We invite our community to join us for Lancaster Theological Seminary’s 199th Convocation on Friday, August 25, at 4:00 p.m. We will open the new academic year in person in historic Santee Chapel. The service also will be available on Zoom.

Lancaster Seminary Professor of Church History, Dr. Anne T. Thayer, will deliver the Convocation address, Thomas Swalwell: A Monastic Life in Books, which is also the title of her forthcoming book.

In addition to welcoming our new seminarians and greeting our returning students, we will pay tribute to both Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Dr. Julia M. O’Brien, and Professor of Church History, Dr. Anne T. Thayer, as they announce their retirements effective in the Spring of 2024. We also will honor departing Associate Professor of Theological Bibliography, Deaconess Myka Kennedy Stephens, and celebrate the 10-year anniversaries of staff members Teresa Benneian and Meg Graham.

There will be a reception with refreshments following the service in the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nathan D. Baxter Jr. Room, adjacent to the chapel.

We hope you will join us as we gather in song and prayer to begin another academic year at Lancaster Theological Seminary.