Celebrating Our 2026 Graduates

Bethany Theological Seminary will award 40 master’s degrees and graduate certificates during its 2026 Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern. This is the largest graduating class in recent memory, and most degrees and certificates awarded since the Seminary relocated to Richmond, Indiana in 1994.

Bethany will honor graduates in Nigeria during a second Commencement Ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 23.

The ceremony will include a keynote address by Rev. David Witkovsky. Organist Carolyn Ripp will provide special music. For those unable to travel to campus, the ceremony will be live-streamed.

May 2026 Honored Graduates

Master of Divinity (May 2026)
Joseph K. Buohl II (Mountville, Pennsylvania)
Erika Nicole Clary (Brunswick, Maryland)
Clarke Edward Staton (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Desiree Marie Weaver-Spidel (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania)

Master of Divinity (June 2026)
Elaine Jones (Mason, Ohio)
Meridith Anne Owensby (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Master of Arts (May 2026)
Omar Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, Dagestan; Moscow, Russia; Arcata, California)
Portfolio: Phenomenology of the Self: Existing in an Expressive Act

Jean Carlo Martinez (Jamaica, New York)
Portfolio: The Mosaic of Meaning: Reading the Poetry and Wisdom Books with Imagination

Erin Ruth Rinaca (Bridgewater, Virginia)
Portfolio: Let the Light Shine: Shining God’s Light of Healing and Empowerment for Those Impacted by Intimate Partner Violence

Brigitte Zawadi (Rubavu, Rwanda)
Portfolio: Women and Peacebuilding Strategies: Unveiling the Grassroots Catalysts

Isaac Paul Zika (Greenville, Ohio)
Portfolio: Reading Difference Differently: Thinking Theologically With William Stringfellow

Master of Arts: Theopoetics and Writing (May 2026)
Robert Leslie Amend (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Project: A Theopoetic Lens: Photography, Witness, and the Mystery of God

Camille Dubler (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Project: Liminal

Kelsi Kay Folsom (Kansas City, Missouri
Project: Love’s Resonance: Trauma Informed Performance as Divine Medicine

Omar Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, Dagestan; Moscow, Russia; Arcata, California)   Project: Lobster

Grace Beverly-Anna Hoover (Portland, Oregon)
Project: Hope is an Open Mic: Slam Poetry and Its Embodied Theopoetic Community in Portland, Oregon

Elyse Marie Jancosko (Denver, Colorado)
Project: Writing Towards Transformation

Jean Carlo Martinez (Jamaica, New York)
Project: Hudson River Psalms

Carl Edward McRoy (Beltsville, Maryland)
Project: Illuminating Theopoetics through Black Liberation Literature
Joel Jay Nagel (Holt, Michigan)
Project: Sea Change: A Theopoetic Primer for Reimagining and Rebuilding Faith through Scripture

Rachel Suzanne Witkovsky (York, Pennsylvania)
Project: Simple Gifts, Big Magic: An Advent Worship Series

Master of Arts in Spiritual and Social Transformation (May 2026)
Adam Michael Lane Boonesboro, Maryland

Certificate for Expanded MA Studies (May 2026)
Brigitte Zawadi (Rubavu, Rwanda)

Certificate of Achievement in Theological Studies (May 2026)
Rachel Suzanne Witkovsky (York, Pennsylvania)
Rebecca Rae Sidney Wolf (York, Pennsylvania)

Certificate in Theopoetics and Theological Imagination (May 2026)
Karen Doss Bowman (Bridgewater, Virginia)
Augustus Michael Fuller (South Bend, Indiana)
Eric J. Schmitt (New Carlisle, Ohio)

Postgraduate Diploma in Biblical Peacemaking (May 2026)
Musa Zuwarva Abdullahi (Auta-Balefi, Kara LGA, Nasarawa, Nigeria)
Chinenye Christiana Chundusu (Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria)
Hope Andakpo Daniel (Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria)
Simda Luka (Askira Uba, Borno State, Nigeria)
Lisa Rinret Moses (Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria)
Benjamin Samuel (Bauchi, Bauchi State, Nigeria)
Victoria Friday Williams (Mbiaso, Nsit Ibom LGA, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria)

Postgraduate Diploma in Biblical Peacemaking (June 2026)
Solomon Peter Gambo (Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria)
Philemon Ibrahim (Gyani Village, Kachia LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria)
Joseph Kim-Kwat Monday (Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria)
Ahmadu Kefas Kwe (Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria)
Bitrus Garba Sarkin-Noma (Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria)

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