Southwest announces 2018 Honorary Doctorate recipients

Seminary of the Southwest recently announced that at the 67th Commencement, celebrating the Class of 2018, three distinguished Episcopalians will receive honorary degrees. The recipients will be The Rt. Rev. Patrick Bell, The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, III, and The Rev. Becca Stevens. The Rev. Stevens will also preach at the service.
“Our honorary degree recipients exemplify Seminary of the Southwest’s core values. Lay leader, priest, and bishop they preach the good news of Christ in deed and in word. I speak for our faculty, staff and Board of Trustees when I say that we are honored to recognize the gifts they share with the world, ” said The Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Dean and President, Seminary of the Southwest.

The Rev. Becca Stevens is an author, speaker, priest, social entrepreneur, founder and president of Thistle Farms, welcoming women with free residence that provides housing, medical care, therapy and education for two years. Residents and graduates earn income through one of four social enterprises. The Global Market of Thistle Farms helps employ more than 1,800 women worldwide, and the national network has more than 40 sister communities. Becca has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC World News and NPR, was recently named a 2016 CNN Hero and a White House “Champion of Change.”
The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III served as Rector of historic Trinity Church, Boston, from 1993 to 2005 and then again from 2011 to 2017 (the 18th and 20th Rectors of Trinity Church). Sam’s work focused on preaching, teaching, and developing a Christian community. From 2005 to 2011, Sam was the ninth dean of Washington National Cathedral, where he was charged with leadership of what is widely referred to as “the national house of prayer.” He has taught in seminaries is a frequent speaker at conferences and conventions.
The Rt. Rev. Patrick W. Bell is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon, elected on the first ballot on December 12, 2015 and consecrated on April 16, 2016 in Bend, Oregon. Bell was born and raised in the northern Palouse region of Washington. Raised as an Episcopalian, Bell became a Pentecostal minister and professor before returning to the Episcopal Church. After completing additional seminary studies, including a degree in Anglican studies from Seminary of the Southwest and a doctorate of Ministry from Seabury-Western, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1989 by Bishop Rustin Kimsey and began work at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Ontario, Oregon.
Since 1976, Seminary of the Southwest has conferred 108 honorary doctorates upon those whose contributions to the church and society deserve such recognition.