CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2024
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary celebrated the Class of 2024 during its 228th commencement May 31 at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. During the service, Michel Martin, Emmy-winning journalist and a host of Morning Edition on National Public Radio, addressed the graduates.
A number of students also received graduation prizes.
Check out photos from the week's festivities.
Videos
Service of Thanksgiving
Commencement
Class of 2024
Certificate in Ministry
Keisha Lanette Becoate
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Jennifer A. Saunders *
State College, Pa.
Certificate in missional leadership
Virginia Kay Altman
Homestead, Pa.
Leigh Paige Bonner
Decatur, Ga.
Kimberly J. Boyd
Zelienople, Pa.
Donna J. Cammarata
Fairview Pa.
Kerry Michelle Dowdy *
East Butler, Pa.
William M. Reed
Verailles, Ky.
Certificate in theological studies
James Hansel Laing
Glenshaw, Pa.
Khyana Onyaah Perkins
West Mifflin, Pa.
MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Nicole G. Carlin
Greenville, Pa.
Brian T. Devereaux
Lexington, S.C.
Joy Mositi Life
Francistown, Botswana
Saw Min Thein
Yangon, Myanmar
Natoya Venetta Thomas-Smith
Kingston, Jamaica
MASTER OF DIVINITY
Stephanie Brooke Backus
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Caleb Gideon Cress *
Ambridge, Pa.
Suzanne Carol Hager-Bellesis **
Sterline, Mass.
Cheryl Ann Harris **
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Thomas Anthony Harrison
Oxford, N.Y.
Margaret Elizabeth Heidenreich
Cincinnati, Ohio
Danielle Alexis Kendig
Johnstown, Pa.
Noah Jennings Morgan
Richmond, Va.
Addison Leigh Schmitt
Richmond, Va.
Cassandra Lynn Semler
Pittsburgh, Pa.
James K. Tolley III
Hurricane, W.Va.
Ryan Keith Washabaugh
Connellsville, Pa.
James D. Wimberly III
Pittsburgh, Pa.
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
Marjorie Anne Ackerman
Unionville, Mich.
Changing Perspectives, Exploring Possibilities
Ian W. Alexander *
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
A Qualitative Analysis of the Impacts of Pilgrimages for Justice and Peace to the Land of Christ’s Birth
Raymond Hutchinson Allen
Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Do You Know Who You Are? Belonging, Identity, and Genealogy within the Black Church
Steven Richard Allman
Monmouth, Maine
Food and Faith: Expressions of Faith and Spirituality in a Church-Based Food Pantry
Ruth L. Boling
Bloomfield, N.J.
Season’s Greetings: Christmas Letters from Those Who Were There
Charles Andrew Borek *
Woodbine, Md.
Through a Storied Lens: An Experience of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in Short Fiction
Stephen Loch Bowie
Waunakee, Wis.
“Zoom” Communion: Is it still the Sacrament?
Karl Frederick Brower
Woodbridge, Va.
Sermonic Predictors of Black Baptist Church Engagement in Social Justice as a Ministry
John Rhode Callaway
Baltimore, Md.
Cultivating a Playful and Imaginative Congregation: Stories, Wonder, Curiosity, and Creativity in Christian Community
Kathryn Schlimmer Callaway
Baltimore, Md.
There Is No Such Thing as Ordinary: Stories as Public Theology
John Walter Fitchett Canter Jr.
Charlottesville, Va.
Walter Wants To Save The World. A Book Of Playful Discomfort Challenging The Narrative Of What’s Valued And What’s Feared Including Poems About Food, Fuzzy Things, Wealth, Jesus, And Things That Burn
Patrice L. Fowler-Searcy
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mutual Belonging: Extending Radical Hospitality to Community Residents in the Rain Garden
Lisa Dodson Franklin-Robinson
North Braddock, Pa.
Culturally Relevant Discipleship in/for the Black Church: Examining the Need for Training Black Public Theologians for Service in a White Supremacist Environment
Graeme MacFarlane Glover *
Galashiels, Scotland, UK
A Local Church Adapting for Change: A Framework for Helping Galashiels Church of Scotland Fulfill its Purpose in Today’s Context
Michael D. Haddox
Waynesburg, Pa.
From Power to Presence: Redefining Community through Storytelling
Taylor Lewis Guthrie Hartman
Statesboro, Ga.
On Dwelling
Molly M. Housh Gordon
Columbia, Mo.
A Beautiful Perhaps
Veronica M. Khalil
Philadelphia, Pa.
The Theology of Race: Addressing the Contemporary Issue of Racial Divide in the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America
Jonathan A. Komperda
Toledo, Ohio
Whenever You Eat: Exploring the Dynamics of Connection and Disruption in the Eucharistic Meal
Victoria J. Linford *
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
A Century Apart: A Study of Church Law and God’s Mission in the Church of Scotland with Reference to the Articles Declaratory of 1921 and the Presbytery Mission Plan Act of 2021
Patrick Wayne Marshall
Devon, Pa.
Breaking Down the Dividing Wall: Navigating Congregational Polarities through Functional Subgrouping
Jennifer Kathleen Watkins Mauch
Cincinnati, Ohio
The Habits of Moths
John S. May
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
The Effectiveness of a New Shared Liturgy in Encouraging Unity within the New Parish of Leith and Newhaven
Allan McCafferty
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Worship Outdoors? The Promotion of Spiritual Reflections on Beauty and Awe as a Possible Way to Develop Interest in Worship Outdoors in St Andrews
Ray D. E. McCalla *
Atlantic, Iowa
Richer and Deeper: Praying the Psalms with the Ancient Church
Jordan Elizabeth Miller-Stubbendick
Kenmore, N.Y.
Jerusalem Stone: One Woman’s Life Broken Down and Built Back Up
Jamie Milliken
Irvine, Scotland, UK
Beyond Words: Developing a Faith Exploration Course to Engage Participants with a Symbol-Centred Spirituality
Garrett Robert Mostowski
Detroit, Mich.
Exvangelicals, Rhetorical Criticism, and Hospitality through the Novel
Louis A. Nyiri II
Birmingham, Mich.
Practicing Worship: Zooming in on What’s Important
Alan David Olson
Freehold, N.J.
American Eden
Maryjane Prill Peck
Livonia, Mich.
God Gave Me No Miracle . . . but yet
Rachel Nicole Pennington
Charlottesville, Va.
My Mani-feast-o: A Menu-oir
Gregory Rapier *
Lake Worth, Fla.
Till Death Do Us Part
MaryAnn Rhoda Robertson Rennie
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland UK
Discovering Abbey-Style Mission: Exploring the Potential of Cathedral-Style Mission within a Scottish Reformed Context
Ahdy Wahib Rizk Rofaeil
Avon, Ohio
Gender Dysphoria and Transgenderism: From an Orthodox Christian Perspective
Karen Marie Rohrer
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Why I’m Like This: Life in the Shade of the Dying Church
Michael P. Sorial
Monroe Township, N.J.
Sent to All Nations: Christian Missions and Orthodox Ecclesiology
Joanne Elaine Spence
Pittsburgh, Pa.
How to Die Well: A Workbook for the Living
Kathryn Stenta
Albany, N.Y.
Let’s Yell at God: Meditations, Poems, and Permission-Giving Prayers that Ponder, Wish and Cry Out to the Universe in All the Tones of Your Heart
Peter Robert Ballingall Sutton
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
“Bigger & Closer Not Smaller & Further Away” – A New Perspective on How to “Be Church”: A Local Case Study Exploring Incarnational Ecclesiology
Andrew Stephen Taylor-Troutman
Chapel Hill, N.C.
This IS the Day
Aaron George Teter
Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Cross-Cultural Community of Faith
Mary Elizabeth Tipton ^
Duffield, Va.
Walking the Way Together: Rural Clergy Discipleship in Community
Rebekah Tucker-Motley
Locust Grove, Va.
Burnout, Call, and Scripture: How Scripture-Based Cohorts Can Help Alleviate Clergy Burnout
Donald Bennett Wahlig
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Witness in the Workplace: A Local Application of Reformed Understandings of Vocation
Sarah Winsett Wiles *
Blacksburg, Va.
Dear Ones, Letters Along the Way
Porsha D. Williams
Bridgeport, Conn.
The Beloved Neighborhood: Toni Morrison, Fred Rogers, and Podcasting for the Spiritual Lives of African American Young Adults
Gloria Renee Williams-Bland
Washington, D.C.
We’re Here! Ya Hear? We’re Here! Telling the Stories of Women in the Biblical Text through Poetry and Prose
Mark Thomas Winters *
Edgartown, Mass.
Jo
Joel Michael Wood
Tulsa, Okla.
The Power of Story: Exploring the Use of Story and Storytelling in the Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper
Paul Jonathan Ytterock
Flint, Mich.
One Small Step: Growing as God’s Reconciled Community
* In Absentia
** Certificate in Urban Ministry
^ Certificate in Spiritual Direction in Ministry