Sixty–First Commencement Exercises
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Sixty–First Commencement Exercises INTERDENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER Saturday, the Twenty-Seventh of February Two Thousand and Twenty-One One O’Clock P.M. ET VIRTUAL COMMENCEMENT Rev. Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., '04, President Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 COMMENCEMENT The term “commencement” is derived from a practice in the medieval university where it was customary for a candidate for an academic degree (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate) to present a public lecture of disputation to the faculty and other scholars gathered to hear it. If the disputation was successfully defended and accepted, the candidate was granted the degree with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. The first public lecture of disputation was originally called an “inception.” It signified the beginning or commencement of the scholar’s academic career in the area in which a degree had been granted. The ceremony surrounding this inception or “graduation” from “bachelor” to “master” and eventually to “doctor” has subsequently come to be called Commencement. Today, the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) celebrates the Sixty-First Commencement Convocation. ____________________________________________________________________ THE CEREMONIAL MACE During the Middle Ages, the mace was an effective weapon in battle, but as newer and more powerful military arms developed, it was transformed into a symbol of authority. The earliest ceremonial maces were borne by bodyguards of 12th Century English and French kings. By the end of the 16th Century, they were used widely by officials of English cities and towns. Today, the ceremonial mace is found in the British Houses of Parliament and is frequently carried in ecclesiastical processions and in university convocations and commencement ceremonies. ____________________________________________________________________ HONOR CORDS Honor cords are worn by those graduates who have achieved “summa cum laude,” “magna cum laude” and “cum laude” status (yellow) and those graduates who are members of the International Society of Theta Phi (red). ____________________________________________________________________ ITC’S MISSION STATEMENT The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a Christian Africentric ecumenical consortium of seminaries and fellowships that educate students to commit to practicing justice and peace through a liberating and transforming spirituality to become leaders in the church and local/global communities. _____________________________________________________________________ ~ 2~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 INTERDENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, D.Min. Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04 Chair, Board of Trustees President ~~CONSTITUENT SEMINARIES~~ GAMMON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY United Methodist Church Bishop L. Jonathan Holston, ’83, Board Chair Joseph L. Crawford, D.D., ’77, Interim Dean TURNER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, M.Div., ’79, Board Chair John F. Green, D.Min., ’84, President-Dean PHILLIPS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY Christian Methodist Episcopal Bishop Sylvester Williams, Sr., D.Min., ’88, ’08, Board Chair Paul L. Brown, Sr., D.Min., ’91, President-Dean CHARLES H. MASON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Church of God in Christ, Incorporated Bishop David A. Hall, Sr., D.Min., ’78, Board Chair Harold V. Bennett, Ph.D., ’88, President-Dean MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF RELIGION Baptist Rev. Clarence Moore, Board Chair Joseph N. Evans, Ph.D., President-Dean ~~AT-LARGE CONSTITUENCY~~ The HARRY V. and SELMA T. RICHARDSON Ecumenical Fellowship Willie F. G-dman, Th.D., ’87, ’01, Coordinator ~~MARSHALS ~~ Carolyn A. L. McCrary, Th.D., ’77, ’89, Lead Marshal ~ 3~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 ORDER OF COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Presiding Prelude African drums Convoking the Sixty – First Commencement Exercises Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, D.Min. Chairperson, Board of Trustees Welcome Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Opening Prayer M Adryael Tong, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Early Christian Scriptures (New Testament) Scripture Readings Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Psalm 150 NRSV Dontavious Drake President, ITC Student Christian League New Testament, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 NRSV Jacqueline Marie Davis-Gines, Ph.D. President, Theta Phi Hymn of Praise Great is Thy Faithfulness…….……………………………………Chisholm/Runyan Mount Zion Baptist Church (Nashville, TN) Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min., Senior Pastor ©2021 CCLI Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my [Father], There is no shadow of turning with Thee, Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not, As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. ~ 4~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! Presentation of Candidates for Honorary Degrees Maisha I. K. Handy, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost Jacqueline I. Scott Doctor of Divinity Presented by Paul L. Brown Sr., D.Min., ’91, President-Dean Phillips School of Theology Rev. Henry E. Green, Jr. Doctor of Divinity Presented by John F. Green, D.Min., ’84, President-Dean Turner Theological Seminary Virgil R. Miller Doctor of Humane Letters Presented by Joseph L. Crawford, D.D., ’77, Interim Dean Gammon Theological Seminary Mawuli “Mel” Davis, Esq. Doctor of Humane Letters Presented by Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Interdenominational Theological Center Conferring of Honorary Degrees Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Reading of Honorary Degree Citations Seminary Deans Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President ~ 5~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 Introduction of Commencement Speaker Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President For Every Mountain………………………………………………………Kurt D. Carr Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church (Memphis, TN) Rev. Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, Senior Pastor ©2021 CCLI Commencement Address Mawuli “Mel” Davis, Esq. Special Announcements Presentation of Candidates for Degrees Maisha I. K. Handy, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost Conferring of Degrees Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Reading of the Graduates Catherine Binuya, Ed.D., Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Maasai Dance………………………………………………………………Noel Malekai ©2021 CCLI Charge to Graduates Matthew Wesley Williams, M.Div., ’04, President Response to Charge Minister Kylan Pew, President, Senior Class Induction into the ITC National Alumni Association Rev. Dr. Anita Green, ’09, ’15 President, ITC National Alumni Association Benediction M Adryael Tong, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Early Christian Scriptures (New Testament) Recessional Pomp and Circumstance.…………………………………………Sir Edward Edgar Edward Menifee, II, Organist ~ 6~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 CANDIDATES FOR MASTER’S DEGREES MASTER OF DIVINITY (2020) Gammon Theological Seminary Allen, III, Ray Whitley Memphis, TN B.A. Wiley College, 2015 Booker, Jamal Rashard Fairburn, GA B.A. Morehouse College, 2001 Davis-Gines, Jacqueline Marie % Seneca, SC B.A. Clemson University, 1988 M.S. Mississippi State University, 1990 Ph.D. Iowa State University, 1993 Jones, Marvin E. Alpharetta, GA B.S. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1982 Jones, Jr., Bobby Screven, GA B.A. Paine College, 2016 Lopez, Brenton Golden ^ Miami, FL B.S. University of Phoenix, 2007 M.B.A. Kaplan University, 2010 McReynolds, Paul Ryan Santa Ana, CA B.S. Wiley College, 2016 Middleton, Kenneth Bernard Louisville, GA B.S. Point University, 2012 Moore, Roy Anthony Miami, FL A.A. Point University, 2013 B.A. Point University, 2015 Nutt, Amy Suzanne * Chattanooga, TN B.S. Bryan College, 2012 Pew, Kylan Christopher & Wichita, KS A.S. Coffeyville Community College, 2010 B.A. Wiley College, 2016 Williams, Karen * Jacksonville, FL B.A. Edward Waters College, 2016 ~ 7~ Interdenominational Theological Center Commencement, February 27, 2021 Morehouse School of Religion Adams-Hudson, Cynthia # Atlanta, GA Billingslea, Burrell * Atlanta, GA B.A. Point University, 2016 Chester, Adrian JaMarl & Columbus, GA B.A. American Baptist College, 2014 Coar, III, John Kurtis Macon, GA B.A. Fort Valley State University, 2007 Falconer, Undrea Oneil Douglasville, GA A.A.S. DeKalb Technical College, 2011 B.S. Point University, 2013 Fauntleroy, Jeffree & Atlantic City, NJ B.A. Christian Bible Institute Seminary, 2015 Hall, JeJuan Miguel * Atlanta, GA B.A. Southern Polytechnic University, 1995 Malone, Brandon Lewis Hernando, MS B.A. American Baptist College, 2016 McGee, Felix Feliano LaGrange, GA B.A. Rust College, 1996 A.A. Savannah Technical College, 2015 McMahand, II, Samuel Greenville, SC B.A. Morris College, 2016 Parks, Joseph Edwyn Sanders Charlotte, NC B.A. North Carolina Central University, 2015 Ross, Randy Camilla, GA B.S. ACC/Point University, 2011 Warren, Ella