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Thirteen graduates of received blessings, degrees and certificates during Saturday鈥檚 seminary commencement. They were also accompanied by the observation, offered by associate dean , that 鈥渢oday marks the end of the world as you know it.鈥�

Heisey and seminary dean offered the commencement addresses in the absence, due to illness, of Fuller Seminary professor Dr. Erin Dufault-Hunter.

The end of late night studies and of commutes to and from Harrisonburg or Lancaster, Heisey said, also marks the beginning of 鈥渓iving with a new intensity the question of what this education is good for?鈥�

Heisey gave several examples of those who 鈥済row into God鈥檚 mission in a new time and place鈥�drawn by God into frightening places before them, singing God鈥檚 praises鈥�We go forth from here,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause we have been called to sing that great old and new hallelujah chorus in tunes and rhythms we don鈥檛 know among people who may not choose to join us.鈥�

The salutation offered by graduates Sarah Payne and Andrea Yoder summarized the class of 2017 as 鈥渁 group of Mennonites, of Methodists, and miscellaneous, in some ways, a collection of contradictions 鈥� yet an assembly of mature practitioners, discerning communicators, wise interpreters, and transformational leaders. We are fierce followers of Jesus, seekers of the Spirit, children of God.鈥�

View photo albums of and .

The class comprised those in study for three years to some who labored for eight years, each nurtured by faculty, peers, family, friends and church communities.

For Payne, pastor of Sherando United Methodist Church in Stuarts Draft, 鈥渢he goal of seminary studies was to pursue wholeness, to learn good boundaries, and to learn ‘what is Christian hope,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he seminary experience has helped me find a measure of wholeness that can deal authentically with my story in the greater narrative of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.”

Yoder, who serves as worship pastoring intern at Eastside Church in Harrisonburg, came to seminary 鈥渂ecause I felt called,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn’t know when I began what the end-goal would be.聽 My goal in coming to seminary and pursuing a degree was simply obedience to the Holy Spirit.鈥�

The experience, she says, 鈥渉as been revelatory for me, allowing me to grow more and more fully into who God has created and called me to be. No matter what my vocation becomes after seminary, I will step into it with a far great awareness of who God is, who I am and the role that I’ve been called to play in God’s redeeming work in the world.鈥�

King, giving his last address as seminary dean, offered a complementary address to that of Heisey, sharing the personal stories of two students giving of their gifts amid personal loss and wounds.

鈥淭his is why we need seminaries,鈥� he concluded. 鈥淭his is why we need the graduates, all with their own stories of abiding in Christ, heading into a world at the edge. I fear the future. I also dare hope students like these will raise the rafters of new homes鈥攑ersonal and institutional, academic and spiritual, economic and environmental, denominational and congregational, human and divine鈥攆or which in times like these we so yearn.鈥�

Class of 2017

Master of Divinity degrees were conferred to the following graduates:

Dale T. Humphries, Waynesboro, Va.

Phil C. Kanagy, Harrisonburg, Va. (with recognition for excellence in practical theology);

Jacob R. Kave, Harrisonburg, Va.

Carlos H. Madrid, Grottoes, Va.

Julie D. Nitzsche, Stanardsville, Va.

Sarah E. Payne, Staunton, Va.

George F. Ryan, Round Hill, Va. (with recognition for excellence in theological studies);

Stephen K. Wilcox, Harrisonburg, Va. (with recognition for excellence in theological studies);

Andrea K. Yoder, Harrisonburg, Va. (with recognition for excellence in Biblical studies);

A Master of Arts in Religion degree was conferred to Audrey Ann Kanagy, of Lancaster, Pa., with recognition for excellence in historical and pastoral theology.

Certificates in Ministry Leadership were earned by Dwight Groff, Kinzers, Pa.; Hardaye Ramjit, Macedonia, Ohio; and Nancy Sims, Sugar Grove, W.Va.