For the 55th year, the annual Blandy Lecture and Alumni Convocation gathered alumni, community, and students on the Seminary of the Southwest campus to learn and connect. Presented by the Southwest Alumni Association, this annual gathering was created to honor the Very Rev. Gray M. Blandy for his ministry and work as the first dean of Seminary of the Southwest. This year the Blandy planning committee was excited to invite the Iona Collaborative at Seminary of the Southwest to co-present the event. The majority of events happened on November 15, 2023.
This year’s Blandy keynote lecturer was Naomi Shihab Nye, the Award-winning Palestinian-American Poet, Essayist and Educator. Her presentation focused on what it means to be Beloved Community, a common theme in her extensive work.
“What a joy to welcome Southwest alumni/ae as well as poets and poetry lovers from around Texas to hear Naomi Nye read at the Blandy Lecture,” said the Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, dean and president. “Her gentle and fierce conviction about the power of language to connect us and to make peace shone through every word and kindled the hope about which she spoke. It was an evening I will remember for a long time.”
At the traditional midday Alumni-led Eucharist, Southwest Alumni Association president the Rev. Carissa Baldwin-McGinnis presided, and Ms. Jennifer Cumberbatch preached. Baldwin-McGinnis, is an MDiv graduate from the class of 2007 and previous Harvey Speaker at Southwest. Cumberbatch received a Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Southwest in 2018, and in 2020 the entire Cumberbatch family (Jennifer and Ashton Cumberbatch, along with children Virginia, Graham, and Elizabeth) were presented the Charles Cook Servant Leadership Award by Seminary of the Southwest.
Watch Cumberbatch’s sermon here.
Also at the midday Eucharist, the Rev. Maureen (Mo) Doherty, Class of 2001, was presented with the Hal Brook Perry Outstanding Alumni Award. Named for the the late assistant dean, registrar, and instructor in church history, the Hal Brook Perry Award is conferred upon a graduate of Seminary of the Southwest who exemplifies exceptional ministry to parishes, dioceses, and/or specific communities or ministries – locally, regional, or worldwide.
Read 2023 Hal Brook Perry Citation presented to the Rev. Doherty here.
Much of Blandy was available for attendees virtually. The evening before, on November 14, 2023, alumni/ae were invited to a Zoom-hosted reunion. The lecture and Eucharist were livestreamed, as was a book discussion with Dr. Gena St. David and her new book, “The Brain and the Spirit: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of the Story of Christ.”
Additionally, in-person attendees were given opportunities to observe current classes by Dr. Scott Bader-Saye, Dr. Steve Bishop, or the Rev. Steven Tomlinson, Ph.D., and were led on an in-depth tour of the new Harrison Library and new Learning Complex by Harrison Library Director Alison Poage, and Vice President for Communications and Marketing Eric Scott.
“The tour was quite meaningful,” said Scott. “To be able to show our alumni – whose time at Southwest ranged from 35 years ago to graduates from last year – these new facilities and how their seminary is thriving was so gratifying. I was especially struck by the extensive range of woman leaders in the church that joined us. The Bishop Dena Harrison Library means a lot of things to a lot of people, and to be able to experience that personally was wonderful reminder of the power of this place.”
Details surrounding the 2024 Blandy Lecture and Alumni Convocation will be announced soon.
