One More Annand Mentor ...

Harlon L. Dalton has been a professor at Yale Law School since 1981. Faced with a legal system that reflects the aspirations of the mythical “reasonable man,” his scholarly ambition has been to reconstruct law so that it takes account of our many nonrational qualities, including our capacity to love without condition, hate without reason, desire to our detriment, and connect spiritually. To that end, he was a pioneer in imagining and establishing law and sexuality as an academic discipline. He was also a pioneer in the field of AIDS law. And he played a significant role in launching and nurturing critical race theory as a distinctive enterprise. In recent years he has taught “Law and Theology,” “The Formation of Lawyers,” and “Law and Human Flourishing.”

In the mid-1990's, he began to respond to a quiet but insistent call to ordained ministry. On January 4, 2003, he was ordained a priest by the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. Since his initial ordination in June 2002 (as a transitional deacon), he has served as the Associate Rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Paul & St. James in New Haven. He currently serves on several Diocesan bodies, including the Standing Committee, and is a member of the Commission on Ministry committee that oversees the initial stages of the ordination process.

Since July 2006, he has been a member of the YDS and Berkeley faculties as a Professor (Adjunct) of Law and Religion. He was a founding member of the Initiative on Religion and Politics, and at present is conducting a survey of New Haven’s houses of worship that explores how they see and understand themselves as religious institutions (i.e. what do they do? why? how?).

During the Fall Semester of 2008, he led an Annand formation group for the first time. It proved to be a an enjoyable and enriching experience that allowed him to integrate his interest in formation with his interest in contemplative spiritual practices. He is living proof that we people of faith are works in progress. We are constantly in the process of being formed and reformed; done; undone, and made new. Thanks be to God!

More Annand Program Mentors

Here are the final two mentors we’ll be profiling on the blog before classes begin. They still represent only a small sampling of who’s available for spiritual direction through the Annand program. Remember, no matter your faith tradition (even if you’re struggling to figure out where you stand on faith!) the Annand program is free and available to all students.

The Rev. Dawn Stegelmann is an Episcopal priest who was ordained in February 2009. She is the curate at Trinity Church, Southport, CT. She graduated from YDS/BDS in 2008. A grateful beneficiary of the Annand Program, she has a special interest in spiritual direction, pastoral care and healing ministries. She has spent years as a facilitator of small groups for men and women. Topics have included spiritual formation, parenting, bereavement, marriage, life-threatening illnesses, suicide and aging. A 20-year resident of Darien, CT, Dawn is a wife and mother of three sons. She loves the outdoors, international travel, reading and writing.


The Rev. Jane Stickney, ordained in 1977, spent the first ten years of her ministry were in the United Church of Christ. Jane understands and is open to working with students from reformed and liturgical traditions. An Episcopal priest since 1987, she has served in large and small parishes. Jane received an STM in Spiritual Direction in 1987 from the Center for Christian Spirituality at General Theological Seminary, and served on the General Theological School’s summer staff as a small group supervisor between 1991 and 1997. Jane has served as an Annand Mentor since 1994 and became the coordinator of the program in 2005. Her husband is a UCC pastor and interim ministry specialist. They have a married daughter and a grandson. Jane is a weaver [Ed. note: of some incredible stoles!] and has taught in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University: Psychology, Spirituality, and Celtic Art. She is interested in the value of creativity in a healthy spiritual life, writing, “This is an issue I often raise with students as they try to balance all the demands of life at Yale and as they look to their professional lives in the church.”

Annand Program Mentor Bios

I've previously posted info about the Annand Program, and I hope at least some of you new students are thinking seriously about joining one of the small groups that will start in the fall. Again, my experience was great; the group I joined was a wonderful support system to have, and our leader introduced some little rituals and reflections that created a prayerful space in the middle of a busy week.

To sign up for one of these groups, you'll email Jane at AnnandATyaleDOTedu (replace the caps with punctuation, of course!), and she'll meet with you briefly to talk about your goals and interests. ETA: Jane will post a sign-up sheet for these interviews on the door of her office/meditation room during BTFO. "Interviews" will start on August 31st and continue through September. Jane is happy to answer your questions over email, but you must make an in-person appointment with her to be matched with a mentor and group. (Don't worry, no one will be turned away; Jane just cares about who you end up with!)

We thought it would be fun to introduce some of the people who you might be paired with in these small groups, so here are bios and photos of a few of them. This is NOT an exhaustive listing of folks associated with the Annand Program! We'll be posting more mentor bios in the weeks to come. (Ed note: These bios come directly from the mentors themselves, and were not edited for content, grammar, or ridiculousness.)

-Kate

Judy Stone is a 1970 graduate of Yale Divinity School. She has been an active lifelong member of the Episcopal Church. She served as a Vestry member and coordinator of the Adult Discussion Group at Christ Church New Haven for 8 plus years. Judy continues to be a member of a Spirituality Group that has met weekly for 25 years, reading classics of Christian and other religious traditions. She has been part of a church choir for a number of years and preaches occasionally.

Judy recently retired from her career in social work, working with children and families. Midway in her career she earned a master’s in Social Work from UCONN in 1993 with a focus on casework and group work. She is intrigued with the connection between some of the therapeutic approaches from her training and traditional spiritual exercises. She finds groups especially helpful personally and professionally.

Judy is an avid gardener and co-ordinates a certified organic community garden at a local farm museum, and has a strong interest in ecology and sustainable agriculture. She enjoys hiking, travel, cooking and art work.

Bari S. Dworken is a lay leader serving in numerous roles at Congregation B'nai Israel in Bridgeport where she has been active for more than twenty five years. Bari has completed the Para Rabbinic Program of the Union of Reform Judaism and has been awarded a Keva certificate for continual advanced learning. A graduate of the first class of the two year Lev Shomea Spiritual Direction Program, she has served as a spiritual director for several years with individuals and groups and at YDS. She completed two units of CPE, worked as a part time On Call Chaplain at Bridgeport Hospital for 10 years, currently chairs the CPE Advisory Committee, and has published in the "Journal of Pastoral Care". She holds a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts and works as an Educational Consultant in Organization Development with not for profit groups and community organizations concentrating in the areas of team building, conflict resolution, diversity awareness and strategic planning. She recently retired from the faculty of the University of Connecticut. Bari is passionate about social action issues, interfaith study and involvement, learning from the natural world, traveling and "walking" with others on their spiritual journey.

Elaine Ramshaw has worked between the fields of theology and psychology all her adult life. She completed a three-year internship in pastoral psychotherapy at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy in Chicago and a two-year practicum in spiritual direction at Connecticut’s Mercy Center. She enjoys spiritual direction more than psychotherapy because it’s focused more on growth, because you get to listen to people telling their story in their own personal language of faith, and because you don’t have to concoct treatment plans to satisfy the insurance companies. Elaine has a PhD from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, and she taught pastoral care fulltime in seminaries (United Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal) for 16 years. In 2001 her own cancer adventure and her eldest brother’s death led to her decision to choose Connecticut over fulltime seminary teaching. She still teaches pastoral care courses online, for several seminaries of different denominations. A Lutheran layperson, she also works part-time on a parish staff (not to mention the movie theater job!). She’s a single woman who finds family in friends, siblings, and godchildren (an adult goddaughter and a teenaged godson). Prayer comes most naturally to her when she’s sharing communion, singing, drawing, or taking the neighbor’s dog on long daily walks.

Introducing the Annand Program ...

The Annand program, sponsored by Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, runs a number of spiritual formation opportunities. Through the Annand program, you can participate in small prayer groups, individual spiritual direction, and go on retreat. Annand is headed by the Reverend Jane Stickney, pictured above. Over the next few weeks, Jane and I will endeavor to introduce you to a few of the mentors who partner with Annand to offer spiritual formation – either in groups or in one-on-one settings.

Jane writes:

Spiritual formation is a term you will hear often. It can refer to anything that is part of your spiritual growth and vocational development. Your whole divinity school experience will contribute to your spiritual formation. One of the great resources available to you at YDS is the Annand Program for Spiritual Formation. Funded by Berkeley Divinity School, but available to all Yale Divinity School students, the Annand Program provides small groups, workshops, retreat scholarships and spiritual direction. The First Semester Formation Groups are especially for first year students. You will want to sign up to be part of one of these groups lead by Annand Mentors. The groups meet once a week beginning toward the end of September. As part of a group you will get to know 5-8 students in a setting outside of classes. As well as supporting each other as you settle into school, you will pray together and learn about different methods of prayer and spiritual traditions.

While participation in the Annand program is required for Berkeley M.Div students, the program is absolutely NOT limited to Episcopalians. I have availed myself to the spiritual direction program; Sandra, who comes from a completely different tradition, has gotten funding to go on retreat with friends. I really don't know that I can recommend the Annand program enough -- my first-semester spiritual formation group was a great way to find support and meet some new folks I might otherwise have never gotten to know so well.

Check out more about spiritual formation programs at Berkeley here, Annand in particular here. You can email any and all questions to Rev. Stickney at annandATyaleDOTedu (replace caps with punctuation); in my experience Jane has always been lovely to deal with.

-Kate