Welcoming Graduates Old and New
Good morning,
The cloisters have been power-washed, lawns mown in perfect strips, the Younger Hall polished to a gleam – it can only mean that Graduations are nearly upon us. But before the feast of nine ceremonies, the amouse bouche of the Alumni Weekend which begins today. The Chaplaincy will be taking part – I’ll be leading prayers at tomorrow’s meeting of the General Council, and we are holding a special Alumni Weekend Service on Sunday 28 June at 11 am in St Salvator’s Chapel. The Assistant Chaplain Revd Giles Dove, himself an alumnus, will preach on Hope for the Future, while St Salvator’s Chapel Choir will be joined by alumni singers for music by Byrd and Parry. There will be an Academic Procession. All are welcome, graduates or not, at this service, which will be followed by communion, refreshments and the Pier Walk.
Graduations take place from Monday to Friday. Congratulations if you are graduating next week, and I hope that the whole experience is one of joy, from donning the gown to crossing the stage, from photos galore to fizz at the Garden Party, from being with your closest supporters in the quad to throwing shapes among a sweaty throng at Grad Ball.
Each day of Graduations begins with a Chapel Service of Thanksgiving for Graduation. These services, with St Salvator’s Chapel Choir, lasting no more than 30 minutes, are open to all, including graduating students, their families and guests, regardless of their faith or philosophy of life. There is time to collect your gown before the service, and time for graduands and their supporters to attend the service and a ceremony shortly thereafter. Here are the details – I’m really excited to hear from all our guest preachers, during a special week for each of them too. And I suspect that Monday’s preacher, Richard Michael, who is preaching from the piano, will give sermon in words and music no-one will ever forget.
Monday 29 June, 1 pm
Preacher: Richard Michael BEM, Jazz Instructor and DMus honorand
Address: Groove and Harmony
Tuesday 30 June, 9:30 am
Preacher: Professor Caroline Walker Bynum, Historian and DLitt honorand
Address: The Bushel and the Smudge: Helping Your Light to Shine in a Troubled World
Wednesday 1 July, 9:30 am
Preacher: Revd Dr Donald MacEwan, University Chaplain
Address: A hidden life
Thursday 2 July, 9:30 am
Preacher: Revd Dr Adam Carlill, recently retired Vicar, Benefice Tilehurst St George and St Mary Magdalen
Address: Friendship
Friday 3 July, 9:30 am
Preacher: Billy Kay, writer and honorary DLitt graduate
Address: The Scottish Tradition of the Democratic Intellect
Each service from Sunday to Friday will be livestreamed – go to https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chaplaincy/worship/ and follow the links.
The Chancellor, Dame Anne Pringle, will be installed on Wednesday during a Graduation Ceremony, and Wednesday’s chapel service will also reflect on that significant moment.
Another tradition of Graduation Week is a special service of Compline. This beautiful candlelit service will take place on Tuesday 30 June at 10 pm in St Leonard’s Chapel, near the cathedral, in the grounds of St Leonards School, and gives anyone who has sung with St Leonard’s Chapel Choir during their degree the chance to sing introit, psalm, nunc dimittis and anthem for the final time – alongside friends from St Salvator’s Chapel Choir who have been known to help out. All are welcome.
And as well as singing at every service and every ceremony, St Salvator’s Chapel Choir will also be giving a free concert in the chapel on Thursday 2 July at 5.30 – 6.15 pm. This is one of the most joyous parts of the whole week – all welcome.
And a word for our bell-ringers, whose marathon week of pealing to mark our graduates’ achievements will begin soon. Alongside the Chancellor’s Piper, the music of the bells rolling around the town, is the unforgettable sound of the week.
The Chaplaincy doesn’t close for the summer after all these celebrations. Chaplains are available and the building on St Mary’s Place is open. We see students and staff for support, we conduct baptisms, weddings and other special services, and we are preparing for the new semester around the corner. Feel free to get in touch. And we are always glad to hear how graduates are getting on – ideally over coffee.
It’s a week of celebrating what has been, but also of commitment to taking the values of education into life beyond the University. Perhaps more than ever our world needs these values – of openness to truth, learning from each other, acceptance of difference, and work for the common good. Gaudeamus!
Yours,Donald