35 students and two distinguished guests, Archbishop of Cape Town South Africa Thabo Makgoba and Bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina Robert Skirving, received degrees and certificates from the University of the South’s School of Theology on Friday.
As the bells rang out, students and faculty processed into All Saints’ Chapel for the 2015 Convocation for the Conferring of Degrees.
Mr. Makgoba delivered the sermon to the families, friends, and colleagues in attendance.
“Congratulations to all of you who are graduating and especially to your families who have prayed for you and supported you in a myriad of other ways,” Mr. Makgoba said as he began by sharing how it was a privilege to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had preached and received an honorary degree from the University in 1988. He was especially pleased to be able to visit the University of the South, home of the Sewanee Theological Review and a seminary that has been designated as one of the “Seminaries That Change the World,” because education is one of the top missional priorities in his Provence of the Anglican Church.
His sermon’s message was one of hope and the assurance of salvation and deliverance, posing the question, “How do we follow Jesus’ example today?” In particular he challenged the graduating students, “What are the deeper issues facing God’s people in the locality in which you minister? What are the conversions that are needed?” He acknowledged not being able to answer the questions for them, but shared his conversion story, one of growing up in poverty in Alexander Township in Johannesburg. It is a story of redemptive hope, rooted in the belief of the God that saves, and a deep belief that his actions are rooted in worship. “Worship and action go together. When I speak out against the abuse of power, against the greed and corruption which are sources of conflict in our parts of the world, I do so knowing that God abides in me and I abide in him. Just as when you speak up courageously for Jesus in your context, God abides in you, and you in him.”
Mr. Makgoba concluded with some thoughts on the current state of the Anglican Communion, in which there has been “brokenness and division that has damaged relations between us as sisters and brothers in Christ.” He cited the use of the Internet and social media to hurt and label others and he asked for a mending of these divisions by transforming these tools into a source for good communication. He concluded, “As you go into the world, my hope for me, for your church, for our church, for the communion as a whole, and for all of our nations, is that we will walk with Jesus.”
Honorary doctor of divinity degrees were bestowed upon Makgoba and Skirving, followed by diplomas and academic hoods for the graduates. After all of the degrees were awarded, Vice-Chancellor of the University John M. McCardell Jr. offered his remarks to the students. He began by thanking them and their families for their commitment to “serious, sustained, residential theological study.” Citing the service's first reading, Isaiah 46:3–5, he stated that through the presence of grace they will be sustained in times of uncertainty, doubt, confusion, and despair. He summarized by saying, “And so, as you take your leave, take with you the knowledge that you will always be in our thoughts and prayers. Take with you as well our confidence in you and our love for you. Hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”