Thank you for all of your support in my completing my Doctor of Ministry degree.
I could stop there since that’s pretty much all I have to say, but I’ll say a bit more, while keeping it shorter than my doctoral thesis. 🙂
There’s been a lot of congratulations and celebrating for the occasion of my DMin degree from McCormick Theological Seminary. Back in February when I successfully completed and presented my doctoral thesis for approval, there was a wonderful round of congratulations that came my way. Then at the commencement ceremony in Chicago on May 11, I received my Doctor of Ministry degree and was honored with a commendation from the faculty for my thesis, and that commencement weekend was swamped with another wonderful wave of congratulations and celebration. And now as this newsletter will be sent out for June and the summer, the congregation is holding a celebratory reception for me for the completion of my DMin with a reception on Sunday, June 23 – I’m looking forward to cake and kind words as part of further congratulations. And at that point, it will be time for the celebrations and congratulations to be done! But as we do move on from the congratulations, I want to say something more about my “thank you” and something about what will continue.
First, something more about “thank you.”
At the May 11 commencement, as I processed into the majestic church sanctuary where the ceremony was held, I was struck by a most beautiful sight. My eyes caught the beaming faces of my family – wife, children, Mom, siblings; I saw the proud expressions of the numerous Hope Church contingent – colleagues, friends, my church family. It was a profoundly moving moment for me, as what I have felt all along through my Doctor of Ministry studies was there in front of me to fully soak in: the tremendous support of my wife and family, the energizing encouragement of my colleagues and congregation, which together have made this all possible for me. I appreciate all the affirmation that has been given to me, and I’m very proud of the work and accomplishment of what this degree represents for me. But the achievement is so integrally connected to those strong circles of support that surround me, and in that processional moment at commencement my gratitude to all of you and my gratitude to God for all of you came together inside of me in a beautiful and powerful way that I will carry with me always.
Thank you.
And finally, something about what will continue now that the celebrations are done.
It may sound cliché to say this DMin degree is not an ending but a beginning, but if that is so then I am going to go with the cliché! This Doctor of Ministry degree has not been an academic exercise disconnected from my ministry and the life of Hope Church. It has been an opportunity for me to delve into how Hope Church has been a community of faithfulness through the generations and then for me to offer resources of theology, liturgy and spiritual formation that support and deepen that faithfulness. What my work has helped to bring to light is that Hope Church’s generational commitments to compassion and justice, to inclusive welcome and worship, to reconciliation and community – these are the very things that are at the heart of Gospel salvation and that reflect the heart of God. And these are the things that continue in our life together, as the Spirit leads and teaches, challenges and calls us to new and renewed ways to show the love of Christ alive in God’s world. I certainly AM glad that the academic part of the DMin is done! – but mostly I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to better understand and nurture who we are as a community of faith, and I am deeply grateful to continue on this path with you.
In Christ’s Peace – Reverend Doctor Gordon S. Wiersma