Please join us in Christ Chapel on Sunday, August 24, 2025, at 5pm for Southwest’s annual Matriculation service, where new students are welcomed and begin their important journey of learning and formation. At the service, incoming students will add their names to the same Matriculation Book that so many alumni have signed, and become a part of the tradition at Southwest that stretches back for decades.
Also, at the service, Southwest will award the Charles Cook Servant Leadership Award to the Rev. Jim Harrington, founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project and Missioner at St. James Episcopal Church. The Cook Award was created in 2009 by the faculty to honor their colleague and Seminary of the Southwest alum, the Rev. Charlie Cook, on the occasion of his retirement from the seminary. Each fall, as another academic year begins, the community pauses to remember this common calling we have and to honor someone who especially embodies the Christian commitment to selfless service on behalf of others.
Further, this year’s Matriculation service will include the installation of the Rev. Sarah Faehnle Mast as Southwest’s new Dean of Chapel (read about the Rev. Mast’s appointment here), and the installation of the Rev. Benjamin King, Ph.D. as Southwest’s Academic Dean (read about the Rev. King’s appointment here).
The Rev. Sarah Faehnle Mast will officiate, and the Rev. Benjamin King, Ph.D. will preach at the service.
The service will be livestreamed at the seminary website and facebook page. Please feel free to forward these links to family or friends who may be interested but cannot attend.
Following the service, please join us for a celebratory reception in Howell Dining Hall.
Please RSVP here.
We look forward to celebrating with you.
