Candler Applauds, Sends Forth Class of 2024

May 13, 2024

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Candler bid farewell to the Class of 2024 during its Graduate Recognition Ceremony held on Saturday, May 11 at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia. The school conferred 148 degrees, including 82 Master of Divinity, nine Master of Theology, 21 Master of Theological Studies, five Master of Religious Leadership, three Master of Religion and Public Life, 25 Doctor of Ministry, and one each in three categories: Master of Divinity/Juris Doctor, Master of Theological Studies/Master of Public Health, and Master of Divinity/Master of Social Work.

In her opening remarks, Dean Jan Love recognized two faculty members who are retiring this year: Bishop-in-Residence Larry Goodpaster, after eight years; and Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology Kwok Pui Lan, after seven years. Love also recognized Assistant Professor in the Practice of Theology and Ethics and Director of Formation Communities Kyle Lambelet, who is leaving Candler after seven years to serve as associate professor of ethics and director of the St. Nicholas Center for Faith and Justice at Virginia Theological Seminary.

The dean congratulated Professor in the Practice of Practical Theology and Methodist Studies Thomas W. Elliott, Jr. as the 2024 Candler honoree for the Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Education, which recognizes outstanding scholars who excel as teachers within formal and informal educational settings.

The ceremony also featured an anthem performed by the Candler Singers and remarks from Candler Alumni Board member Emory Berry, Jr. 06T, who welcomed the graduates to their new status as alumni.

In her final public address as dean of Candler, Love read selected verses from Matthew 5, focusing on the Beatitudes that open Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. She praised the graduates for their exemplary leadership, empathy, courage, and determination as they have challenged the community to “get with God’s program for a wounded and broken world.”

“Go now with diploma in hand to your next great adventure,” Love told the graduating students. “Go spread the good news of a way of living based on the firm and sure hope that meekness is the way of God, that righteousness and peace will finally prevail, and that God’s future will be a time of mercy and justice, not cruelty.”

Watch video of the ceremony here.

Photos: Cindy Brown 09T, C Brown Photo.