In the past weektwo Hartford Seminary Doctor of Ministrygraduates have been featured in thepress.

When Marjorie Nunes becamepastor of Summerfield United Methodist Church in Bridgeport, CT, in 2002, shearrived at the church to lead her first worship service andfound the gate in the front of the sanctuary padlocked with a note instructing guests to drive around to the social hall for service. Inside were about a dozen people. Today,the churchhas a summer program for neighborhood children, a food pantry, a clothing closet,a new music program, and overhead projectors and is an ethnically diverse congregation. Between the English, Spanish and French services, Nunes said about 140 people worship at the church each weekend.

Her Doctor of Ministry studies fueled her. She named her thesis, ?To dream again: A new dream of a new community for new times.? The DMIN project, she said, is what kept her on track as she continued to help the congregation transform.

You can see the storyhere.

The Rev. Dr. Peter Allen is vice president of Simply Smiles Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing bright futures for impoverished children.

Simply Smiles also helps to provide income for the Mexican poor by marketing their coffee beans in this country. More recently a new project has begun among the people of the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota. As Vice President of Simply Smiles, Allen’sduties are diverse. On any given day, he could be preaching, presenting, fundraising, hosting a service trip, carrying food, or mixing cement. He is currently learning Spanish.

View the story here