NEWS
Two beginnings in one week

Rob McCarty's week to remember was one of many LTSP commencement highlights [more photos]

Graduating with honors were, from left, new dad Rob McCarty, Mary Wolfe, Kent Klophaus and Margaret Tyson.

(May 2001)--Seminarian Rob D. McCarty of Cicero, NY, became a Dad for the first time May 16. (Spouse, Elizabeth, and son, Jamison Matthew, are both doing just fine.) On May 20, Rob, an honors graduate of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, addressed his classmates and hundreds of others during the Seminary's 137th commencement exercises held at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia.

Not a bad week for Rob. Small wonder this writer lost count of the hallelujahs sprinkled thoughout his remarks.

Key commencement leaders included Bishop Margaret Payne, left, Seminary President Philip D. W. Krey, center, and honorary degree recipient Robert F. Blanck.

McCarty and 22 others were awarded the First Professional Degree at the exercises. Twenty-two others received Advanced-Level degrees during the ceremonies. The Seminary also honored Dr. Robert F. Blanck with an honorary doctoral degree in response to his 30 years of devotion as a Seminary Trustee, serving 25 of those years as its chair. The keynote commencement address was delivered by the Rev. Margaret Gatter Payne, Bishop of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the 5.2-million-member denomination with which the Seminary is affiliated.

"Hallelujah, we are here!" McCarty said, confessing that the new "coos and gurgles" in his life had served as a distraction from researching the works of theologians like Barth and Luther to fill out his remarks. "I hope that you will find joy and excitement in distractions like these and take them as an opportunity to do real ministry with people craving to hear the good news of Jesus," McCarty said. "God is at work in those moments. Joy and love transcend those moments." He extended a warm and heartfelt thank-you to the Seminary community, his classmates and their family members "for the sacrifice and witness you have made."

Master of Divinity recipients Tom Kildea, left, and Mary Wolfe exchange congratulations at the commencement's conclusion.

In stirring remarks, Bishop Payne referred to verses from the twenty-first and twenty-second chapters of Revelation, which comprised the scriptural lesson for the day.

"On this day that is such a rich and spirit-filled intermixture of endings and beginnings, closure and commencement, we are reminded by the verses from Revelation that we are called to be more than our own bundle of urgent longings," she said. "We are called to be witnesses to the vision of the New Jerusalem. We are called to give glimpses in all that we do of that day, promised by God, when darkness and evil will be no more and the nations will be healed, and the light of Christ will shine so brightly that there will be no need of sun or moon. This Seminary community of learning and faith has helped to shape you as a vision-bearer, and it releases you now into the world to carry and live by that vision so that the whole world can see it."

Bishop Payne noted that the graduates had known both the joy of sharing in one another's gifts, and the sorrow that accompanies such events as the May 18 death of "wife and mother Barbara…" -- the spouse of a beloved faculty member, Professor Timothy Wengert of Oreland, PA. "The church needs you desperately," Payne said. "It needs you to be so alive in the vision of the new Jerusalem that you will not be able to resist proclaiming it. The church needs you to help end the Lutheran conspiracy of silence about life in Christ. It needs you to be and seek disciples, to reach out to the unchurched and not just look for ready-made Lutherans to join our congregations." She urged the graduates to always leave room in their lives for the impact of the Holy Spirit and to keep in mind the Book of Revelation message that God is a "God of abundance." But she admonished them to recognize "that the American mindset of high-energy consumption is not God's view of blessedness. God calls us to the vision of abundance for the whole world, not just America."

In paying tribute to Blanck, President Philip D. W. Krey celebrated that the Trustee "has served the Lord and the church all your life…with a faith and devotion that is increasingly rare." He took special note of Blanck's determination to focus within the church on the challenge of theological education for future leaders. In receiving the honorary degree, Blanck said "I have served as we are all called to serve, doing what we can with our God-given talents…I thank you for the honor of allowing me the privilege of such service."

Two graduates named Johnson earned their degrees through studies with the Seminary's Urban Theological Institute. From left are Lawrence Johnson of Lawnside, NJ, and Albert Johnson of Yeadon, PA.

The commencement featured the music of the Seminary Choir under the direction of Mark Mummert. Kimberly R. Cottingham, the Student Body President, was lector, and the Rev. Bruce Davidson, President of the Seminary's Alumni/ae Association, welcomed the graduates into the Association.

Awarded the Master of Arts in Religion degree was Joshua J. Anderson of Quincy, MA. Receiving the Master of Divinity degree were Sandra W. Birchmeier of Bellevue, NE; Walter William Breiner, Jr., of Summit Hill, PA; Stephen A. Brisson of Bellingham, MA; Titus Dorneyan Clarke of Baltimore, MD; Melinda Steffanie Harris of Scarsdale, NY; Arthur Fred Hebbeler III of Catonsville, MD; Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane of Camden, NJ; Albert Johnson of Yeadon, PA; Lawrence Johnson of Lawnside, NJ; Thomas John Kildea of Charlottesville, VA; Kent R. Klophaus of Nutley, NJ (Honors); Richard Andrew Kwiatkowski of Hamburg, NY.

Tanysha Williams of Philadelphia earned her degree with an Urban Concentration specialization.

Also, McCarty of Cicero, NY (Honors); John Westly Miller of East Orange, NJ; Richard Lee Moore of Wheeling, WV; Nelson Quinones Carrero of Allentown, PA; David Andrew Benton Rike of Lancaster, PA; Daniel Richard Ruge of Madison, WI; Allen Michael Schwarz of Charleston, WV; Margaret Virginia Louise Tyson of Norwalk, CT (Honors), Tanysha Marie Williams of Philadelphia (Urban Concentration), and Mary-Elizabeth Hilton Wolfe of Reading, PA (Honors).

Awarded the Master of Sacred Theology degree were Andrew W. Ballentine, Jr., of Williamsburg, VA; Meliisa Ann Craig Buono of Acton, MA; Waaqtolaa Dinagdee of Takoma Park, MD; Baka Enaremeng Enarekic of Lae, Papua New Guinea; Dirk Gerhard Lange of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (Distinction); Elizabeth Carter Langensiepen of Hellertown, PA; Byoung Su Lee of Nyack, NY; Moenga; Edward M. Rodriguez of New York, NY, and Margayjo Whitlock of Kearny, NJ.

Awarded the Doctor of Ministry degree were Edward Vincent Avery of Philadelphia; Paul Wisdom, Baumgartner of Savannah, GA; Carol Lyn Brighton of Ramsey, NJ (Distinction); Hubert Lee Brumback II of Littlestown, PA; Arvelle C. Jones, Sr. of Philadelphia; Chung-Whun Kim of Philadelphia; Patricia M. McDermott of Falls Church, VA (Distinction); Cosmos Kebinang Moenga of Gabarone, Botswana; Mwatumai Simon Mwanjota of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Ernest Joseph Sherretta of Broomall, PA; Scott Lee Strohm of Rutledge, PA, and Yasunori Tajima of Tokyo, Japan.