Two hundred members of the College Theology Society (CTS) gathered at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Indiana, Thursday, May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2019, to engage the theme “‘All the Ends of the Earth’: Challenge and Celebration of Global Catholicism,” which will be the title of the annual volume edited by convention cochairs Jane Linahan and Cyril Orji, and published by Orbis Books. Louis Albarran and Michael Griffin served as the local coordinators. As has been the custom for more than two decades, the CTS met in conjunction with the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR), with members presenting eighty-one papers and five panels in a total of forty-eight sectional meetings. In addition, the convention included four plenary presentations. The first plenary address, which formally opened the convention on Thursday evening, was “Peace and Justice: The Non-Negotiables of Christian Theology—A Latin American Perspective,” by Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer of Pontificia Universidade Católica de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On Friday, Shalini Mulackal, PBVM, of Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi, India, offered the second plenary address, “Inter-Ritual, Ecumenical, and Inter-Faith Living of Catholicism: An Indian Feminist Perspective.” Stan Chu Ilo, of DePaul University, Chicago, presented the third plenary address, “Reform from the Margins: Pope Francis and the Renewal of Catholic Theology,” on Saturday morning. A fourth plenary address on Saturday afternoon was “Learning from a Church Rich in Particularity: Catholics and Cultures across the Globe,” by Thomas Landy, of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.
At the Saturday-afternoon business meeting, vice president Johann Vento, Georgian Court University, announced the election results and new appointees to committees. Tobias Winright was elected as the new vice president, and Jennifer Kryszak, John Sheveland, and Katherine Schmidt were elected as new board members. Vento thanked other CTS members for their willingness to run for office, and she thanked outgoing board members Jason King, Mara Brecht, and Jessica Wrobleski. She noted that Nancy Rourke and Dan Rober served on the Committee on Nominations this past year and are slated to fulfill their second year of this two-year term in the coming year. As for the Awards Committee, Vento expressed gratitude to Mara Brecht, who completed her term and served as chair of the committee this past year, and added that Christina Astorga will be in her fourth year on this committee and will be chair for the coming year. Other committee members are Michael Fagge, Howard Ebert, Mary Ann Zimmer, and Benjamin Peters. Vento observed that the Resolutions Committee did not receive any resolutions for consideration. She proposed that two outgoing members of the board, Jason King and Mara Brecht, serve on the Committee on Resolutions, which is regular practice. All proposed committee appointments were unanimously approved by the membership. Finally, Vento reported that she received no new information about any regional meetings, except for one held at Boston College on January 30, 2019, with the theme of Global Catholicism and speakers Massimo Faggioli and Rafael Luciani.
Director of Research and Publications William Collinge, Mount St. Mary's University, shared that the 2018 Annual Volume, “You Say You Want a Revolution?” 1968–2018 in Theological Perspective, edited by Susie Paulik Babka, Elena Procario-Foley, and Sandra Yocum, had been mailed. Not counting plenaries, thirty-five papers were submitted and thirteen accepted, for an acceptance rate of 37 percent. Counting plenaries, authors were ten men, six women; only one author was a graduate student. He added that he had been in contact with Jane Linahan and Cyril Orji regarding the 2019 Annual Volume and that the Guidelines for Submission were prepared. Collinge communicated that he approved one request to reprint a portion of William Cavanaugh's “Violence Religious and Secular: Questioning the Categories,” from the 2011 Annual Volume, Violence, Transformation, and the Sacred, edited by Margaret Pfeil and Tobias Winright, in the T&T Clark Reader in Political Theology, to be published October 2019. Collinge also said he donated several old Annual Volumes to St. Peter's Theological College, Zomba, Malawi, and to the Mount St. Mary's University Library. Collinge noted that he has spare Annual Volumes and invited members to contact him if anyone was in need of a particular year.
Secretary George Faithful, Dominican University of California, presented the society's membership numbers, reporting that, as of May 28, 2019, CTS had 1,220 total members, consisting of 778 full professional members, 35 joint members, 122 associate members, 280 graduate student members, and five lifetime members. Only 504 of the total members, at present, are active members, meaning their membership dues are paid in full. He shared a chart that showed a slight decline in membership in comparison with the two previous years and asked whether this reflects a trend in CTS, as well as in higher education and academic theology.
Treasurer Stephen Okey, Saint Leo College, reported that the overall financial status of the CTS looks healthy and sustainable for both near and long terms. The CTS operated with a modest surplus in 2018. Dues were stable from 2017 to 2018, though as of the convention, approximately $3,500 less in dues had been collected than at the same time last year. Okey announced that the 2018 convention was profitable for the CTS, with a surplus of more than $8,000, and he expressed his hope that there would be a surplus for the 2019 convention, though he expected it to be smaller due to fewer registrants for this year's convention. Finally, Okey encouraged members to contribute, especially via the CTS website's homepage (www.collegetheology.org) to the Father Gerard S. Sloyan fund that is used to assist junior theologians and others who need financial support to attend the annual convention.
Horizons editor Elena Procario-Foley, Iona College, reported on the two issues published since the last convention. As has become tradition, she also shared the top ten countries from which Horizons content is downloaded from the digital platform on Cambridge Core. This year, the Philippines was second only to the United States as the country with the most downloads. Further, a variety of articles and book reviews from issues 43 and 44 populated the top ten most popular articles by full-text views, with Bahar Davary's review of the The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (HarperCollins, 2015) topping the list in first place. In addition to asking members to follow Horizons on Twitter, Procario-Foley concluded her report by reminding members to access Horizons digitally through the CTS website and take advantage of “FirstView,” Horizons blogs and virtual issues, and table of content alerts available on the Horizons website sponsored by Cambridge University Press.
Executive Coordinator of Digital Media Dana Dillon, Providence College, reported that the CTS website is stable and that the CTS has a solid social media presence, tagging members and sharing their news, announcements, and contributions on social media, particularly via Twitter (often in tandem with the Twitter account of Horizons). She invited members to share any ideas about what can be done to enhance the CTS's digital presence. Dillon added that her term in this role expires at the 2020 annual convention, and she encouraged any members who may be interested in succeeding her to contact her. It is a five-year term that involves maintaining the website, cultivating social media presence, and supporting the work of other board members through technology needed for registrations, calls for papers, communications, and elections.
Executive Director of National Conventions David Gentry-Akin reported that two hundred members attended the 2019 convention. The next annual convention will be at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama, on May 28–30, 2020. Future sites for subsequent annual meetings remain to be determined. Gentry-Akin also expressed his gratitude to this year's local coordinators, Louis Albarran and Michael Griffin, for their excellent efforts to make this year's convention a successful one at Holy Cross College, as well as to convention cochairs, Jane Linahan and Cyril Orji, for this year's theme and plenary speakers. Gentry-Akin, having completed ten years of service in this capacity, passed the metaphorical baton to his successor, Andrew Getz, Saint Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas.
Following these reports, outgoing president Shannon Schrein officially handed the gavel to incoming president Mary Doak, University of San Diego, and appreciation was given to Schrein for her dedicated service to the CTS.
On Saturday evening, following the Eucharistic Liturgy, over which Father David Tyson, CSC, President of Holy Cross College presided, there was a reception, banquet, presentation of awards, and the Presidential Address. Patrick W. Carey received the book award for Confession: Catholics, Repentance, and Forgiveness in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018). Karen Teel received the award for her essay on dismantling white supremacy, “White Supremacy and Christian Theology,” in Enfleshing Freedom: Embodiment, Discipleship, and Politics in the Work of M. Shawn Copeland, edited by Michele Saracino and Robert J. Rivera (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2018). John Sampson, of the University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, received the Sue Perry Award for best essay by a graduate student; his paper's title was “The Light of Christ and the Revelation of Humanity: Towards a Theological Anthropology of Religions in Dialogue with Classical Confucianism.” In addition, the Monika Hellwig Excellence in Teaching Committee, chaired by LaReine-Marie Mosely, awarded Reid Locklin, of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, with this year's honor. Further, David Gentry-Akin, Saint Mary's College of California, who has completed ten years of diligent service as the CTS Executive Director of National Conventions, was honored and celebrated by CTS president Shannon Schrein, OSF, Lourdes University, accompanied by a standing ovation from members. The banquet ended with an inspirational Presidential Address by Schrein, entitled “A Theologian's Call.”
