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59 Honored at 136th
Commencement
[Photo album]
President
Krey awards Leah Delight Schade her degree, earned with
honors. |
PHILADELPHIA -- Fifty-nine seminarians were awarded degrees
at the 136th Commencement exercises of The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia May 21.
The exercises were held in a tent on the Seminary's 13-acre
campus, the same location as inaugural ceremonies Friday for
the Seminary's eleventh President, the Rev. Dr. Philip D. W.
Krey.
Among the graduates were the first two to receive degrees
in the Seminary's new Latino Program -- Luisa Cabello-Hansel
and Priscila Curet-Roche. Hansel is in the midst of a call process
to possibly become pastor at New Creation Lutheran Church in
Philadelphia's Tioga section. Her husband, Patrick, is the congregation's
current pastor. Priscila Curet-Roche will begin an internship
field work assignment and a candidacy endorsement process prior
to receiving a call.
A highlight of the Commencement was the presentation of honorary
doctoral degrees to the founders and program directors of the
Seminary's 20-year-old Urban Theological Institute (UTI). The
honorees are the Rev. Andrew Willis, who works as a recruiter
for the UTI, and the Rev. Randolph Jones, the UTI's program
director and member of the Seminary's faculty. Jones, in acceptance
remarks, noted that the UTI had originally searched far and
wide for a home for the program. "When others said no, the Seminary
said yes," he said proudly. "The program has enabled African
American leaders to be certified with appropriate credentials
in what God has already called them to do." Willis, in expressing
gratitude for the honor, quipped that it frequently happens
in his church that "you only get honored when you die. That's
why our funerals are so long." The UTI is an Afro-centric program
of theological study that enables church leaders to expand their
credentials as pastors, educators and outreach coordinators
as they study evenings and weekends while continuing to hold
regular jobs.
Commencement keynoter, the Rev. William Shafer of Oreland,
former Director of Seminary Services, cautioned the graduates
against becoming what Parker Palmer calls "functional atheists."
Shafer, introduced by Krey as having "wisdom, resourcefulness
and commitment to the Gospel" that contributed to the Seminary's
"renaissance" in the past 10 years, identified himself as a
functional atheist -- "an over-functioning, anxious controller
with strong needs to get things right and finished and with
a heavy sense of responsibility. You may become convinced that
nothing is happening in the church unless you are contributing
to it."=20
Being a functional atheist may actually prevent the church's
professional leaders from being "effective" some of the time,
missing out on those surprising, puzzling episodes that define
the episodes of church life that are significant and which do
not involve the efforts of a professional leader. "Don't forget
to be surprised," Shafer advised.
Shafer began his seminary study after serving as a financial
aid administrator at Haverford College. He served as pastor
of Grace Lutheran Church, Wyndmoor, PA, for many years prior
to joining the Seminary staff. He now serves as an interim parish
pastor, supporting a congregation between formal calls of a
pastor.
Lisa Raylene Barnes of Danville, PA, co-president with Michael
Dubsky, of the class of 2000, told the community that their
experience in Seminary has "transformed us, given us a better
sense of what it means to be a people."
She movingly recalled how the class had arrived as individuals,
"each with our personal stories collected from our pre-seminary
lives." Over the years, she said, "we became a people united
in a shared story, a story filled with thrills and terrors,
joys and sorrows." They have supported each other "when it was
hard to keep on going. Our story is rooted in the Gospel. As
God's people are here, so is God's grace, shared in the smiles,
the hugs, the words of encouragement. Grace in the form of forgiving
faculty members, patient administrators, caring classmates,
supportive families and friends. It is by God's grace that we
have made it to the end of this chapter. By God's grace we were
brought here as strangers and leave as family."
The graduates, hometowns and related information are as follows:
Master of Arts in Religion: Nancy James Deming of St.
Davids, PA, and Magdalena Naanhule ya-Shalongo of Ondangwa,
Namibia.
Master of Divinity: Steven E. Adkins of Philadelphia
(19145); Gloria L. Alford of Philadelphia (19132 -- Urban Theological
Institute); Lisa Raylene Barnes of Danville, PA (Urban Concentration);
Amy West Bender of Concord, NC; Katherine Bender Braun of Charlotte,
NC (Honors); Jill Ellen Collict of Dover, NJ; Michele Cristen
Cooper of Newington, NH; Priscila Curet-Roche of Elkins Park,
PA (Latino Program); Deborah Scott Dawson of Sanatoga, PA; Kristin
Marie Hoyer Dubsky, White Bear Lake, MN (Urban Concentration);
Michael A. Dubsky, Annapolis, MD (Urban Concentration); Wynetta
M. H. Dukes of Philadelphia (19119 -- Urban Theological Institute);
Robert Elton Hamlin, Sr. of Buckingham, PA (Urban Theological
Institute); Luisa Cabello-Hansel of Philadelphia (19120 -- Latino
Program); Eric Tyrone Henry of Harrington, DE (Urban Theological
Institute); Glenda Rhodes Hodges of Lansdowne, PA; Garret Martin
Johnson of Wantagh, NY; Josie S. Johnson of Glen Mills, PA;
Justin Michael Johnson of Poughkeepsie, NY.
Also, Bruce Edwin Kaifler of Northport, NY; Barbara Anne Kearse
of Philadelphia (19119); Kim Ann Kemmerling of Tacoma, WA; Justin
Christian Lathrop of Marlton, NJ; John Charles Linn of Raleigh,
NC; James Ernest Luckey of Philadelphia (19150 -- Urban Theological
Institute); John Edward Mack, Jr. of Wyandanch, NY; William
Jeffrey Magee of Tabernacle, NJ; William Bernard Mercer, Jr.
of Philadelphia (19138); Jacquelyn Joy Mize-Baker of Ozone Park,
NY; David Alan Newman of Reading, PA; Vernon Ross, Jr. of Norristown,
PA (Urban Theological Institute); Rebecca Susan Rossow of Perkasie,
PA; Jaclin H. Ryan of Ashtabula, OH; Leah Delight Schade of
York, PA (Honors); Michael Joseph Scholtes of St. Johns, PA;
Rebecca Lynn Swavely of Gilbertsville, PA; Jennifer Lynn Sweitzer
of Beachwood, NJ (Honors); Wendy White Thode of Glenside, PA;
and Marianne Louise Unger of Reading, PA.
Master of Sacred Theology: Ka Oi Chanof Brooklyn, NY;
Paul Mullane Ferrarone of Chalfont, PA; Francisco Javier Goitia-Padilla
of Dorado, PR; Ludwick E. Gooding of Philadelphia (19143); Roxanne
M. Kringle of Easton, PA; Min Chan Park of Flushing, NY; Jana
Strukova of the Slovak Republic, and Karol Lynn Van Wulfen of
Staten Island, NY.
Doctor of Ministry: Eric Duane Ash, Sr.,of Monroeville,
PA; John Bert Carlson of Mt. Laurel, NJ; Bruce T. Davis of Wyndmoor,
PA; John Michael Di Matteo of Linden, NJ; Karen Minnich-Sadler
of Gettysburg, PA; Thomas E. Richards, Jr., of Tannersville,
PA; Glenn Frederick Schoenberger of Stone Harbor, NJ; Clifton
Joseph Suehr of Littlestown, PA, and Paul C. Wise of Atlantic
City, NJ.
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