The Ninety-Seventh Commencement asbury theological seminary Saturday, November 14, 2020 THE NINETY-SEVENTH COMMEncEMENT NOVEMBER 14, 2020 ASBURY THEOLOGIcaL SEMInaRY THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET President TIMOTHY C. TENNENT, PH.D. Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs DOUGLAS K. MattHEWS, PH.D. Associate Provost and Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Services KEVIN BISH, M.ED. Vice President of Advancement JAY E. MANSUR, C.F.S. Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer BRYAN P. BLANKENSHIP, M.B.A. Vice President of Formation DOnna COVINGTON, M.A.C.L. Vice President of Seedbed JOHN DAVID WALT, J.D. Associate Vice President of the Florida Dunnam Campus R. STEPHEN GOBER, D.MIN. Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management and Operations of the Florida Dunnam Campus ERIC CURRIE, M.DIV. AcaDEMIC OFFICERS Associate Provost Dean of Advanced Research Programs CHRIstINE L. JOHNSON, PH.D. LALsanGKIMA PacHUAU, PH.D. Dean of the Beeson School of Practical Theology Dean of the School of Theology and Formation THOMAS F. TUMBLIN, PH.D. JAMES R. THOBABEN, PH.D. Associate Provost and Dean of the Assistant Provost of Institutional Evaluation, Orlando School of Ministry Assessment and Academic Administration BRIAN D. RUSSELL, PH.D. S. BRIAN YEICH, PH.D. Dean of the School of Biblical Interpretation Dean of Library, Information, DAVID R. BAUER, PH.D. and Technology Services PAUL A. TIPPEY, PH.D. Dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism GREGG A. OKESSON, PH.D. THE NINETY-SEVENTH COMMEncEMENT Saturday, The Fourteenth of November Two Thousand Twenty Eleven o’clock in the morning PRESIDENT TIMOTHY C. TENNENT, PRESIDING WORDS OF WELCOME ............................................................................... Dr. Timothy C. Tennent President, Asbury Theological Seminary RECOGNITION OF THE CLASS OF 2020 ...................................................Dr. Douglas K. Matthews Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs INVOcatION ..........................................................................................................Dr. Ellen Marmon Professor of Christian Discipleship SCRIPTURE READING ................................Philippians 2:5-11 ...........................Dr. Anthony Headley Professor of Counseling RECOGNITION OF SPOUSES, FAMILIES AND GOLDEN GRADUatES ........................................................................Dr. Timothy C. Tennent ADDRESS.................................. “More Wag, Less Bark” ..........Rev. Dr. H. Thomas Harrison, Jr. Senior Pastor, Asbury United Methodist Church Tulsa, Oklahoma PRESEntatION OF GRADUatES ..............................................................Reader, Dr. Jeffrey Frymire Associate Professor of Homiletics PRESENTING OF CERTIFIcatES Latino Ministry Formation Program Christian Studies Intercultural Studies Leadership Pastoral Care CONFERRING OF AcaDEMIC DEGREES Master of Arts Master of Divinity Master of Theology Doctor of Ministry Doctor of Philosophy THE SERVICE OF CONSECRatION FOR THE CLASS OF 2020 Dr. Timothy C. Tennent PRESIDENTIAL CHARGE TO THE CLASS OF 2020 The Words of Affirmation and Commitment The Call to Ministry President: Brothers and sisters of the 2020 graduating class of Asbury Theological Seminary, our call to discipleship is a call to transformational love. Dami Adeliyi: Hear, O Israel! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. President: We are called by Christ to embody all of the realities of the inbreaking kingdom as we preach the gospel, serve the poor, and live in holiness. Kaylyn Moran: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; and to comfort all who mourn. President: Though in Christ we are one body, we have many members, with gifts differing according to the grace given to us by the Holy Spirit. Jessica Avery: The gifts the Lord gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. President: Graduates, do you affirm in the presence of this company that you have heard God’s call to a vocation of ministry; that you have tested that call in reflection and ministry; and that you now stand ready to take further steps of faithful service and mission? Thomas Lyons and Dylan Zeigler: This we affirm. President: As our mission proclaims: “Asbury Theological Seminary is a community called to prepare theologically educated, sanctified, Spirit-filled men and women to evangelize and to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world through the love of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to the glory of God the Father.” Are you prepared to go forth as ambassadors of this message? Allison and Christian Clour: Trusting in the work of Christ, we are. President: Graduates, will you give yourself to a life of: earnest piety and community formation; prayer, the study of the scriptures, and all the means of grace; solidarity with the poor and marginalized, seeking justice and offering mercy; lifelong learning; concern for the whole of God’s creation; and mission among those who have yet to call on the name of Jesus Christ? Yakubu Jakada: We will, the Holy Spirit being our helper. President: Members of the faculty, members of the President’s Cabinet, and Trustees, you have heard our graduates affirm their call to active discipleship and ministry. Will you join me in their commission? President, Faculty, President’s Cabinet and Trustees: Read by Dr. James Miller, Mr. Jay Mansur, Mrs. Karen Thomas and Bishop Al Gwinn We commission you as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ to serve Christ in all the world, to know Him and to make Him known, to embody in your lives the good news of the Kingdom of God, to be the church in the world and to build up the body of those who call Him Lord. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. President: Let us pray. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, graciously behold these your servants. Without Your help, they are helpless. Empower them therefore with Your Holy Spirit, that they may be strong for the tasks which lie ahead; and in all their works may they glorify Your Holy Name, and advance Your blessed Kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BENEDICTION ................................................................................................Rev. Donna Covington Vice President of Formation The Lord Bless You and Keep You..........................................................The Singing Seminarians Directed by Rev. Daniel Key All degrees granted based on the satisfactory completion of the student’s work. CANDIDatES FOR THE CERTIFIcatE OF LatINO MINIstRY FORMatION PROGRAM EDDY R. CARDENAS ABNER PETER RODRIGUEZ ANA MARIA MUNERA MENDOZA ABNIER PETER RODRIGUEZ LUZ ZENAIDA ORTIZ ARCE JOSHUA SANTIAGO CANDIDatES FOR THE CERTIFIcatES Anglican Studies Pastoral Care *NATHAN PAUL SHARP VIRGINIA BERMEO *LOGAN MCCLURE WEBER HALLE JORDAN DEEMER BIGHAM KAREN EILEEN CASEY Christian Studies VICTORIA SUZANNE VITTITOW COX MINNIE PEARL ANDERSON PATRICIA ANN HENRY BARBARA DIANE ROE OXANA V. OGARA JINCHAO ZHANG Intercultural Studies MARK GOMEZ Leadership MICHAEL ANTHONY BURGE GRACE ANNE MIYOKO ONO MATTHEW MONROE RUSSELL *Theta Phi ◊Eta Beta Rho ^Gamma Rho Kappa CANDIDatES FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS Biblical Studies Intercultural Studies DAVID ALLAN CLAYTON REBEKAH MADISON FORTNEY BAXTER ESTHER JANE STOCKDILL COY *BEN WILTON BRINKERHOFF ◊KELLY JACQUELINE DANIELSON MARK ALLEN BRUNER ◊JOSHUA JAMES GRUBBS CAESAR FREDERICO CHAVEZ *ANIEDI EFFIONG INYANG STANDIA CIVIL HYUNG JU LEE KERRY ANDREW DORRELL ALEXIS RAMOS MARY MARGARET FINCH CARY CATHERINE SOLIMA *SABRINA ANITA HINDS DANIEL CODY STANLEY JENIFER LYNN JONES ZACHARY VAN BUREN NELSON KALOMBO NGOY CYNTHIA LEE WORLEY JULENE KILIS KELSEY REBEKAH LANE Christian Ministries TIMOTHY RYAN PARKER GENNIE RUTH CHANDLER *TRENTON JOHN PENNER DENNISE ISABEL COLLAZO MIRIAM PERALTA DE GARCIA RAUL DOMINGUEZ FLORES JONATHAN MOORE RAMSAY KEVIN DEAN DRAPER EVERS MEGAN BETH RUSSELL SARAH LORRAINE FREEMAN JOAN WILLIAMS FRYMIRE Leadership WON DONG KIM JOHN HAROLD BARTLETT MELISSA RENKEMA *NAOMI BIVINS HARVEY DALE TAYLOR DANIEL LEE BREEDEN RYAN STEPHEN TRUSHENSKI *VALERIE NICHOLE CARR MARY KATHERINE WILDEMAN JOHN WESLEY DUFF *Theta Phi ◊Eta Beta Rho ^Gamma Rho Kappa WILLIAM FRANCIS CHARLES FURMAN HEIDE ELIZABETH FORRISTER GEORGE THOMAS JONES CLAUDIA GONZALEZ YOUNGDUK KIM ROSELINA STELLA GUERRA CHRISTINE NOEL MORETZ LILLIAN KRISTIAN HIGGS *KRISTINA FAITH OSBORN JENNIFER MICHELLE LOFTUS JUNE CLARE PILCHER *SHANNON SUE MASSEY JOSEPH WILLIAM POWERS MILENA RUBY MCMURRIN DANIEL ERIC PROUT MICHAEL THOMAS NEUBERT LEANNE CHRISTINE PROUT HANNAH WAIRIMU NG’ANG’A KIMBERLY ANN RENKEMA SHANNON DELANEY PRICE SHARON DENEEN SMITH EMILY MARIE SACK KELLY MARGARET SANTOS-PETERSON Marriage and Family Counseling ABIGAIL FAITH SIPE CECILIA DENISE LYNCH JESSICA MORGAN TAYLOR *^JULIE ANN MARCHMAN FRANKIE LEE TER KEURST HANNAH CHRISTINE PENALVA *RACHEL PAIGE WILLIAMS NICHOLAS