An evening of joy and celebration

The annual Matriculation service of Evensong was celebrated on Sunday, August 28, 2016, in Christ Chapel on the seminary campus. Dean and President Cynthia Briggs Kittredge presided and Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye preached. Matriculation Evensong Homily-2016 (pdf)
The seminary community welcomed 43 new students entering Seminary of the Southwest for their leadership formation for lay and ordained ministry. Twenty-four students in the new class are preparing for ordained ministry for dioceses throughout the country, and 19 students are enrolled in master’s degrees of religion, mental health counseling, chaplaincy, and spiritual formation.
Academic Dean Bader-Saye installed the seminary’s newest faculty members, Dr. Awa Jangha and the Rev. Danielle Hansen, PhD. Dr. Hansen is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and serves as Director of Field Education. Prior to arriving at Seminary of the Southwest, she was a lecturer at Yale and Tufts Universities in addition to serving as chaplain at Groton School and as a parish priest in Lexington, Lincoln, and Quincy, Massachusetts. Dr. Jangha is Assistant Professor of Counselor Education for the seminary’s master in clinical mental health counseling degree. She earned a PhD from Loyola University Maryland in Pastoral Counseling (a Counselor Education and Supervision program). Her research focuses on experiences of power in the pastoral counseling identity development of African-American female pastoral counselors in training and utilizes art as the means of exploration.
The Cook Award in Servant Leadership, named for Faculty Emeritus Charles J. Cook, is presented at Matriculation and was awarded this year to Jill Oettinger, CEO of Good Samaritan Community Services in San Antonio. Good Samaritan, founded in 1951 by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas is now a private, nonprofit organization and United Way agency that provides community services to lessen the impact of poverty in South Texas. Ms. Oettinger served on the board of Good Samaritan before leading the organization as CEO, a position she has held since 1996. Cook Award citation