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When Reuben Sancken-Marx began looking into seminaries to pursue his M.Div., he had come up against financial roadblocks to fund his education. Then CTS offered him The Discipleship Project (TDP) to help pay for tuition. That assistance—on top of how welcome he felt as an openly gay man from the first time he set foot on campus—made it evident to him that God was leading him to CTS. After graduating in 2016, he became a chaplain at Eskenazi Hospital—another way that God and CTS had imprinted his life. Serving in ministry outside of the church had never been on his radar until he took the Clinical Pastoral Education class during his time at CTS.

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Bishop Yvette Flunder delivers some impromptu gospel music after Commencement 2023.


License Information:
Thank You
Used by Permission / CCLI #11171448 / One License L-541261
Walter L. Hawkins

#shorts #gospelmusic

This is a snippet from Bishop Yevette Flunder's Commencement Message to the 2023 graduating class.

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Bishop Yvette Flunder delivers some impromptu gospel music after Commencement 2023.


License Information:
Thank You
Used by Permission / CCLI #11171448 / One License L-541261
Walter L. Hawkins

Bishop Yvette Flunder delivers a powerful Commencement Message entitled "The Fight to Fit In" for the CTS Class of 2023.

The Trustees and Faculty of Christian Theological Seminary hosted 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 delivered the keynote address. Bishop Flunder, a third-generation preacher with roots in the Church of God in Christ, was ordained by Bishop Walter Hawkins of Love Center Ministries, where she served as Associate Pastor and administrator for Love Center Church. She performed and recorded gospel music with "Walter Hawkins and the Family" and the Love Center Choir. Rev. Dr. Flunder served as Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a multi-denominational coalition of over 100 primarily African American Christian leaders and laity. She worked tirelessly to bring awareness and direct response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and championed human rights.

Honorees
This year, CTS conferred honorary degrees to recognize Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, Rev. Dr. William Lee, and Rev. Dr. Wallace McLaughlin.

Rev. Dr. William Lee, a distinguished and instrumental leader for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), served as the General Moderator for the Disciples of Christ in the US & Canada. He also acted as an unofficial mediator for church congregations, judicatories, and national denominations. Rev. Dr. Lee was 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 advocated and led in the Faith-Health Movement. Additionally, Rev. Dr. Lee was described as a preacher's preacher, a pastor's pastor, and a gifted speaker and teacher who transcended racial, ethnic, and religious boundaries and ideologies.

Rev. Dr. Wallace McLaughlin, the recently retired President and CEO of Fathers and Families Resource and Research Center, traveled extensively, providing missionary work in Haiti, Brazil, and Ecuador. Currently, he serves as Pastor of Covenant Community Church in Indianapolis. As a founding Board Member of the National Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families, Rev. Dr. McLaughlin 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 served on national boards, state task forces, and became a national speaker, trainer, and consultant on issues of fatherhood and program development.

CTS was 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 was presented to an alumnus or friend of the Seminary whose life and accomplishments 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 to 2023. Ordained in 1978, Rev. Spleth served as a pastor to Christian Church congregations in Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, and Texas from 1976 to 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 addressed 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.

Music License Information:
Come, We Who Love God’s Name
Used by Permission / One License L-541261.
Tune: Marching to Zion. S.M. with refrain.
Robert Lowry, 1867. Alternate setting: St. Thomas

Sing a New Church
Used by Permission / One License L-541261. Delores Dufner,
OSB, ©1991, The Sisters of St. Benedict.
Published by OCP. Tune: NETTLETONRobert Lowry, 1867.
Alternate setting: St. Thomas

God’s Got the Whole World in Their Hands
Dr. Jillian Harrison-Jones

We Shall Overcome
Tune: We Shall Overcome. Irr
Partial Text: C.A. Tindley

Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas talks about the presence of the Spirit in your life on the journey of faith. This is an excerpt from his sermon at the Baccalaureate Chapel service.

#shorts #preaching #holyspirit

Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas talks about going to his seat.

#shorts #preaching #jokes

Baccalaureate

Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas Preaching.

Baccalaureate

On Friday, May 19th, the faculty and student body will gather in Sweeney Chapel for fellowship, reflection, and celebration as degree candidates from the Spring 2023 class prepare for Commencement.

Degree candidates will participate in the service with Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas Preaching.

When Lacey Adams was looking into master’s programs in counseling, she was impressed by the way CTS emphasized personhood and relationship-building. She felt like she could matter at CTS and not be just a number. Her time at CTS was filled with personal growth as she explored the elements of her faith journey that were life-giving. It also allowed her to grow into a therapist that specializes in helping clients—especially from LGBTQ backgrounds—deconstruct oppressive systems and narratives that are
no longer serving them. After all, while participating in therapy during her time at CTS, she had done that work on herself, too.

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Christine Greenwald came to CTS to earn a degree in counseling, but she wasn’t expecting to find a community with a shared understanding of the role spirituality plays in a person’s life—no matter their religious tradition. While other programs focused only on theory, especially in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, she also learned more about the deeper existential and spiritual issues that matter most to people. Living on campus and participating in her own therapy while learning how to guide others through
therapy allowed her to see her patients—and herself—as holistic individuals with a range of motivations. And because CTS is a progressive seminary, she was able to study theology in a non-judgmental setting to learn more about who people are spiritually.

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Since the eighth grade, Andrea Espinoza Cruz knew she wanted to be a therapist. So, after graduating college, her next goal was grad school for her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT). As a first generation Latina-Mexican in America, Cruz was even more determined to see her dream come true—and CTS was the natural choice to pursue her MAMFT. For starters, she was really intrigued by how CTS integrates spirituality and clinical work. And the fact that CTS is located in Indianapolis was a plus since Cruz wanted to stay close to family. Finally, the financial support she received from CTS made it all possible. Now, Cruz, who is completing her practicum as an intern at the CTS Counseling Center, ison track to graduate in 2024.

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Dr. Julian Harrison-Jones & Rev. Jason Powell led the community in worship with a powerful call for God's blessing and affirmation of God's love for ALL!

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The Blessing, Kari Jobe & Coby Carnes
CCLI/ License # 11171448
One License # L-541261

End of Year Chapel

Dr. Robert Saler Preaching

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2-10 & John 14:1-14

Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month

April Johnson Preaching

Scripture: Psalm 23 & John 10:1-10

At the inaugural State of the Seminary address on April 28, 2023, President David Mellott announced that Christian Theological Seminary is forming two distinct schools: the School of Theology and the School of Counseling. This restructuring allows CTS to fully embrace its identity as an institution that educates and forms counseling clinicians in addition to pastors, chaplains, educators, and community leaders. It creates explicit pathways for students of all types to discover and engage the diverse array of educational offerings at CTS.

Formation of the two schools is an extension of CTS’s strategic planning process which began in 2020 and involved input from more than 400 stakeholders, including thought leaders in theological education, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community leaders. As CTS began implementing its strategic plan, it heard from therapists and those who employ therapists about the increasing need for qualified mental health professionals. Even more, CTS noted that when looking at the pool of therapists, African American and Hispanic populations are particularly under-represented. CTS also received feedback from pastors and lay leaders in ministry about the need for mental health resources, not only for their congregations, but also for themselves.

“Creating these two schools is an evolution of the life-changing work and training that has been taking place at CTS for nearly a century. It’s also an affirmation of our commitment to address the gap in accessible mental health services,” Dr. Mellott shared. “While CTS has offered counseling degrees for decades, mental health professionals in our region don’t often know about us. Furthermore, they don’t typically know about our Counseling Center, even though we provided more than 10,000 client sessions in the last year alone.”

CTS community members from across the country tuned in to the livestream address through Facebook Live and YouTube to hear the exciting news. The Common Room was filled with CTS leadership, faculty, staff, students, and alumni who applauded the announcement. President Mellott concluded the address by sharing, “You have heard Dr. Scott Seay speak about the history of CTS. He always asks us to remember three years: 1855, when Northwestern Christian University, which became Butler University, was founded; 1924, when the Butler School of Religion opened, offering theological education to ‘all students on an equal basis;’ and 1958, when the School of Religion separated from Butler and became Christian Theological Seminary. 2023 will be the next year to add to that short list – the year Christian Theological Seminary established the School of Counseling and the School of Theology, fully embracing its identify as an institution that supports the preparation and formation of pastors, chaplains, educators, community leaders, and counseling clinicians through its programs in counseling and theology.”

Please join us for a special livestream address from President David Mellott to hear updates on current CTS news and an exciting announcement.

Rev. Dr. Christina Davis Preaching

Scripture: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 & Luke 24:13-35

Earth Day

Rabbi Jordana Chernow-Reader Preaching

Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2:2