Commencement
The Trustees and Faculty of Christian Theological Seminary will host a formal Commencement Ceremony to present Candidates for Degrees and graduate the 2023 Spring Class on Saturday, May 20, 2023.
Highly respected cleric, writer, professor, gospel artist, and social justice advocate Bishop Yvette A. Flunder will deliver the keynote address. Bishop Flunder is a third-generation preacher with roots in the Church of God in Christ and was ordained by the Bishop Walter Hawkins of Love Center Ministries, where she served as Associate Pastor and administrator for Love Center Church. She has performed and recorded gospel music with “Walter Hawkins and the Family” and the Love Center Choir. Rev. Dr. Flunder serves as Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a multi-denominational coalition of over 100 primarily African American Christian leaders and laity. She works tirelessly to bring awareness and direct response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and is a champion for human rights.
Honorees
This year, CTS will confer honorary degrees to recognize Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, Rev. Dr. William Lee, and Rev. Dr. Wallace McLaughlin.
Rev. Dr. William Lee is a distinguished and instrumental leader for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He has served as the General Moderator for the Disciples of Christ in the US & Canada, as well as an unofficial mediator for church congregations, judicatories, and national denominations. Rev. Dr. Lee serves at the forefront of social justice witness through innovative partnerships to provide health care for “the least, the last, and the lost” within the Greater Roanoke, VA region. He is an advocate and leader in the Faith-Health Movement. In addition, Rev. Dr. Lee is described as a preacher’s preacher, a pastor’s pastor, and a gifted speaker and teacher who transcends racial, ethnic, and religious boundaries and ideologies.
Rev. Dr. Wallace McLaughlin is the recently retired President and CEO of Fathers and Families Resource and Research Center. He has traveled extensively, providing missionary work in Haiti, Brazil, and Ecuador. Currently, he serves as Pastor of Covenant Community Church in Indianapolis. A founding Board Member of the National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families, Rev. Dr. McLaughlin has centered his ministry around young fathers in need of resources to put them on paths of self-sufficiency, helping them provide for their children and thereby building stronger families and communities. He has served on national boards, state task forces, and is a national speaker, trainer, and consultant on issues of fatherhood and program development.
CTS is proud to honor Trustee of the Board and longtime supporter Rev. Richard L. Spleth as the 2023 recipient of the Presidential Award of Excellence. This award is presented to an alumnus or friend of the Seminary whose life and accomplishments have earned the respect of their industry, profession, or community.
Rev. Spleth served as the Regional Minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indiana for over 20 years from 2001-2023. Ordained in 1978, Rev. Spleth served as pastor to Christian Church congregations in Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, and Texas from 1976-2001. During his career, Spleth served as a leader with many organizations and initiatives including the Disciples Community in the Congo, grant organizations like FLOURISH! which addresses clergy debt, the Indiana Interchurch Center Board, and Global Ministries of the Christian Church and the United Church of Christ. Church leadership is a legacy in Rev. Spleth’s family – his extended family includes 7 Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) ministers, and his wife Rev. Diane Spleth is a retired minister in the same denomination.
