Lancaster Seminary Holds 198th Commencement May 6, 2023
April 5, 2023
South Africa AME Bishop Silvester Beaman To Address Graduates
Lancaster Theological Seminary will hold its 198th Commencement on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
Commencement day will begin at 8 a.m. with a Baccalaureate Worship Service in Santee Chapel on the Seminary campus, at the corner of West James Street and College Avenue in Lancaster.
The Commencement Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. at Church of the Apostles United Church of Christ, 1850 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster. The ceremony will be live-streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfGk1pv4Pk
Lancaster Seminary, a graduate school of theology, will award 10 Master of Divinity degrees, five Doctor of Ministry degrees, and one Master of Arts in Ministry and Leadership degree. In addition, two Master of Divinity graduates also will receive certificates in Anglican Studies.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Silvester Scott Beaman, the 139th Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will deliver the commencement address titled, “What Shall I Say?” His remarks are rooted in Exodus 3:13. Bishop Beaman serves the 15th AME Episcopal District in South Africa, which includes the annual conferences of Angola, Boland, Cape, Eastern Cape, Kalahari, Namibia, and Queenstown.
Bishop Beaman is a native of Niagara Falls, NY, who previously served AME congregations in Lackawanna, NY, Wilmington, Del., and Hamilton, Bermuda. He was elected and consecrated as Bishop in 2021. A longtime family friend of the Bidens, Bishop Beaman offered the benediction at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He is one of a few members of the clergy to offer prayers in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Bishop Beaman was the first to receive a Doctor of Ministry degree from the joint seminary program of Payne Theological Seminary in Ohio and Bakke Graduate University in Seattle. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Wilberforce University in Ohio, and a Master of Divinity from Boston University.
South Africa’s Richard Wright Theological Seminary honored him with the Doctor of Divinity Degree for Meritorious Achievement in Christian Ministry and Public Service. He has been inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta, and he is a 20-year member of the General Board of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.