Ongoing Support for a Continued Witness

By Maurice Ritchie

After family, friends, and church, Duke Divinity School has been the richest continuing association of our lives.

Through curriculum, field education, and personal relationships, Duke Divinity nudged me toward claiming my call to ordained ministry and supported me as I resolved that struggle and found my place in the ministry of higher education.

From the first year after graduation, alumni gatherings and the annual Convocation and Pastors' School provided me with inspiration, stimulation, guidance, and support from professionals in the academy and the church. What a joy to greet friends, remember old times, and gain inspiration and encouragement from each other!

I think regularly of those who touched me most: Ray Petry and Stewart Henry in church history; Hugh Anderson and William Stinespring in biblical studies; Mickey Efird in Greek; Egil Grislis, Fred Herzog, Durwood Foster, and Tom Langford in theology; Arthur Kale, James Cleland, and McMurry Richey in ministerial studies. More than one of these blessed me with one-on-one time to help me through my personal wilderness to the abundant life called the ministry of the church.

Dotty and I have supported Duke Divinity financially out of a strong desire to express gratitude and to affirm the school's ongoing vocation to prepare people for both lay and ordained ministry. Thank God we have been able to make annual contributions for more than 50 years.

When the time came to think and plan for our future, Dotty and I wanted to do what we could to ensure that our beloved Divinity School will be able to do for others what it has done for us. We want to support an ongoing witness to and within Duke University itself, reminding it of its unique vocation of eruditio et religio: to serve God and bless the world in its labor to discover and apply truth and justice to all human life.

We have decided the best way to do that is through a bequest that will keep on giving. We thank God for the rich blessing of Duke Divinity School and pray that you will join us in remembering the school with "your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service." While Dotty and I are still providing for our own retirement, we have decided to leave a percentage of our estate to Duke Divinity. Will you consider your situation and join us in doing the same?

You can plan now to support Duke Divinity School in the future. For further information about estate gifts, charitable gift annuity income, IRA charitable rollovers, and more, please contact Betsy Poole at 919-660-3456 or external@div.duke.edu.