like DDH’s distinguished alumna, the University of Chicago Divinity School and DDH seek to equip their students for religious leadership, scholarship, and navigating life in all their multiplicities.