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The Ninety-Eighth Commencement Asbury Theological Seminary

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The Ninety-Eighth Commencement Asbury Theological Seminary The Ninety-Eighth Commencement asbury theological seminary May 21-22, 2021 Wilmore, Kentucky THE NINETY-EIGHTH COMMEncEMENT MAY 21-22, 2021 ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY The Sherman Thomas Student Center WILMORE, KENTUckY THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET President TIMOTHY C. TENNENT, PH.D. Provost and Senior Vice President 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. ACADEMIC OFFICERS Associate Provost Dean of Advanced Research Programs CHRISTINE 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 Registrar GREGG A. OKESSON, PH.D. MICHAEL A. SALMEIER, D.PHIL. POSTGRADUATE COMMEncEMENT CEREMONY Friday, The Twenty-First of May Two Thousand Twenty One Two o’clock in the afternoon Marshal of the Academic Procession Student Marshals BILL T. ARNOLD, PH.D. ROBYN FLORIAN PAUL S. AMOS PROFESSOR OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY STUDENT OLD TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION CHELCENT FUAD The Crucifer PH.D. BIBLICAL STUDIES STUDENT JAMES BUSH DOCTOR OF MINISTRY STUDENT Director of Music REV. DANIEL KEY The Scripture Bearer ADJUnct INSTRUCTOR DAVID CHRONIC PH.D. INTERCULTURAL STUDIES STUDENT Organist ALBIN C. WHItwORTH, D.CM. Assistant to the Marshal MICHAEL A. SALMEIER, D.PHIL. REGISTRAR b SEMINARY SINGERS ENSEMBLE Accompanist MRS. JULIE TENNENT Director REV. DANIEL K EY JAY ENDICOTT MARY KATHERINE GRAETZ DANIEL JOHNSON SARAH MICHEL ELYWYN MURRAY SYDNEY NELSON REBECCA RAY ABRAHAM RUFFCORN THE ACADEMIC PROCESSION The Crucifer The Scripture Bearer The Academic Marshal The Student Marshals The Candidates for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Candidates for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry The Candidates for the Degree of Master of Theology The Faculty of the Seminary The Platform Party POSTGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY President Timothy C. Tennent, Presiding PRELUDE........................................................................................................................Dr. Albin Whitworth Organist PROCESSIONAL ..........................................Rigaudon ......................................... Dr. Albin Whitworth Campra Organist WORDS OF WELCOME ............................................................................... Dr. Timothy C. Tennent President, Asbury Theological Seminary INVOCATION ................................................................................................ Dr. Thomas F. Tumblin Dean of the Beeson School of Practical Theology HYMN OF PRAISE ................................And Can It Be .............................................. Rev. Daniel Key Charles Wesley (SAGINA) Adjunct Instructor 1. And can it be that I should gain 3. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, An interest in the Saviour’s blood! Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Died he for me? who caused his pain! Thine eye diffused a quickening ray; For me? who him to death pursued? I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; Amazing Love! How can it be My chains fell off, my heart was free, That thou, my God, I rose, went forth, Shouldst die for me? And followed thee. 2. He left his Father’s throne above 4. No condemnation now I dread; (So free, so infinite his grace!), Jesus and all in him is mine; Emptied himself of all but love, Alive in him, my living Head, And bled for Adam’s helpless race, And clothed in righteousness divine, ‘Tis mercy all, immense and free, Bold I approach th’ eternal throne, For O my God, And claim the crown through It found out me! Christ my own. RECOGNITION OF SPOUSES AND FAMILIES ............................................... Dr. Timothy C. Tennent SCRIPTURE READING .......................2 Corinthians 4:5-15 ....................... Dr. Lalsangkima Pachuau Dean of Advanced Research Programs ANTHEM OF PRAISE ........................Let it Be Said of Us ..........................Seminary Singers Ensemble Arranged by: Mary McDonald ADDRESS...........................“We Minister in Our Weakness” .......................... Dr. Daryl McCarthy Director, European Leadership Forum Academic Network RECOGNITION OF HONORS ......................................................................Dr. Douglas K. Matthews Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs RECOGNITION OF HONOR SOCIETIES Graduating Members of the International Honor Society of Theta Phi Graduating Members of the Eta Beta Rho Hebrew Honor Society Graduating Members of Leitourgia et Homiletica Graduating Members of the Gamma Rho Kappa Honor Society PRESENTATION OF GRADUATES ............................................................................. Dr. Christine Pohl Professor Emerita CONFERRING OF ACADEMIC DEGREES Master of Theology Doctor of Ministry Doctor of Philosophy THE SERVICE OF CONSECRATION FOR THE CLASS OF 2021 Dr. Timothy C. Tennent PRESIDENTIAL CHARGE TO THE CLASS OF 2021 The Words of Affirmation and Commitment The Call to Ministry President: Brothers and sisters of the 2021 graduating class of Asbury Theological Seminary, our call to discipleship is a call to transformational love. Graduates: 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. Graduates: 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. Graduates: 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? Graduates: 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? Graduates: 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? Graduates: 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 by standing with them? President, Faculty, President’s Cabinet and Trustees stand and say: 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. THE HYMN OF DEDICATION ...............Facing a Task Unfinished ............................. Rev. Daniel Key Frank Houghton 1. Facing a task unfinished, that drives us 3. We bear the torch that, flaming, fell from the to our knees, a need that, undiminished, hands of those who gave their lives proclaiming rebukes our slothful ease. that Jesus died and rose. We, who rejoice to know Thee, renew before Ours is the same commission, the same glad Thy throne the solemn pledge we owe Thee - message ours; fired by the same ambition, to go and make Thee known. to Thee we yield our pow’rs. 2. Where other lords beside Thee hold their We go to all the world with kingdom hope unhindered sway; where forces that defied unfurled. No other name has power to save Thee defy Thee still today. but Jesus Christ, the Lord. With none to heed their crying for life, and love, and light, unnumbered souls are 4. O Father Who sustained them, O Spirit dying and pass into the night Who inspired, Saviour, Whose love constrained them to toil with zeal untired. We go to all the world with kingdom hope From cowardice defend us, from lethargy awake! unfurled.
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