It's not too late to register for the BTS Alumni Gathering!

The BTS Center

97 India Street • Portland, ME 04101

www.thebtscenter.org

September 24, 2021

Dear friends:

We are looking forward to next week's special gathering of alumni of Bangor Theological Seminary — an event that we're calling an Alumni Pre-Convocation Care & Connection Gathering — to be held on Wednesday, September 29, 4:00-5:30 pm (Eastern), online.

The original invitation is here.

Thank you to those of you who have already registered — we look forward to seeing you in the Zoom room! If you haven't registered yet, there's still time. You'll find all the details and a registration link below.

We wish you God's blessings, and we hope to see you soon!

With gratitude and hope,

Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill

Executive Director • The BTS Center

allen@thebtscenter.org

Bangor Theological Seminary Alumni

Pre-Convocation Care & Connection Gathering

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

4:00-5:30pm (Eastern) • via Zoom

During a season of isolation, this gathering will be an opportunity to connect. During a season of depletion, this gathering will be an opportunity to find care and renewal. During a season of loss, this gathering will be an opportunity to honor the pain while also sparking spiritual imagination.

All Bangor Theological Seminary alums are welcome, regardless of whether you're able to participate in Convocation.

We welcome all for this opportunity to meet members of The BTS Center team, and we are grateful to partner with Alumni Co-Conveners Rev. Annette Mott (’08), Rev. Tara Olsen Allen (’10), and Rev. Doug Clark (’74)

Meet your Alumni Co-Conveners

Rev. Annette Mott (’08)

Rev. Annette Mott worked as the Resource Center Director, and later as the Director of Local Church Resources, for the Maine Conference UCC for 26 years as a lay worker. She graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary in 2008, was ordained in the United Church of Christ, and served as an Intentional Interim Minister at six different Maine UCC churches. She retired in August of this year.

Rev. Tara Olsen Allen (’10)

Rev. Tara Olsen Allen serves as Pastor of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Brentwood NH and has worked with the UCC at the local, association, and national levels. She recently served a church in Beverly, MA as Pastor for Congregational Life. Tara is a “born and bred UCCer” who grew up in a small town in MA. Tara received her Master of Divinity from Bangor Theological Seminary while at the same time pursuing a certificate in Youth and Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. In her spare time, Tara enjoys listening to live music, especially from her husband Daemian, who plays a variety of instruments.

Rev. Doug Clark (’74)

Rev. Doug Clark, a 1974 graduate of BTS, was ordained in 1975 and served UCC congregations in Maine, Massachusetts, and Southern California as a settled pastor. He transitioned to intentional interim ministry in 2001 and served congregations in the Washington, DC metro area and in Connecticut until his retirement in 2017. He is married to the Rev. Dr. Mary Moschella, who is the Roger Squire Professor of Pastoral Care at Yale Divinity School. Doug is passionate about the role of spirituality in addressing the climate emergency. He is the co-host of a podcast on creation care and climate justice with Jenna Van Donselaar, a recent graduate of Yale Divinity School and an activist with Young Evangelicals for Climate Action.

Convocation 2021

We Are God's Soil:

Spiritual Leadership in a Climate-Changed World

Thursday, September 30 – Friday, October 1

Online Sessions • Guided Offline Sessions

$30 • Bangor Theological Seminary alumni discount rate

Learn more

“A cloak of loose, soft material, held to the Earth’s hard surface by gravity, is all that lies between life and lifelessness.”

—Wallace H. Fuller, PhD, soil scientist, 1975

Join us for Convocation 2021. Over the course of two days this fall, we’ll gather for online sessions, and we’ll log off for some intentional, self-guided, offline sessions, returning to digital space for continued learning and reflection. Incorporating music, the arts, and contemplative practice, Convocation 2021 will inspire and challenge us to ground our spiritual leadership in the common good and in the sacredness of our planetary home. We look forward to this blend of online and offline experiences, which will weave together to facilitate learning, nurture respite, and deepen community.