Three McCormick Alumni to Be Honored

06-23-2017

McCormick alums will be honored at the national biennial meeting for the American Baptist Churches in Portland,Oregon on July 2nd.

The Rev. Elizabeth Ritzman, director of the Wellness Center at Dominican University, River Forest, Ill., and a counselor in private practice, will receive the Carolyn M. Piper Pastoral Counseling Merit Award for faithful and effective pastoral counseling. Following the Psychodynamic Approach, Ritzman assists individuals and couples with wholeness, authenticity and conflict resolution, allowing them to become who God fully created them to be. She is president of the Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors Ministers’ Council. She has conducted counseling for the AIDS Pastoral Care Network.

The Rev. Dr. Morris Stimage-Norwood, senior pastor of the thriving Greater New Life Christian Center (GNLCC), Springfield, Mass., will receive the Edward H. Rhoades Urban Ministry Award for exceptional effectiveness in urban ministry. GNLCC, which he planted in 2002, owns three Christ-centered sober homes, operates a state-licensed substance abuse and mental health clinic, and partners with police to offer vocational training to at-risk teens. When he was project director for church rebuilding with the National Coalition of Burned Churches, he traveled nationwide to help churches rebuild after arson.

The Rev. Dr. Delois Brown-Daniels, retired vice president of Mission and Spiritual Care within Advocate Health Care,1994-2017, will receive the Paul W. Strickland Institutional Chaplaincy Merit Award for faithful and effective pastoral and spiritual care in an institutional setting, such as a hospital or college. She established the first pastoral care department at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. A board certified chaplain, she has served in hospital chaplaincy since 1980 and as an ACPE supervisor since 1990. She has served on the board for the Association of Professional Chaplains and currently serves on an ACPE regional board.