Bethany Celebrates Commencement

Bethany Theological Seminary honored eighteen graduates during commencement on May 11, 2019. The following degrees and graduate certificates were awarded:

Master of Divinity
Alexandre Gonçalves – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Naomi Beckwith Kraenbring – Columbia, PA
Rebecca Lynell Ullom Naugle – Gilberts, IL

Master of Arts
Hassan Dicks – Jos, Nigeria
Freedom Hagood Eastling – Indianapolis, IN
Naomi Beckwith Kraenbring – Columbia, PA
Steven James Krieg – Mishawaka, IN
Shaun Rufener – Rittman, OH
Jonathan D. Zinnel – Richmond, IN

Certificate of Achievement in Theological Studies
Jason Haldeman – Elizabethtown, PA
Matthew Rittle – Arlington, VA
Timothy Troyer – Huntingdon, IN
Richard Wehrle – Rockingham, VA

Certificate in Biblical Interpretation
Shaun Rufener – Rittman, OH

Certificate in Intercultural Biblical Interpretation
Naomi Beckwith Kraenbring – Columbia, PA

Certificate in Theopoetics and Theological Imagination
Gene G. Bradbury – Sequim, WA
Carol D. Davis – Canton, IL
Kendra L. Flory – McPherson, KS
Daniel L. Klayton – Oroville, WA
Jan Orndorff – Woodstock, VA
Melissa Bruce Shaffer – Westminster, MD

Back row: Hassan Dicks, Steven Krieg, Gene Bradbury, Alexandre Goncalves, Shaun Rufener, Jon Zinnel.
Front row: Becky Ullom Naugle, Freedom Eastling, Naomi Kraenbring

The weekend began with the traditional worship service led by the graduating class on Friday, May 10. Karen Duhai, director of student development, offered a meditation, and faculty members anointed each of the graduates as a blessing and ritual of sending.

The speaker for Saturday’s academic ceremony was Rev. Dr. Staccato Powell, the One Hundred and Second Bishop in the line of succession in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Currently he serves as the presiding prelate of the Western Episcopal District. He holds an MA from Duke University and a JD from North Carolina Central University. In thirty-five years of ministry, Powell has held several pastorates in North Carolina and one pastorate in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee and is an adjunct professor at Hood Theological Seminary.

Several certificate graduates plan to enroll in degree programs at Bethany. Plans of other graduates include PhD programs, continuing in pastoral ministry, and using their Bethany experience to enrich their current vocations.