For the first time, graduates from Eastern Mennonite Seminary joined those of 草莓社区 for the 100th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 6. The seminary conferred 18 degrees and four graduate certificates.
Among them were four graduates of the MA in Christian Leadership, a new degree program that balances spiritual growth, leadership training, and individualized integration of coursework that best fits the student鈥檚 intended ministry setting.
The seminary baccalaureate and commissioning was Friday, May 4, in Martin Chapel.
Adam King, pastor at Rise Church in Harrisonburg, opened the service with an original poem, written for the occasion, titled 鈥�There鈥檚 a lot of ‘Adams’ in this place.鈥�
The poem, published in its entirety at the end of this article, asks, 鈥淐an you see who God has made you to be?鈥�
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In this place 鈥� Eastern Mennonite Seminary 鈥� are Biblical figures among a 鈥済reat cloud of witnesses鈥� and whose legacies live on, as does Jesus 鈥渋n each face here,鈥� the poem states. There are the Noahs 鈥淕athering the beasts together / Building floating refugee boats for the coming flood,鈥� the Leahs who are overlooked 鈥渂ut oh so strong / Steadily producing quality work / Steadfast and faithful,鈥� the Marys 鈥渂earing the Spirit of God in their souls / boldly declaring with swelled bellies / that God is doing something new,鈥� and many more.
鈥淟ook around!鈥� it states. 鈥淒o you see them?鈥�
After missing out on the 2017 seminary baccalaureate because of illness, invited speaker Erin Dufault-Hunter, assistant professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Ca., returned to provide the keynote address. Dufault-Hunter is a longtime member of Pasadena Mennonite Church, where she regularly participates in the music team and occasionally preaches.
Graduates Jason Wagner and Sarah Bailey provided reflections at the baccalaureate.
‘We鈥檙e trading in who we thought we were for who God made us to be’
Bailey was also among the students providing graduate perspectives at the main commencement ceremony on Sunday.
The degree 鈥渋s our receipt鈥� for 鈥�the Hebrew and the Greek exams, the hundreds of pages of required reading each week, the late-night paper-writing sessions, the pain and the tears as we ripped open our souls in formation classes in CPE,鈥� she said. 鈥淭oday we trade it all in for a piece of paper.鈥�
She continued: 鈥淭his paper is our receipt, the symbol of the exchange that has happened for us here. Because over these past years in seminary, we have been trading things in and today is the culmination of that. We鈥檙e trading in all the bucketfuls of coffee that we鈥檝e lived on, for some spiritual awakening. We鈥檙e trading in our insecurity for new confidence. We鈥檙e trading in our original questions for some new and better ones. We鈥檙e trading in our biases for some compassion. We鈥檙e trading in our desires to change the world for some skills to actually do it…. We鈥檙e trading in who we thought we were for who God made us to be, one assignment, one reading, one hallway discussion, one tearful moment, one chapel service at a time.鈥�
Bailey noted the various callings of her classmates: 鈥渢o work with young people, with the elderly, the sick, the traumatized, the victims, the prisoners, the conflicted, the searching, the faithful and the faithless.鈥�
鈥淲e go from here as pastors, as counselors, campus ministers, chaplains, activists, and much, much more. But most important of all, we go out from here being better friends, better family members, better members of our community, and better Christ followers than we were when we came in.鈥�
Seminary Graduates
Master of Arts in Christian Leadership
- Micah C. Hurst, Sydney New South Wales, Australia
- Neal R. Benedict, Manheim, Pa. (earned at EMU Lancaster)
- Rhonda K. Good, Lancaster, Pa. (earned at EMU Lancaster)
- Christian J. Nickels, Schwenksville, Pa. (earned at EMU Lancaster)
Master of Divinity聽
- Lorrie J. Aikens, Hot Springs, Va.
- Sarah Christine Bailey, Elkton, Va.
- Joshua E. Dalton, Altavista, Va.
- Gabriel Phillip Dodd, Harrisonburg, Va.
- Jeffrey Fletcher, Bentonville, Va.
- Steven Ryan Giddens, Harrisonburg, Va.
- Brandon Michael Hawley, Roanoke, Va.
- Stephen Adam King, Broadway, Va.
- Alexander James Mitchell, Gibsonton, Fla.
- Matthew Alan Nyce, Broadway, Va.
- Shankar Rai, Lancaster, Pa.
- Charles Raymond Tinsley III, Dinwiddie, Va.
- Jason Allen Wagner, Harrisonburg, Va.
- Philip Jason Yoder, Harrisonburg, Va.
Graduate Certificate in Ministry Leadership
- Margret Jo Castillo, Norristown, Pa. (earned at EMU Lancaster)
- Barry A. Houser, Lancaster, Pa. (earned at EMU Lancaster)
- Dawn R. Reidy, Bunker Hill, W.Va.
- Ken Ryan Wettig, Harrisonburg, Va.
“There鈥檚 a lot of 鈥楢dams鈥� in this place” by Adam King MDiv ’18
There鈥檚 a lot of 鈥楢dams鈥� in this place.
Not atoms, with a ‘T鈥�, like the building blocks of matter,
but 鈥楢dams鈥�, with a 鈥楧鈥�, like the building block of humanity.
Eager to name and categorize and invent and create
And there鈥檚 a lot of Eves in this place as well
Birthing new ideas, new life
asking hard questions
Challenging the status quo
There鈥檚 a lot of Noahs in this place
Gathering the beasts together
Building floating refugee boats for the coming flood
and inviting any and all to come on board, even the scoffers, mockers
There鈥檚 a lot of Abrahams and a lot of Sarahs in this place
Laughing at God鈥檚 cosmic joke
Then discovering God follows through on promises
There鈥檚 a lot of Isaacs in this place
Willingly following their Father with an abiding trust
Wondering why there鈥檚 no ram
And what鈥檚 this sharp knife for
There鈥檚 a lot of Jacobs in this place
tricksters, jesters, jokers, and thieves
kind-hearted mommas boys
who wrestle with God
There鈥檚 a lot of Rachels in this place
Beautiful and favored
Drawing water from wells
Drawing hope for the future
There鈥檚 a lot of Leahs in this place too
Overlooked but oh so strong
Steadily producing quality work
Steadfast and faithful
There鈥檚 a lot of Josephs in this place
full of big dreams and world changing projects
climbing the corporate ladder
to sit next to the world鈥檚 Pharaohs
There鈥檚 a lot of Shipporahs and Puahs in this place
Undermining the powers that be
Risking death
to rescue life.
There鈥檚 a lot of Moses鈥� in this place
Reluctant leaders of people
Deliverers of hope and liberation
God鈥檚 trusted spokesperson to a world gone mad
There鈥檚 a lot of Samuels in this place
Called in the night and crying out
HERE I AM!!
SEND ME!!
There鈥檚 a lot of Davids in this place
slaying giants and building kingdoms
prone to stray, but quick to repent
people after God鈥檚 own heart
There鈥檚 a lot of Solomons in this place
Wise beyond measure
We should listen to them more
There鈥檚 a lot of Jeremiahs in this place
crying out to the people
PAY ATTENTION!!
Weeping in grief when they refuse to listen
There鈥檚 a lot of Isaiahs in this place
whispering words of hope
return, rescue, redemption
There鈥檚 a lot of Marys in this place
bearing the Spirit of God in their souls
boldly declaring with swelled bellies
that God is doing something new
There鈥檚 a lot of Peters in this place
brash and loud and quick to act
full of ambition and hope
humble and willing to receive forgiveness
There鈥檚 a lot of Magdalenes in this place
faithful to the very end
never leaving the side of those they love
and the first to declare 鈥淟IFE HAS WON!”
There鈥檚 a lot of Pauls in this place
Brilliant beyond belief
Journeying across worlds and seas
with Good News that will not be contained
There鈥檚 a lot of Jesus in this place
I see him in each face here
Filled with the Holy Spirit
and willing to lay their lives down for their friend
There鈥檚 a great cloud of witnesses鈥� in this place, my friends
Look around! Do you see them?
Can you see who God has made you to be?
And can you see from where, from whom you come?
There鈥檚 a lot of Adams in this place鈥�
More Commencement coverage:
- 鈥榃e Made It!鈥� EMU confers 540 degrees, and one honorary doctorate, at 100th Commencement
- Leymah Gbowee鈥檚 2018 Commencement Address, 草莓社区
- CJP graduates from eight states and 12 countries charged to 鈥榤aximize healing鈥�
Staff writer Christopher Clymer Kurtz contributed to this article.