June 24th marks the official close of the academic year of 2020-2021, and what a school year it has been. We began it with campus running as usual, with no indication that our normal pattern would be disrupted. But about halfway through, our students and faculty had to make a transition to online education so that our community could remain in shelter from the pandemic.
While it has been difficult, it has been a successful transition. One sign of this success is that all 56 graduates of our degree programs have officially been conferred their degrees and have received their diplomas! We will be excited to recognize their achievement during a commencement ceremony when the time comes for us to celebrate safely together once again.
Although our graduates do not have any remaining academic commitments to MTS, they remain just as much a part of the MTS community as alumni. We hope all our new alumni will take a moment to listen to this special message from President Jody Hill:
Sunday Morning Seminary
We are very pleased that around 200 people have registered for Sunday Morning Seminary, a free virtual education opportunity offered by the MTS faculty. As we all know, the pandemic has made meeting together for normal educational opportunities in our churches more difficult. Through Sunday Morning Seminary, we are taking the opportunity to bring good out of a challenging situation by giving anyone anywhere a whole hour every week to learn from and engage with our professors who are experts in the topics they present.
On Sunday, July 26th, Dr. Chris Davis will present the second half of his series on Worship in a Time of Pandemic, but you can still view all other lessons that have taken place so far (including on The Gospel of Mark as well as Spirituality in a Time of Pandemic) on our website at www.memphisseminary.edu/sundayseminary. There you can also find a link to register for upcoming lessons.
If you haven’t already, please register to join us the first four Sundays of August, when our church historian Dr. Michael Turner leads a series of lessons on Religion and the Civil War. Many of the social conflicts and struggles that we face currently in the United States are shaped by the Civil War and its aftermath, and the religious context of the war in particular is especially important and illuminating.
We hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities, support us as we make them available to you, and let us know if you have any questions or ideas. Contact Nathan Brasfield at nbrasfield@memphisseminary.edu
Nathan Brasfield, Coordinator of Academic and Alumni Affairs