Choosing to Die: A Commencement Address by Dr. Renee House

May 1, 2013

NBTS called on Rev. Dr. Renee House to address graduates, honored alumni and guests at our 2013 Commencement Ceremony held on May 18, 2013 in Kirkpatrick Chapel of Rutgers University. Dr. House has graced New Brunswick Theological Seminary with her boundless energy and creative approaches for almost three decades as a brilliant student, beloved teacher and respected leader.

Read her stirring address, Choosing to Die: A Commencement Address by Dr. Renee House.

After preparing countless others for ministry, this spring, Dr. House has answered a call of her own. She was recently installed as the new dominie and first woman minister of The Old Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston, NY and she is very excited about this new direction. “I know that offering the good news of the gospel in an urban center like Kingston is urgent and essential,” Dr. House explains. “The church is the only institution called to speak of Gods love in Jesus Christ. I have received and believe this good news with every fiber of my being. I am aching to share this witness in my words, my presence, my actions.”

Dr. House began her theological studies at NBTS, earning her Master of Divinity in 1987 when she also became a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America.

Thanks to a Master in Library Science from the University of Arizona and experience as a professional librarian, she served as the Director of the Gardner A. Sage Library from 1987 to 2005. During this time she completed her doctorate at Princeton Theological Seminary, was appointed Associate Professor of Practical Theology and served as Dean of the Seminary. Dr. House has written widely, including “Women Raising Women: The Urgent Work of The Mission Gleaner, 1885-1914,” in Patterns and Portraits: Women in the History of the Reformed Church in America, which she also edited with NBTS Dr. John Coakley. Last spring Dr. House completed her second term as Dean. While she serves her new congregation in Kingston, Dr. House will continue to teach at NBTS as an adjunct professor.