Thursday, May 31, 2012

Missed Opportunity for D2D (Doors to Dialogue)

Debra J. Mumford
Frank H. Caldwell Associate Professor of Homiletics
Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs
 
May 20, 2012
Baccalaureate Sermon
Esther 9: 1-4

When the formerly downtrodden Jews became a force to be reckoned with in the Persian empire did they choose the path of retribution against those who had plotted against them, or did they choose the path of peace and reconciliation?  Listen to the sermon.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Prayer of Thanksgiving - Commencement 2012

On this day that you have made, O God, full of life, full of memories, full of hope and full of promise, we raise our voices to sing our joy and your praise, and to give you thanks, for your constant presence and steadfast love that has formed us, nurtured us, and been our daily bread. By your grace, we’ve shared in your profound and constant creation, ever forming us, reforming us, and joining us to one another, to this pulsing earth, to countless communities of your children of love, born of every color, bound by every faith, all made in your Holy image and entrusted with your hope for a just and peaceful world where lions and lambs lie down with one another and all things are made new. For such inexhaustible grace and unrelenting hope, O God, we give you thanks.

We thank you for the pathways that have brought us to this longed for day of new beginning. Without your call, we could not have begun the journey; without your help, we could not have found the courage to come this far; without the many hands and hearts and voices, acts of kindness, and embraces that absorbed our tears and fears, we could not stand where we do now on the edge of dreams fulfilling. We give you thanks for those who have cheered for us, prayed for us, stood firm for us, been patient with us, sacrificed for us, and never stopped believing that it is your call to ministry that has turned our lives upside down and summons us to join with you to heal a fractured world and fill it with abundant life and love. For hearts of compassion, insightful, questioning minds, and for the Spirit’s gifts for healing, preaching, teaching, listening and leading, we are deeply grateful.

On our way rejoicing, O God, our Holy and constant companion, we thank you above all that we can trust you will not leave us alone in the days and years to come; that tears in the night pass away in the morning; and your promise to be with us and guide us along paths yet unknown is renewed every day after day after day.

Redeemed in Christ, guided by Gospel, and empowered by God’s calling Spirit, we offer our thanks in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Commencement Address - 2012

The Rev. Mr. George Heartwell
Mayor of Grand Rapids, MI

May 20, 2012

Commencement


Climate change is destroying species and pitting wealthy nations against impoverished nations.  This is, in fact, an ethical failing. The task today is to reflect on our role as earth-keepers, those given dominion over plants and animals, oceans and deserts, mountains and canyons; those charged with being neighbor to the one in need.  Read the address.


Friday, May 11, 2012

A Pedagogy of Redemption

In honor of David Hester's retirement from the office of Dean of the Seminary and the resumption of his teaching at LPTS we are republishing his sermon originally preached at Convocation on February 17, 2006.

Happy David Hester Day at LPTS!

David C. Hester
Dean of the Seminary
VP for Academic Affairs
Professor of Christian Education

Romans 8: 18-25
Micah 4:1-4
Originally preached at Convocation on February 17, 2006

Louisville Seminary is at a kairos moment in its life, as we commit ourselves to becoming an anti-racist and multicultural community and begin in the fall a new curriculum. Our vocation and identity as a seminary of the Presbyterian Church (USA), with the mission of preparing men and women to participate in the continuing redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ for the world, requires us to have a "pedagogy of redemption" that equips our students to be practical theologians who can, in turn, teach those they serve to live redemptively in the world God loves. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.