The 115th Annual Commencement of The Iliff School of Theology

June 4, 2020 10:00 a.m.

Opening of Commencement Dr. Pam Eisenbaum Faculty Marshal, Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins

Processional Composed and performed by Jenny LaJoye

Welcome Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe President and Chief Executive Officer Henry White Warren Professor of Leadership and Ministry Praxis

Hymn “Where Mountains Lift the Eye”

Responsive Prayer Matthew David Morris and Isabela Rosales Masters Students of the Year

Leader: O Source of every good and perfect gift, who has gathered us from many traditions and places, we remember all who, willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly, have helped us make the journey to this time of celebration.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: Lover of all, who knows and remembers every single one, we remember all the ancestors and their descendants, whose land we now inhabit, we remember those who were dehumanized by forced labor to establish this state and nation, we join your eternal recognition of their humanity and their gifts to us beyond our knowing of them.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: We remember those who prepared the way with us in mind, founders with a vision, Faithful teachers and graduates of the past who left us a tradition of scholarship, leadership, and ministry.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: We remember trustees, churches and donors who shouldered the burden of supporting and maintaining our school.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: We remember pastors and chaplains, mentors and supervisors, communities and individuals who shared their vision and gave us encouragement.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: We remember classmates and faculty, who challenged us and widened our vision. of what life means and faith requires.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: We remember administrators and support staff, whose steady efforts made it possible for us to prepare for our future work.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them.

Leader: And we remember with special affection friends and family, partners and children, who bore with us through times of struggle, who helped us persist in reaching for our dream and claiming what we are called to be.

People: We give thanks for your spirit working through them. And with glad and grateful hearts we praise you saying, Alleluia, Amen!

Recognition of Attaining a Certificate

Susan Schlessman Duncan Award for Outstanding Trustee Leadership

The Graduating Class Presentation

Hymn “We are Building Up a New World” words by Dr.

Reading Dr. Jeremy Garber Academic Advising and Writing Center Coordinator

Commencement Address Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley Mayor Wellington Webb

Prayer Caran Ware Joseph, M.Div. ‘12 Chief Operating Officer

Conferring of Degrees Authorization and Greetings Timothy G. Pfeifer, Chair, Board of Trustees, 2019-2022 Conferral of Degrees Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe Presentation of Candidates Rev. Dr. Boyung Lee Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Practical Theology, Co-Dean, DU- Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion

Presentation of Diplomas Rev. Dr. Thomas V. Wolfe and Timothy G. Pfeifer

Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care Master of Arts in Social Justice and Ethics Master of Theological Studies Master of Divinity Joint Master of Arts in the Study of Religion Joint Doctor of Philosophy in the Study of Religion

Charge to the Graduates Dr. Julie Todd John Wesley Iliff Senior Adjunct Faculty in Justice and Peace Studies

Charge to the School Rev. Andrew Finch

Song “This is Me”, assembled by Benjamin Weger

Benediction Dr. Carrie Doehring Clifford Baldridge Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling Dr. Albert Hernãndez Associate Professor of the History of Christianity

Recessional Composed and performed by Matthew David Morris

MASTER OF ARTS IN PASTORAL AND SPIRITUAL CARE

Maxine Christopher B.A., Davidson College

Karen Ann Harder B.A., University of Wisconsin- with distinction Eau Claire M.S., University of Wisconsin- Madison

Julie E. Hiramatsu B.A., Stanford University with distinction M.B.A., Dartmouth College

Sara Welch Keith B.A., Washington University in with distinction St. Louis

Leigh Kettler Knauert B.S., Northwestern University with distinction

MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ETHICS

Cristine Maria de la Luna B.A., Metropolitan State University of

Isabela Leonor Rosales B.A., Luther College with distinction

Linda Margaret Wolfe-Newell B.A., University of California with distinction Irvine

MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Benjamin Adam Climer B.A., Seattle Pacific University with distinction

Katherine Pearle Davis B.F.A., Boston University

Brenda Marie Horth A.A., Santa Barbara City with distinction College B.A., Northern Arizona University M.Div., McCormick Theological Seminary

Jordan Elizabeth Licari B.A., Florida State University

Tamara Ann Love A.A., Central New Mexico Community College B.A., The University of New Mexico

Paul Michalec A.A.S., Finger Lakes with distinction Community College B.S., Cornell University M.S., Minnesota State University, Mankato Ph.D., University of Boulder

Aryn Kylie Hart Riley B.A., Auburn University

Amelia Celestina Romo Olivas B.S., Saint Louis University

Alexander Thomas Tonkin A.A., Red Rocks Community College B.A.,

MASTER OF DIVINITY

David Baffour Akoto B.S., Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Theresa D. Bowen B.A., Metropolitan State

Javon Elisea Bracy B.A., Xavier University of Louisiana

Elizabeth McDaniels Butche A.A., University of North Florida B.A., University of Central Florida

David B. Clark A.C.M., New Orleans Baptist with distinction Theological Seminary B.A., University of Missouri- Kansas City

Craig Alan Cranston B.A., Eckerd College with distinction

Deborah K. Dahlke B.S., with distinction

Joseph Paul Donatone B.A., The Ohio State University

Joanna M. Douglass B.D.S., The University of Edinburgh, Scotland D.D.S., The University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Andrew Edward Finch B.A., University of Nebraska Omaha

Brian Patrick Good B.A., Ashford University M.A., Antioch University M.Ed., Concordia University

Paul Curtis Grossman B.A., Metropolitan State with distinction University of Denver

Camille Marie Harrison B.A., Colorado Springs

James Patrick Hellman B.S., Regis University M.B.A., University of Denver M.S., Regis University

Jonathon Mark Hughes B.S., Oregon State University M.P.A., Portland State University

Kayla Ann Flannery Johnson B.A., University of Arizona

Andrea Catherine Kennedy B.A., New College of California

Jenny LaJoye B.A., Calvin University with distinction

Tiffanie Sylvia Lyon B.S., Frostburg State University M.B.A., University of Massachusetts Amherst

Deborah E. Metcalf B.A., Valparaiso University

Matthew David Morris A.G.S., Portland Community with distinction College

Scott Theodore Mulder B.S., SUNY Empire State College M.A., Medaille College Ph.D., Niagara University

Emily Anne Nagle B.A., Elmhurst College

Tressa Jacqueline Nawyn A.A.S., Bel-Rea Institute of Animal Technology B.S., Colorado State University- Global Campus M.S.W., University of Denver

Amanda Shaw Newsome B.S., University of Kansas

Piper Lanelle Ramsey B.A., Southern Nazarene University

LeAnn Danielle Robine A.A., Iowa Western Community College B.S., College of Saint Mary M.S., College of Saint Mary

Genevieve Nicole Rohret-Navin B.A., Millsaps College with distinction

Kirsten M. Rudberg B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

David Craig Sauer A.A.S., Chemeketa Community College B.S., Excelsior College

Stephanie Lynn Seth B.A., Emporia State University

Janet Patricia Shannon B.A., Eastern Washington University

DC Sills B.S.B., University of Phoenix

Jennifer Leigh Simon B.A., University of Southern California

Liza Stoltz Hanson B.A., Hamline University M.A., University of Denver

Anna Taylor Strickland B.S., University of Texas at Austin

Lynne Tabb B.A., University of Northern Iowa

Robin Douglas Tems B.S., Newcastle University, with distinction England Ph.D., Newcastle University, England

Benjamin Lee Weger B.S., Southeastern University

Berry Daniel Wilson B.B.A., Kennesaw State University M.B.A., University of Georgia M.A.P.S.C., Iliff School of Theology

JOINT MASTER OF ARTS IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION

**Kyle Allbright B.A., Wright State University, Dayton M.A.,

**Jeffrey Scott Appel B.A., Calvin University M.A., Regent College

JOINT DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION

**Lilith Zoe Cole B.A., University of Redlands J.D., University of Denver Dissertation: “Critiquing Atomistic Individualism in Law: Rosenzweig’s Beloved Soul as Open and Relational Legal Subject”

**Patricia Shawn Fawson B.S., University of Utah B.A., University of Utah M.F.A., Vermont College of Fine Arts M.Div., Iliff School of Theology Dissertation: “Sustaining Lamentation on Traumatic Grief Through the Contemporary Elegy: A Practical Theology of the Poetics of Testimony”

Roger Kurt Green B.A., Metropolitan State College of Denver M.H., University of Colorado at Denver Ph.D., University of Denver Dissertation: “Ayahuasca’s Religious Diaspora in the Wake of the Doctrine of Discovery”

Gregory J. Grobmeier B.S., University of Arizona M.A., Arizona State University Dissertation: “Community Unclaimed: Plurality and the Problem of Sovereignty in Bataille, Nancy, and Blanchot”

*Heidi Rhodes B.A., New College M.S.W., University of Denver

Dissertation: “Affect and Critique: Negative Dialectics and Massumi’s Politics of Affect”

*Graduated, August 2019; **Graduated, November 2019

Special thanks to the staff members with roles in preparing for Commencement: Rev. Dr. Cathie Kelsey, Dean of the Chapel; Alisha Eno, Executive Assistant to the President; Carmen Baca Doster, Registrar; Dr. Rhonda Eaker, Program Manager, University of Denver/ Iliff School of Theology Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion

Acknowledgements

“Where Mountains Lift the Eye” Words: Thomas H. Troeger © 1991 Oxford University Press; Music: John Kuzma © 1991. Used by permission.