[Sewanee School of Theology] On 8 May, 35 students and two distinguished guests, Archbishop of Capetown Thabo Makgoba, Primate of The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and Bishop of East Carolina Robert Skirving, The Episcopal Church, received degrees and certificates from the University of the South’s School of Theology [in Sewanee (Tenn.), USA].

As the bells rang out, students and faculty processed into [the campus’s] All Saints’ Chapel for the 2015 Convocation for the Conferring of Degrees. Archbishop Makgoba delivered the sermon to the families, friends, and colleagues in attendance.

“Congratulations to all of you who are graduating and especially your families who have prayed for you and supported you in a myriad of other ways,” began Archbishop Makgoba. He shared how it was a privilege to have been asked to give the sermon and to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had received an honorary degree from the University in 1988. He was especially pleased to be able to visit the University of the South, home of the Sewanee Theological Review and a seminary that has been designated as one of the “Seminaries That Change the World,” because education is one of the top missional priorities in his Provence of the Anglican Church. He provided details of the recent establishment of a new college in South Africa—the single, united, appropriately named College of Transfiguration that offers an accredited bachelors degree in theology and has its first female rector.

Pointing to the focus of the morning’s second reading, Hebrews 10:19–24, with its message of hope and the assurance of salvation and deliverance, he asked the question, “How do we follow Jesus’ example today?” In particular he challenged the graduating students, “Who is the Samaritan woman for you? What are the deeper issues facing God’s people in the locality in which you minister? What are the conversions that are need?” He acknowledged not being able to answer the questions for them, but shared his conversion story, one of growing up in poverty in Alexander Township in Johannesburg. It is a story of redemptive hope, rooted in the belief of the God that saves, and a deep belief that his actions are rooted in worship. “Worship and action go together. When I speak out against the abuse of power, against the greed and corruption which are sources of conflict in our parts of the world, I do so knowing that God abides in me and I abide in him. Just as when you speak up courageously for Jesus in your context, God abides in you, and you in him.”

Archbishop Makgoba concluded with some thoughts on the current state of the Anglican Communion, in which there has been “brokenness and division that has damaged relations between us as sisters and brothers and sisters in Christ.” He cited the use of the Internet and social media to hurt and label others and he asked for a mending of these divisions by transforming these tools into a source for good communication. He concluded, “As you go into the world, my hope for me, for your church, for our church, for the communion as a whole, and for all of our nations, is that we will walk with Jesus.”

Honorary doctor of divinity degrees were bestowed upon Archbishop Makgoba and Bishop Skirving, followed by diplomas and academic hoods for the graduates. After all degrees were awarded, Vice-Chancellor of the University John M. McCardell Jr. offered his remarks to the students. He began by thanking them and their families for their commitment to “serious, sustained, residential theological study.” Citing the first reading, Isaiah 46:3–5, he stated that through the presence of grace they will be sustained in times of uncertainty, doubt, confusion and despair. He summarized by saying, “And so, as you take your leave, take with you the knowledge that you will always be in our thoughts and prayers.  Take with you as well our confidence in you and our love for you. Hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Sewanee: The University of the South comprises a nationally recognized College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a School of Letters, and a distinguished School of Theology (seminary and The Beecken Center) serving The Episcopal Church. Sewanee is owned by 28 Episcopal dioceses, the only university so directly related to The Episcopal Church.