A Peace Theological Seminary Graduation -- Celebrating the Masters & Doctorate Recipients at the Conference of Service

Click here to view a photo slideshow from the PTS Graduation At The Conference Of Service 2004

On Thursday afternoon, July 1st, Peace Theological Seminary and College of Philosophy (PTS) held its annual graduation ceremony for students who have completed the requirements for the Masters of Spiritual Science (MSS) and Doctor of Spiritual Science (DSS) degrees. PTS is the educational arm of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA), and offers a wide variety of programs to support people in learning the lessons of the physical and spiritual worlds.

My experience of the ceremony was deeply tender and sacred. The ceremony began with a first-time event—an official academic procession. All of the PTS faculty and graduating doctoral candidates glided down the aisle in full academic robes as the beautiful music of “Non Nobis Domine” filled our ears and opened our hearts.

Mark Lurie, one of the three presidents of MSIA, began the ceremony by invoking the love and Light of God. Dr. Liz Bixby-Garver, academic dean of PTS, then took the stage to introduce and acknowledge the members of the PTS staff, along with all of the faculty, assistants, readers, and volunteers who help support PTS and the Traveler’s work.

The love and dedication of everyone involved with PTS was palpable, and set a lovely sort of pulse as the ceremony moved forward to confer the MSS and DSS degrees. The MSS degrees were awarded first, and 34 happy Souls took turns coming to the stage to receive their diploma and hugs from John Morton, the Spiritual Director of PTS, and John-Roger, the Founder and President of PTS.

The ceremony flowed smoothly from the MSS degrees to the DSS degrees. Three people graduated with Doctor of Spiritual Science degrees this year—Reverend Doctor Marilyn Hill Dupont, Reverend Doctor Janet Graham, and Reverend Doctor Toni Greene. Each of these people completed the three years of coursework required for the DSS program and a Practical Treatise that chronicled their journey of expanding in awareness of their divinity.

Conferring the DSS degree has an added element of ceremony in the form of academic robes and a process known as “hooding.” Dr. Paul Kaye and Dr. Pauli Sanderson joined Dr. Liz on stage to help award the degrees and present the history and symbolism of the robes and hoods (these three loving folks are the founding co-creators along with John-Roger of the MSS & DSS programs, and continually work to refine the programs and support students). The regal, flowing robes have their roots in 13th century ecclesiastical tradition, when students wore the robes to keep warm in cold weather. The doctoral degree is symbolized by three velvet bars on the sleeves of the robes and by a unique hat called a tam. Pauli gamely modeled the robe and sleeves for us, and Paul highlighted the tam with an impish tilt of his head that set the tam’s golden tassel bobbing.

The hood plays a central role in conferring doctoral degrees. The colors of the hood reflect the focus of the degree and the school. For the DSS program, the front of the hood is scarlet to represent the program’s focus on sacred theology, blue to represent philosophy, and gold to represent science. The long, flowing portion of the hood that covers the back has colors representing the focus of the school. PTS chose green to represent learning the lessons of the physical world, and gold to represent learning the lessons of the spiritual world. For good measure, gold surrounds the green as well—no matter where we go or what we are involved with, Spirit is present and we are divine beings involved in processes of learning.

Receiving the hood symbolizes receiving the degree. As each doctoral candidate came to the stage, they knelt to be hooded by John Morton, who draped the hood over the shoulders of each candidate—a precious, blessed moment and gift from the Traveler and Spirit. Each doctoral grad also received a hug from our beloved John-Roger.

John Morton then graced us with a graduation seminar, focusing on the blessings found within the PTS programs and how our lives can become Lighter and easier when we are focusing on those blessings. John also reminded us that the blessings already are, even when we don’t always see them in the midst of our humanity or world events. Where there is love, there is a new day.

When the Traveler finished sharing with us, the graduation came to an end (or really a beginning!). Members of the graduating class mingled with each other, family, and friends, and celebrated their degrees and the ongoing process of fulfilling the spiritual promise.

There is a quote from John-Roger that brings things full circle for this article, and it came by way of today’s “Loving Each Day” e-mail (what a happy convergence!):

“It is time to stand forward in the integrity of who you are and to celebrate the love and joy that is inside you.

It is time to reach out and touch to others, to share your love to uplift those next to you.

By doing that, you’ll make this world a better place in which to live.”

– John-Roger
(From: Loving Each Day, Volume 1, p. 214)

Many blessings to all of the graduates and thanksgiving for God’s love and the Travelers’ guidance and support as we all move forward in living lives of blessings. God bless us all.

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If you would like to learn more about PTS and the MSS and DSS programs, please visit the PTS web site at www.pts.org or call 323.737.1534.

To subscribe to Loving Each Day, a free daily inspirational e-mail subscription offered by MSIA, please visit the Loving Each Day web site.

God bless you!

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