2022 CRCDS Convocation Service

2022 Convocation Service August 15, 2022 10:45 am (Eastern)

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year

ORDER OF SERVICE PROCESSION/Prelude Call to Worship

Rebeka Fergusson-Lutz President, Student Cabinet

Leader:

This is a time for celebrating what has been – For remembering with gratitude the One who has been our sustenance and strength in ages past.

People:

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader:

This is a time for celebrating what is - For embracing the now of life and love, and the here of beauty and joy, For welcoming the God who comes to us in Jesus Christ in Word and Spirit.

People:

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader:

This is a time for celebrating what yet will be – For anticipating new beginnings, For venturing forth in faith, hope, and love, For committing ourselves anew to the ministries of teaching, learning, and serving.

People:

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Leader:

Let us worship God.

Invocation

Kishundra D. King, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Practical Theology Director of Black Religious Life and Thought

Welcome

Rev. Angela D. Sims, Ph.D. CRCDS President

Greetings

*Hymn

Rev. Michael Ford, D.Min. Chair, Board of Trustees "Come Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire"

Remarks

Old Testament Reading

Deborah J. Rogers, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs Ezekiel 37: 1 – 14

Hilary Jerome Scarsella, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Ethics Director Gender, Sexual and Racial Justice

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year New Testament Reading

Convocation Address

*Hymn

Romans 8:6-11

Jin Young Choi, Ph.D. Professor of New Testament & Christian Origins Baptist Missionary Training School Professorial Chair in Biblical Studies

"When Breath Comes"

"Breathe on me Breath of God”

Litany and Prayer of Commitment

Rev. Dr. Delesslyn Audra Kennebrew, J.D., M.Div. Regional Minister for Ministry Innovation Greater Kansas City Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Melanie Duguid-May, Ph.D. Professor of Theology

ALL: O God of the high heavens, O Christ of the deep earth, O Spirit of flowing waters, You come to us in love; now we commit ourselves to You. Strengthen our passion for peace, justice, and service; breathe into our bodies the power of Your love.

Students: We give ourselves gladly to not-knowing; we come to revel in curiosity, to unleash our imagination, to behold in wonder. We give ourselves to diligent study and to the nourishment of our bodies and minds and spirits as we prepare ourselves to serve God’s people, the earth, and all life forms, as we dedicate ourselves to become makers of peace with justice. We give ourselves to be recreated as persons alive in communion with God for the sake of liberating life abundant.

ALL: Strengthen our passion for peace, justice, and service; breathe into our bodies the power of Your love.

Staff: We give our energy and expertise, our experience, and our enthusiasm to the myriad tasks we do to support the mission of the divinity school. We give ourselves to practice peace, advocate for justice and serve members of the CRCDS community as together we seek to be a school of and for the liberating life abundant of wider and wider communities.

ALL: Strengthen our passion for peace, justice, and service; breathe into our bodies the power of Your love.

Faculty: We give ourselves to be discerners of truth and lovers of wisdom. We give ourselves to learning and unlearning, and to teaching as we create communities of mutual respect and formation. We give ourselves to being transformers and to being transformed for the sake of liberating life abundant.

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year ALL: Strengthen our passion for peace, justice, and service; breathe into our bodies the power of Your love.

Friends: We give ourselves to support the educational mission of CRCDS. We give ourselves in faithfulness to this school’s vibrant, life-giving legacies, and we pledge ourselves to follow new pathways and practices You open before us.

Set Your vision before us and move us boldly into Your future.

ALL: Strengthen our passion for peace, justice, and service; breathe into our bodies the power of Your love.

O God of the high heavens, O Christ of the deep earth, O Spirit of flowing waters, Revive us again!

Holy Eucharist Celebrant: People:

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Celebrant: People:

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Celebrant: People:

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give God thanks and praise

Rev. Cindy Rasmussen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Public Theology and Eco-Justice Director of the Program for Anglican Studies

The celebrant continues: In every time and every age, O God, it is good and faithful that we give you thanks, for your mercy is sure, and your steadfast love endures forever.

In your compassion, you gave us Christ Jesus, who frees us from darkness and lights our path to endless renewal and eternal life. And so, with all creation, with the needy and hungry ones, with those who have enough and plenty, with creatures large and small, with sun and moon and stars, and with the saints of every age, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are you, O God, creator of all things. By your power and love you continue to deliver your people from bondage, thwart the designs of evil, show the way through the wilderness, turn hardship into righteousness, and reveal your hand upholding the just. You came among us to feed and heal and teach, to confound the haughty, to challenge the wrong-hearted, and, in all these things, to give hope to those who long for peace. Be our guide and teacher today and always.

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year The celebrant continues: We remember that on the night he was betrayed, having gathered his friends at the table, our Lord Jesus took bread and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat. This is my body given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

And again, after supper, he took the cup and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Remembering God’s self-giving love, we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on your people gathered here and, on these gifts, bread and wine of earth, to body and blood of heaven; our frail flesh and blood to your holy people, that we might be Christ’s body to your world.

For our city and neighborhood, we now pray - end all violence, mend your wounded earth, heal those who suffer, comfort those who mourn, and infuse us with your peace rooted in what is just.

All glory and honor are yours, Holy God, through Christ and in the unity of the Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

And we now pray together: O most Compassionate Life-giver, may we honor and praise you: May we work with you to establish your new order of justice, peace, and love.

Give us what we need for growth, And help us, through forgiving others, to accept forgiveness.

Strengthen us in the time of testing, that we may resist all evil, For all tenderness, strength and love are yours, now and forever.

Amen.

Bill Wallace, Aootearoa/New Zealand We now share in the body and blood of Christ.

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year

The Blessing Declaration of the Beginning of the 203rd Academic Year *Benediction

Rev. Angela D. Sims, Ph.D. Rev. Shazetta Thompson-Hill, D.Min. Director, Doctor of Ministry Program

2022 Convocation The Two Hundred and Third Academic Year Governing Trustees

Faculty - Continued

Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Cady, II Rev. Dr. Michael J. Ford (CRCDS '12) - Chair Mr. George Hamlin IV Rev. Dr. Sandra DeMott Hasenauer (CRDS '93) The Rt. Rev. Stephen T. Lane (CRDS '78) Dr. Carey C. Newman Mr. Patrick R. ("Ricky") Pearce, Jr. Rev. Canon Robert A. Picken Rev. Thomas G. Poole, Ph.D. (CRDS ‘77) – Vice-Chair Rev. Karen Rucks-Walker, Th.D. Rev. Cheryl L. Price, Ph.D. (CRDS ‘85) – Secretary Rev. Paul Vick (CRDS ‘71) Kristin F. Zimar, Esq

Kishundra D. King, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Practical Theology Director of Black Religious Thought and Life

Life Trustees

Rev. Shazetta Thompson-Hill, D.Min. Director, Doctor of Ministry Program

Rev. Margaret Cowden, Ph.D. Rev. Larry W. Dobson (CTS ‘65) Ms. Mary Ann Geib (CRDS ’64) Mr. Preston T. Henderson Mr. Jay T. Holmes Mr. Jack F. Kraushaar Ms. Gloria M. Langston Annie Marie LeBarbour, Ph.D. Mr. Jerry W. Ligon Rev. J. Wendall Mapson Dr. James G. Miller Ms. Virginia S. Pacala Mr. Thomas S. Richards Ms. Dorothy R. Tasker Dr. Brian J. Thompson Mr. Thomas A. Tupitza Rev. Frank D. Tyson (CTS ’69) Rev. Dr. W. Kenneth Williams (CRDS ‘76)

CRCDS Community

Rev. Cindy Rasmussen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Public Theology and Eco-Justice Director of the Program for Anglican Studies Hilary Jerome Scarsella, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Ethics Director Gender, Sexual and Racial Justice

Adjunct Faculty Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield Rev. Michael Woodcock, Ph.D.

Faculty Emeritus The Rev. James H. Evans, Jr., Ph.D. Instructor of Theology and Black Church Studies 1979-1990 Professor of Systematic Theology 2000-2016 Rev. Dr. H. Darrell Lance Professor of Old Testament 1965-1993

Rev. Angela D. Sims, Ph.D. President

Rev. Gail A. Ricciuti, D.D. Associate Professor of Homiletics 1998-2016

Executive Leadership Team

Rev. John R. Tyson, Ph.D. Professor of Church History & Director of Methodist Studies 2012-2022

Rev. Paula Blue Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Chief Operating Officer

Staff

Rev. Barbara Breland Vice President for Finance and Administration

Lisa Bors Director of Development

Deborah J. Rogers, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs Associate Professor of Theology, Culture and Practice of Ministry

Polly Bush Director of Admissions

Courtney Wiley-Harris, D.Min. Vice President for Institutional Advancement Lindsay Lucas Entre Computer Services

Faculty Jin Young Choi, Ph.D. Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Baptist Missionary Training School Professorial Chair in Biblical Studies Rev. Melanie A. Duguid-May, Ph.D. Professor of Theology

Lydia Crim Executive Administrator to the President and Office Manager

Qhamora Kimbrough Registrar and Coordinator of Financial Aid Rev. Jacqueline J. Nelson Director for Student Support Services and Coordinator for Spiritual Care

Meg Donovan Staff Accountant

David Riddell Director of Advancement & Communications

Patricia Keenahan Controller

Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet Reference Librarian