Karin Heller (2003-present) associate professor of theology Many warm greetings from France! I enjoyed this last academic year very much, because I was granted a sabbatical. Thank you, Whitworth University, and thank you, dear colleagues from the department, for this wonderful time entirely dedicated to research and speaking engagements at various conferences.

My public speaking began in October with a talk at Boston University. The music and theology departments at B.U. had organized a symposium, "Olivier Messiaen, the Theologian," on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Messiaen's birth. Somehow, people at the University of Munich learned about my conference and they invited me to speak also at their Messiaen Congress, which took place in April in a beautiful baroque Bavarian abbey. My contribution focused on the implementation of the liturgical reform in the wake of the second Vatican Council and on Messiaen's life as a church organist. This aspect of the French composer's work had never been studied in depth before, and I was fortunate to be given access to a number of previously unexplored documents at Paris' Trinity Church.

I was also pleased to see two of my articles published, in January and May. Both are dedicated to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, former archbishop of Paris, who died last year. The research on some aspects of his spiritual itinerary and life as pastor of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal, which was my parish for many years, gave me the opportunity to remember with immense gratitude a very intensive period of my life.

In a couple of weeks I'll leave for Tilburg University, Netherlands, where I'll attend a symposium on "The Catholic Church and Modernity" . My contribution focuses on the topic "Liturgical Movements between Ressourcement and Aggiornamento in the Context of the 20th-Century Church of France." On June 18, I'll return to the U.S. for a couple of days. I express my deep gratitude to Darrell Guder for inviting me to speak at the annual meeting of the American Society of Missiology, in Chicago. My presentation is entitled "Missio Dei: Envisioning an Apostolic Practical Theology." The preparation for this event took place in New York the last month of October and led me for the first time to this unique American city, with which I immediately fell in love!

My last speaking engagement will take place in July, at the 10th International Bonhoeffer Congress, in Prague. I'm excited to return to this famous European city, which I visited 13 years ago. The congress will be attended by scholars from formerly communist countries in Europe. I am very much looking forward to getting a glimpse of the development of Christianity in these countries that are eager to open the doors to the liberating message of Christ. My return to the States is scheduled for the end of August, and I'm happy at the prospect of living another year of grace in the theology & philosophy department in my Spokane home, which I deeply cherish.