NEUMARK TO DELIVER BACCALAUREATE SPEECH AT MUHLENBERG
Lutheran pastor Heidi B. Neumark will serve as Baccalaureate speaker for the class of 2002, Sunday May 19, at 10 a.m. on the College Green. The Reverend Neumark will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity at Commencement, which will begin at 2 p.m.Wednesday, April 24, 2002 03:54 PM
Lutheran pastor Heidi B. Neumark will serve as Baccalaureate speaker for the class of 2002, Sunday May 19, at 10 a.m. on the College Green. The Reverend Neumark will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity at Commencement, which will begin at 2 p.m.
Neumark has served as pastor of Transfiguration (Spanish) Lutheran Church since 1984. She was previously assigned at St. Matthew -Trinity Lutheran Church in Hoboken, N.J. as an assistant pastor for the Urban Residency Program.
Neumark is a 1982 graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, where she is also a member of the Board of Trustees. In 1998 she was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the seminary, and has been the recipient of a Study Grant for Pastoral Leaders from the Louisville Institute. Her experience includes working for a year with Rural America Mission, Inc. in South Carolina as well as with Christian Base Communities in South America.
Neumark's congregation is located in Hunts Point, a South Bronx neighborhood overshadowed by an environment of poverty, crime and violence. Working with this, she has served as an ecumenical leader and social activist, striving to spread the spiritual message while strengthening multi-denominational relationships.
Neumark is the founder and president of Transfiguration Community Life Center, Inc., which helps to provide a food pantry, healthy lifestyle classes, after-school and job training program for youth and workshops to assist immigrants with assimilation. She has also founded and served as president of the South Bronx Churches coalition and is a founding member of Inner City Guild. She is a frequent speaker, preacher and Bible Study leader and is a facilitator with the ELCA regional Summer Theological Academy. Her family includes husband Gregorio and children Hans and Ana.
CBS broadcast journalist Bob Schieffer will serve as Commencement speaker. Frances Moore Lappé and William J. Small will receive Honorary Doctorate of Humanities degrees at Commencement; Elliot J. Sussman, MD, will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Science and Ervin J. Rokke will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Laws.
