As we head toward peak fall foliage, final preparations are under way for Alumni Day Thursday, Oct. 26. We welcome all alumni, as well as current and former MTSO employees.

There is no cost to attend Alumni Day. We simply ask that all who plan to participate complete the free RSVP here.

The day begins at 10:45 a.m. with a chapel service in the Alford Centrum, followed by a luncheon honoring recipients of the 2023 John and Ruth Mount Alumni Awards for Distinguished Service. This year’s honorees are:

• Judy Alston (M.Div. ’16), chair, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University.
• Barbara Fant (MTS ’12), poet, voice-over talent, host, and corporate and nonprofit storyteller.
• Colleen Ogle (MTS ’85, M.Div. ’87), lead pastor, Bexley United Methodist Church.

Those who wish are invited to take a guided campus tour after lunch.

See you on the 26th.

In Trust, a magazine covering seminaries throughout the U.S. and Canada, features MTSO, Seminary Hill Farm and the institution’s commitment to ecotheology in its Autumn issue.

Christopher Carter, MTSO’s newly appointed associate professor of theology, told In Trust how his interest in food and religion led him to MTSO: “I saw how my work tied into what the institution envisioned, and I think I have grown in my relationship with what the school and the farm are doing for theological education.”

Read the entire feature story online here.

MTSO and Seminary Hill Farm invite you to be part of our second annual Harvest Celebration and Dinner, celebrating our shared relationship with regenerative agriculture, food security and ecotheology.

We will gather Thursday, Nov. 2, to enjoy a delicious, locally sourced meal in Dunn Dining Hall on the MTSO campus, 3081 Columbus Pike, Delaware, Ohio 43015.

5 p.m. – Optional Seminary Hill Farm walk
6 p.m. – Doors open
6:30 p.m. – Dinner and program

Irish folk music will be provided by the Ten Penny Bit.

The cost is $50 per meal; $35 per student meal.

Register here. The registration deadline is Oct. 26.

We look forward to sharing this meal and celebration with you.

In its effort to keep preachers informed and sensitive to the needs of congregations and communities, WomanPreach! Inc. is hosting its fourth annual World AIDS Day Digital Conversation Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Eastern. This webinar, presented on the eve of World AIDS Day, will give updated information on the medical fight against HIV/AIDS and offer preachers guidance on addressing it in sermons, prayers and other ritual practices.

The event is curated by the WomanPreach! board. It is part of the work WomanPreach! and MTSO are doing through a shared five-year Compelling Preaching Initiative grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The original $1 million grant was recently expanded via a $250,000 supplemental grant.

After the Nov. 30 webinar, MTSO will offer a chance to reflect in community during a follow-up 30-minute conversation on campus and online. MTSO Associate Professor of Ethics Toni Bond will lead that conversation.

Free registration for the World AIDS Day Digital Conversation is available here.

Those who know MTSO Director of Development Claudine Leary know how her servant’s heart guides her work on behalf of our students.

What you might not know is the amazing work she has done on behalf of refugee children in Sub-Saharan Africa. A former refugee herself, she co-founded Watoto Read in 2016 to build schools in refugee camps. (“Watoto” is Swahili for “children.”)

Leary’s work was featured in a recent UMC.org article, “WCS scholar follows her heart: Claudine Leary.” Read the story here.