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Oh God, you summoned the day to dawn. You teach the morning to awaken the earth. Great is your name. Great is your love for you . The valleys will sing for joy. The trees

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of the field shall clap their hands. Great. Is your name to you. The monarchs of the earth shall bow the poor and the persecuted shall shout for joy. Grave is your name. Great.

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Is your, your love and justice shall last forever fresh as the morning. Sure as the sun rise grave is your name is let us pray. Yes . Yeah, Christ. Great. Yes, friends

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and colleagues, faculty students, family members, ecclesiastical delegates, general, well, wishers and president, all of you. My name is Matt GTA. I am the senior pastor here at University Presbyterian Church

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and on behalf of the session and congregation here at U C and on behalf of Mission Presbytery and its member churches, it is my deep and joyous pleasure to welcome you to the sanctuary of up Asian.

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No doubt you will have noticed that our neighborhood here is a changing one. Thanks. Worry. That was once surrounded by single family homes is now surrounded by tower cranes and I imagine that especially for those

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of you who have been here before, even in your trip this morning, you could not help but notice that the surroundings must look different than they once did no matter when it was that you were here

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before I come here every day. And I feel that every time nonetheless, I am gratified this morning to celebrate with you all. Some of the goodness of God that does not change. I am gratified

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to celebrate this morning, the long historic friendship between Austin Seminary and University of Presbyterian. I'm gratified to celebrate the long history of Austin Seminary and its unbroken commitment to the church to its of the next generation

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of church leadership. And in particular, I am gratified to celebrate the unyielding power and imagination of the Holy Spirit that has flowed consistently through the seminary's leadership and gathers today around President Zadi lives in the goodness

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of God that does not change. I welcome you to that goodness by the power of God, by the grace of Jesus Christ that runs from the foundations of the earth presence of the Holy Spirit lasting too

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everlasting God, a man. Friends let us pray Holy God by the power of your spirit, reveal your will to us today through your word, read and proclaimed amen. A reading from the prophet Isaiah

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enlarge the sight of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. The holy one of Israel is your redeemer, the God

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of the whole earth. He is called or the mountains may depart and the hills be removed. But my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed. Says the

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Lord who has compassion on you. Holy wisdom. Holy word. Thanks be to God. Yeah, with hearts and friends and boys. Yes, to cool him. Bless the Lord. All you servants

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of the Lord who stand by night in the house of the Lord, lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord. May the Lord maker of heaven and earth bless you from Song God

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. Oh yeah. Letter of Paul to the church at Ephesus. For this reason, I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named that according to the riches

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of His glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his spirit. And that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and grounded in love. They have power to comprehend all the saints

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. What is the bread and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ passes on that you may be filled the fullness of God. Now feist the power at work within us is able

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to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations ever standing in this privileged side of vision, I assemble the image of

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multiple faces, each one filling up the space with meaning humble at the realization that although I stand before you as the person inaugurated into and leadership role in this of community celebration of longstanding traditions of teaching and

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learning, but also of history, how to be re examined. This is a celebration of stories of people who have dreamed at church that is faithful to its goal. Also stories, those who despite institutional

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limitations have dared to follow imaginative paths of ministry and service. Our hearts are full of joy or the possibilities ahead of us for the ability to lament that which has perished without feeling defeated at this gathering.

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I am awakened. Memories of childhood and family members are part of my emergence as a person who stands before you today. Memories of school and church friends , stories are intertwined with the most adventurous chapters of

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my biography for workers of many places of labor who haven't reached my life with their wisdom, care, support colleagues, friends who make me enthusiastic about the company. I will keep in the I can only

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affirm that I am deeply fortunate, empty space that hours ago was occupied by air, light and quietness today at this ceremony, even in place, a place made right there by the meaning and memories you

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all have brought in. This is the moment I was appointed to serve at the 10th President of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I have often mused the answers to a very modest question. What is this place

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of learning and faith formation we call Austin Theological Seminary so basic it in its formulation, the answer to this question cannot be readily assumed. And in fact , both ideas we can construct as possibilities for theological

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education are determined by our ability to name the purpose of our institutional existence. To quote Martin Heidegger, because that's what scholars do. We quote the German people. We ought to be keenly aware of our

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, our being there, our place, our place in the community where our beautiful campus rests as an oasis in the middle of a hectic and vibrant university town. Our place in the church, the affiliation

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to a denomination that we are proud to belong to for its enduring commitments to educated imaginative, energetic and compassionate leaders and with many other Christian traditions that join our search for truth and authenticity. Ultimately, our

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place in society as a prophetic voice in the midst of unjust systems of exclusion and oppression. With what I call an immigrant imagination, we should constantly ponder what does it mean to find a place of belonging

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in our world, especially world that at times is indifferent, self, preoccupied and un hospitable. More than once in the few months, I have served in this role. I have visited places and people

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have introduced me in an unfortunate slip of the tongue . As the president of Austin's Cemetery, as you can see this Gaff produces some embarrassment in the speakers . And as listeners respond with a quiet laughter,

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quieter than this one today, what I have learned from a great teacher is that you should never let a good metaphor go to waste. Therefore, I cannot resist. But to bring the image of such

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place of final rest, to inform my reflection on this dilemma of finding our place in the world as a e theological institution. What is dying here that needs the services of interment end of the church within

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which we are trying to find our place, the banishing of humanity's ability to relate to each other in ways that respect the dignity of every person, regardless of who they are and where, where they come

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from, or perhaps our loss of community and belonging trumped by our, the technologically fed self center. Are we officiating the last rites for God's creation as the future of our ecosystem slips away from our hands

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? And what are we as institutions of theological asked to do with the remain? Are we here in this place to say our farewell to hope with good thoughts and prayers or to infuse life grounded in an

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ever present promise of resurrection. Yet there may be other possibilities for this metaphor. You can claim to be the place where outmoded ideas and ways of thinking that have for decades if not for centuries hinder our

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self realization as beloved Children of God come to die . Or alternatively, we can create a special burial plot for those certainties that come with some forms of faith that refuse to acknowledge that what God intend intends

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to do with us and through us is still to be encountered. Whereas poet, poet Maya Angelo reminds us, we are never to call ourselves Christians in absolute and determinative ways. Christian is something we are

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always becoming. And this place as a community that claims to exercise the charge of educating individuals should always provide learners with possibilities for becoming what God is calling them to be. And all these may be generative

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questions for our work ahead. But I prefer to correct the Gaff and return to the factual record that we have intentionally decided to call this a seminary. A place of cultivation, stone and mortar are particularly

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powerful. Symbols of places. Places are much more than that Austin Presbyterian ecological seminaries, more than walls and pathways and rooms and coordinates in the city map seminar is a stage for relationships where effective bonds can

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be cultivated. A field of care and knowledge that extends beyond campus and touches communities, congregations and families as a place that fosters a sense of belonging and develops capacities to serve both intellectual and practical. Austin

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Seminary exists within and outside our campus. It is a widening place because that is how education for cultivation works. It's going to the ground but emerges from it, nurture and care cannot be determined adds organically

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, the scale of the shade provided by a tree , the amounts of fruit or flowers that blossom, the depth of the roots, even the ability to continue to reproduce in the grounds. We did not

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intend to plant defy both our good intentions and our expectations, aware of this place and is widened in nature. I look forward to engaging this community of theological teaching and learning as we exercise our leadership for

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seeding the times to strengthen bend trunks from all trees or cutting branches here and there to stimulate growth or trying new technologies for watering already in fertile soils that time may be over. But in educational theory,

00:32:05.130 - 00:32:25.540

we call reforms, it be a time to consider the model of theological teaching and learning as a whole and move from the secular paradigm of growth and development as the main conceptual guide of our efforts of the

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Apostle in added to the efficiency who invites us to be good and established in love so that we may be empowered to grasp another model of dimensionality, not measured by numbers, how wide and long and high

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and deep is off of the one we seek to all forms of certain, what kind of seminary of the 21st century located in Austin Texas and cultivate so that in its place, its landscape of mission and

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purpose can be widened at Austin Seminary we may want to plant seeds today for fruits that other generations may enjoy. This means that attention to whatever we consider to be urgent needs to be consciously scaled within a

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long term view. Remember that in a constantly changing world, what is urgent today turns into obsolescence. Tomorrow times like this, we are cautioned to avoid the temptation to see continuous adaptation as the most valuable

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asset in education times, sacrificing good sense and vision . For the sake of acceleration, I will give the appearance of momentary achievement, but that will reduce opportunities for those who will need those resources in the

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future. Theological institution should be teaching today with a new generation of Christians in mind, taking care that in our intention to be innovative, we don't become so transient that we become a non place for the

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next generation, a fleeting institution, the fate of millennials, Gen Z, Gen alphas and those who will follow in whatever form that faith is emerging to start to inform our curriculum now. And this should

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be done with a clear recognition that the world our young have encountered is significantly different from the one that gave origin to our current models of ministry. Places are widened by the bodies and movements that shape their

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environment. And our campus environment, day in and day out is asking us to pay attention to the young. So for those who are concerned with the ecclesial aging, the younger of the church might be

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indeed good news at Austin Seminary, we want to plant seeds that will allow us to sustain people in the continuum of theological learning that starts before seminary education and continues after people leave our classrooms. If theology

00:35:38.700 - 00:35:55.750

is religious discourse as theologian and Professor Cynthia Rigby establishes determined to share something about everything in the world. Brimming with beauty, pain, and perennial desire to know more. And faith requires theological wisdom as an

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ongoing process. As a place of cultivation, we can widen this play by seeking out those who show special gifts for service within the church and who do not know yet that such a passion can signal evocation

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for ministry. Alternatively, we may need to institute programs to provide ongoing support to those who graduate as they face the realities of ministry during the first years of service at us. In seminary, we may

00:36:31.450 - 00:36:52.530

want to cultivate relationships and partnerships that are mission driven to support common social projects to bring the outside world into the register of theological education. This may require inviting and welcoming other higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations

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, art collectives, interfaith groups in exploring ways mission is strengthened and disseminated to larger publics or theological literacy among Christians, Christian professionals of any field and not be considered any longer outside the scope of theological education

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. Our social and political order may necessitate people, people of faith who are as theologically sophisticated as they are technologically literate and who in embodying Christ love the world sufficiently to be accountable for it. At Austin

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Seminary, we will continue to cultivate and nurture among all members of our community, a culture of empathy and tolerance amid our current normalized divisive divisiveness, without compromising people's ability to ground themselves theologically and ideologically and

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without concealing our strong institutional identity, educational places like this should strive to be places for difficult and deep conversations that can restore a sense of conviviality Among those who think differently, seminary is so close to the

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borderlands, to be able to explore how to educate in the in between where more than one vision of the world collides as we seek to live together with our cultural and social erasures by the name plays is

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always a healing. Any other model of theological formation will be simply reductive and limited. This is a place of cultivation, tell you the truth. There will be no offense if once again the words seminary

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and cemetery, pollute in real time space that happens to mind will calm the words in the epitaph engraved in the headstone of Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardinal can go ahead and bury us for we are seeds widening of

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this place will require good and faithful laborers for the work of cultivation. It will require people whose scholarship is evolving with the world, fostering alternative ways of thinking and incentivizing diverse models of practice. I count

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my blessings have such laborers. I will ask the faculty to stand up and be ready equity. This cultivation will require individuals with enough commitment so that this place can remain hospitable, welcoming and supportive here too

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. I count my blessings for we have such laborers . I will ask the seminary staff who are here today to stand to be recognized. And for sure , this labor will require people with ample vision to

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invest talent, treasure, and time to guide the direction of this place. And yet again, I feel deeply blessed for we have those laborers. And I will ask the members of our board of trustees

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to please stand and be recognized last but not least , our widened place requires networks and partners who understand that our educational project for another possible world cannot be carried out in isolation. Gratitude for the gifts and

00:41:45.360 - 00:42:15.960

efforts you bring to this task. I would like to ask delegates from our theological schools and higher learning to please stand and be recognized. And above all , we recognize that the fruit of the labor that

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which will be widened, that which will reach death will be nurtured by God, the fullness of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can proclaim in one undisputable voice. That truth of our

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reformed confession, Holy Gloria to God alone, be the glory. There are varieties of gifts, but it is the same spirit who gives them, there are different ways of serving God, but it is

00:48:17.320 - 00:48:36.680

the same Lord who is served to each is given a gift of the spirit to be used for the common good. Together, we are the body of Christ and individually members of it, of strangers.

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I oh is strong homes. Yes, family of God. Let us say what we believe. And a Christ makes his presence exist this power to become new universal. Here, it's a association between what

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may be seated, the board of trustees of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary at a called meeting on June 27 th 2022 unanimously elected the Reverend Dr Jose Ramon Iria to be president elect of this seminary and inducted him

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into the presidency at a stated meeting on November seven th 2022. It is now my privilege as chair of the board of trustees to ask you doctor Iis Sari to take these inaugural vows. Trust in Jesus

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Christ, your savior, acknowledge him Lord of all and head of the church and through him, believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit . Do you accept the scriptures of the Old and

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New Testaments to be by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the church , universal and God's Word to you in accordance with your ordination to the Christian ministry. Do you affirm

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the doctrinal standards and church order of the Presbyterian Church usa as they are consistent with the word of God in scripture as you study and teach in this institution of the Presbyterian Church usa. Do you pledge to

00:54:04.310 - 00:54:29.030

maintain the best standards of academic integrity? Assume pastoral oversight of those committed to your charge. Demonstrate a spirit of collegiality and purity of the church M U and a forward for the laying on of hands,

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pray God throughout the ages and in every place you have inspired servants among your people to point the way to salvation by your grace. We are grateful for your word in scripture, telling us of our ancestors

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in faith and guiding your church to be salt and light to the world. Especially we give thanks for the members of the beloved community of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary for the scholars, prophets, pastors, apostles

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, servants and shepherds on this side of eternity. And those now on another shore and in a greater light whose faithful labor ushers us into this moment. Above all, we praise you for Jesus Christ who

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came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life to set others free. Only one we lift to you, our leader, teacher , friend and brother in Christ, Jose Jesus,

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or out your spirit upon Jose keeping him, leading him and loving him from classroom to pulpit, from congregation to city hall, from library to font from table to home by the gifts of your spirit,

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empower him to build up the academy in service to the church, to strengthen the common life of your people and to lead with compassion and vision transfigure Jose for your purpose that we might see you when He

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is the calm in our storm, the teacher, in our perplexity and voice of care in our heart . When we fear the future, oh God, may Jose point to our salvation. When we fret

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over relevancy, may Jose point to eternity when we seek uncomplicated thinking and comfortable living, may Jose point to your cry cross gracious God. None of us can serve you on our own. And so we

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ask that your generous hand uphold Millie Eisa Abbi and Darien on all of Jose's family, gracious God, pour out your spirit of power and truth upon the whole church that we may be a holy people for

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you baptized to serve our neighbor, love the stranger and proclaim your reign of justice and peace by the vows Jose has made this day renew our own calls that we may commit our minds and hearts, our

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bodies and souls to the ministry which your gospel demands on behalf of the board of trustees. I declare that the Reverend Doctor Jose Ramon Iria is duly installed as the president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Professor

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of Practical Theology. You say whatever you do in word or indeed do everything in the name of President Azari on behalf of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. It's my honor to present you the symbols of office,

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both the presidential medallion and the mace auditioned by the seminary the centennial year in 2002 by CD Weaver who served this seminary as Dean of Student Life and pastor to the seminary community. As we welcome you as

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president, we present these symbols of this institution to you and ask that you continue to use them as you represent this community and lead us onward in our mission as a theological institution, a beloved community.

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Search for the next president of Austin Presbyterian theological Seminary began the seminary search committee sought to listen to the whole of this seminary community from defense to staff, to faculty, to trustees to alumni, to the

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larger constituency and friends of this institution. After that work, we distilled what we heard into a narrative and a set of values about the next leader of this institution. Top of our list was a person

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with a pastor's heart of the life and the local congregation and the seminars, orientation toward the church. A strategic visionary, not afraid to experiment and try new things who cares about the distinctive and dare I

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say in some ways, this particular seminary delivers theological education. Also sought someone who understands context and the peoples who make up this region and culture, someone who possesses wonder and humility in all that they do

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know somebody who might schedule a choral concert, an academic forum, a play as well as some salsa dancing all tied together at their presidential inauguration. He also sought someone committed to the beloved community to diversity

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, equity inclusion, belonging that is an abundant part of Christ's body. The collective effort. Our listing of institutional values ended with this statement composed by search committee member Jill Duffield that read God will accomplish abundantly

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more than we can ever hope or imagine. Hence , we look to the future, not in fear , but with hope. Knowing that whoever is called to be our next president will be equipped through the

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Holy Spirit and upheld by a beloved community. Ready to expand its hospitality, increase its impact and rejoice in being lost in wonder, love and praise. Such values and statements can come across as institutional word

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salads or aspirational works of fiction, but such values led us to someone not only qualified but called found someone, not only who could do the job, but who could inspire us to walk side by side

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in our God given, calling with radical hope. In his own words, the presidential search to the presidential search committee candidate Rizai had this to say the assessment on the current state of theological education at this

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point in time is v popular among those who care for the formation of skilled church leaders. In other words, basically, there are big challenges and strong headwinds up ahead. Our candidate continued while clear eyed

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about those challenges. He said, I consider the opportunities may outweigh the challenges. Wait, what, who is this person who sees the world still shot through with the glory of God? Who is this

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person who believes he might in fact be called for such a time as this. Who is this person who seems to be practicing unthinkable hope rather than Jose coming and telling us how he was going to single

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handedly fix theological education. Turn around the new numerical decline in church and enrollment. Tell us how to also fix political polarization and all the institutional challenges of our country. In year two of his presidency.

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The only reason candidate Azari gave us for his radical belief that the opportunities may outweigh weigh the challenges was this. He said this statement can only be made with a sense of hopefulness stemming from faith and the

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confidence that God is making all things new and our call is to full participation in this o creative process . I am confident that Jose fills those institutional values and embodies that optimism and confidence about theological education that

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he doesn't need to be charged for me to carry out those values because he already does that so well and already embodies them so in the leadership of this institution. But I do have a charge and it

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is more peripheral if you will. The first point of my charge is called Austin City limits and that is to charge you to see well beyond them. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has a diverse geographic constituency.

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And I think sometimes the job of a president is to encourage students, graduates, members of the community that there may be places or positions in the world that they had no intention of ever living or serving

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places and congregations outside the demographic of a whole foods or central market that still may be in need of good pastoral leadership to love them enough to preach the gospel to them. I believe currently there are approximately

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750 pastor positions of some kind or another in our national church looking for strong pastoral leadership. My guess is that many of them are in places our world and maybe all of us to deem strategically insignificant.

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Strangely, God seems to do some of God's best work in such places, places like Nazareth, Bethany , Galatia Corinth places beyond our preferences for where God's grace extends. My charge is to be community facing

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as you already are embodying not only in the Austin City limits, but beyond them. Second charge is Austin Seminary weird. What I mean by this is not so much trying to preserve and maintain that winsome

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vibe. But and I quote from a recent New Yorker article by Nathan Heller, the end of the English major in a quantitative society for which optimization getting the most output from your input has become a self

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evident, good universities. And I would add maybe theological institutions to have prioritized actions that shift numbers or create value for what we do most un quantitative investment we will ever make in this world is to baptize

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a baby and then ask the parents to live the Christian life and be responsible for that child as well . And then we don't stop there. We also ask Children and youth and relative strangers to make promises

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to that baby. We ask them to volunteer their own time teaching Sunday school or helping that child make a joyful noise in the choir. Welcome them the Sunday night youth group when they're unlovable, not to

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mention sending them to Montreat or mow ranch or, or maybe even saying to them at one point in their life out of the blue. Have you ever considered going to seminary serving in the church? That

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is an un unti investment, extravagant use of resources may be akin to Mary, taking a pound of expensive perfume and anointing Jesus's feet with it and filling up the whole house and gathering at people with her

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wasteful extravagance. Even as they pondered all the value they could have gotten out of it in the marketplace . Or if they had the right analytics, I think seminaries and seminary presidents not to mention pastors and

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seminary faculty, seminary graduates have the prophetic mantle and obligation to encourage us to live like that. We are hardwired for the quantitative world. We would rather prove and measure our value. Hey, don't ever

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stop being that person who said, I know what the demographics are saying. I know what the box pop is saying. But the only way for the Christian community in the seminary to face the future is

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to live with a hopefulness and the confidence that God is making new things. Our call is to full participation in this creative process. I wish you and many, many, many fulfilling years in this work

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as we have discussed. 20 is a nice round number. We have a recent precedent. There is a lot that will unfold that we cannot foresee but embrace this work. Engage the life of the mind

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, fullness of the heart, the richness of the soul so ingrained in this community, God will accomplish abundantly more than we can ever hope or imagine. Hence, we look to the future, not in

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fear, but with hope. Knowing that whoever is called to be our next president strike that that Jose will be equipped through the Holy Spirit, upheld by a beloved community. Ready to expand its hospitality,

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increase its impact and rejoice in being lost and wonder , love and praise. Thanks be to God, President Zari. Congratulations to Hebrew and to your family as one of the longest serving seminary presidents now and

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as the vice chair of the Committee on Theological Education , I excitedly welcome you to this ministry like most everyone in this room, I believe in the relevance and importance of this work. Now, 14 years

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into my own service, I find this work as meaningful as ever. Often during occasions like these, the charge to the community is an encouragement to those present, to support the new president. This is

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not bad it. Now, I'm assuming that that goes without saying that you've called this great man that we're enjoying this great occasion because of course, you are going to support him as he moves into this

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leadership role and he in turn will support you and this will be a marvelous adventure in mutuality. So I get to do something else. This immunity is an encouragement. 88 media more, repeat those words

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with me. Please mediate more. More, very good. Here's what I'm getting at years ago. Predecessor, the Reverend Dr Theodore J Wardlaw and former Association of Theological Schools Executive Dan Shi encourage the sitting

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Presbyterian seminary presidents to read the work of Hugh, a work entitled on thinking institutionally. It was during those ensuing conversations that I began to understand these Presbyterian seminaries often referred to as the gold standard in theological

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education as mediating institutions. I expect that this community is well versed in these themes. So I have chosen to draw on this work as I offer the charge to you, the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community

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. In short, a mediating institution is an organization , any organization, congregation, union nonprofit that undergirds the basic building block of society, the family, no matter how a particular family is configured, no

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matter how well that family functions, it will from time to time need the support of trustworthy institutions as it navigates the complexities of society. Today, churches and their affiliates like seminaries have done this work and

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done it well for centuries, they have been not only the central gathering places where families have encountered the divide, but also where they have found protections from societal harms, where they have acquired emotional support,

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like pastoral counseling, where they have accessed basic and essential education and where they have been provided even social services and child care. Now I have read through the Austin Seminary uh data on uh the A T

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S website. And I think it's fair to say that Austin got it going on. This is a strong institution. Praise be to God. You Austin Seminary have the chops to do and indeed you are

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doing the very thing I'm describing as you think about what it means to be a widening place. I'm charging you to mediate more us institutions of all flavors have garnered significant distrust in recent decades, sometimes due

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to circumstances of our own making. Consequently, institutions may be weakened in their ability to connect with and mediate on behalf of those who are most vulnerable and most in need of what we have to offer.

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All the more reason it is incumbent upon strong institutions of favorable repute like this one, to mediate more , to bridge more gaps, to do more with what you've been given to bear the dual responsibilities of

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maintaining health within, within the four walls of the institution. While at the same time contributing to the health of sectors that may or may not be your core audience. I'm charging you to mediate more that

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is to be more connection, more collaborative, non competitive. Recognizing that all of us are more effective when we are united in mission than when we are not. I'm charging you to mediate more by expanding

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your identity by offering the most relevant most accessible highest quality theological education. You possibly can while also engaging with those who today have left the pews, who may never again sit in a pew, who may

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not even know what a pew is, but who nonetheless hunger for a safe place to explore and live out their faith. There's a passage from the book of Jeremiah that encapsulates what I'm saying, probably should

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have just started there and sat down from the 29th chapter. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you in exile. Pray to the Lord for that city. Because if it

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prospers who will prosper our core mission as seminaries may be leadership formation, but friends are to go is to seek the peace and prosperity of the city where all can flourish by mediating. Our societal health depends

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on it. And even more importantly, so does our salvation? Let us pray God of creation. We praise you for the world you made for the air, we breathe for day and night and for

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your love which fills us. We thank you for sound and silence, for speech and song, for knowledge and wonder. And for all your gifts of beauty, mystery, and revelation. We thank you

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for this seminary for its many years of service to the church and the world. For generations of staff , faculty and students, the faithful work of its trustees and for the past presidents whose prayers, wisdom

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and grace have guided the seminary through changing times. Most compassionate and loving God, we lift up the prayers of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community. He first acts that you give President Jose Ramon Rizai the

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strength and courage to lead us into the future. Give him a creative and imaginative vision for Austin Seminary . We pray that he will find space and opportunity to develop new lifelong friendships. He prayed for his

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spiritual, emotional, mental and physical well being. We pray that he creates a healthy work, life , balance and self care routine. We also ask that you cover his family as there will be times

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when he will miss family gatherings, help them to understand his calling his purpose and his assignment, protect his Children as they continue their education, accomplish their goals and start their lives, shield and protect them

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wherever they go. We pray for the health and well being of this seminary community. May God provide for our students, staff and faculty and care for their minds. Souls, bodies and families. May

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the seminary have financial stability in order to support all of the beautiful people and ministries which form within its walls and flow into the world. May the seminary be a place of healing where we all may discover

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the blessings of living in harmony with difference and diversity . May we welcome staff and faculty along the way , who will bring new perspectives and open new doors ? May we learn from the ministries and technologies which

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have emerged during the pandemic so that we may serve and meet God's people wherever they are in need of us. May the Holy Spirit move within us and grant us confidence in the deep gracious everlasting love of

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this community. We pray for all students past present and future and their communities and congregations will serve with love, imagination, energy and creativity. We pray for a healthy relationships with colleges, universities, churches

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and nonprofit organizations let long lasting partnerships grow and flourish to provide additional educational opportunities for students. He prayed for our neighbors who turned to Austin Seminary for rest and hope in times of tragedy. We pray for

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government officials who will listen to the voices of Austin Seminary students, faculty and staff so that justice can roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting string . We pray for the world that we live in

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. May God grant us strength as we go forward in this time of fear, violence and political turmoil . We pray for all those who are caught in , struggle with and against empire and all those who

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are targeted by Empire. May the poor find peace and healing and may all people and communities of color find justice and life. May they survive and may they thrive? And we pray for our transgender neighbors

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, many of whom live in fear. May we know our trans transgender sisters, brothers, kin and others as beloved? And may we show that love as an institution and as people of faith, we

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pray for all whose hearts are broken. After more gun violence this week, give us the will to act and to change so that your precious Children may live. We pray for all of the caregivers across

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the world who minister to the suffering all around us . And we pray for wisdom as we discern how to minister and serve in this season of climate emergency . May we see this world as our home?

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May we know ourselves as a part of our home ? Oh God, every moment you are bringing forth new things into this world, they spring forth. May we perceive them with wisdom and focus with courage

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and hope, with gratitude and love. We pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and every sacred name which belongs to you. God, I'm in grace

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and peace. We bring you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am the Reverend Ruth Bates and Daniel Grace and I am the Reverend Siobhan Starling Lewis and on behalf of the bold and faithful

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commissioners and advisory delegates of the 225th General Assembly and as ambassadors for the Presbyterian Church usa, we bring love on this momentous and exciting day. We particularly come bearing collective joy and a great sense of pride

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as we celebrate this historic moment for the church. As a Presbyterian theological Seminary has inaugurated its 11th present and the Reverend Doctor Jose, I am so very blessed to be a part of this service. A

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couple of days ago, I gathered with Oklahoma Presbyterian leaders, colleagues from Cimarron, Eastern Oklahoma and Indian Nations Presbyterian and they send their love to you in some ways. That gathering was a bit of a

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homecoming as Indian nations. And this Synod, the Synod of the Sun ordained me for ministry nearly a decade ago. I mentioned this because my time in Oklahoma led to me discovering personally the incredible gifts of

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Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presbyterian Theological Powerhouse of this Synod and the region. And I was so blessed to experience Austin Seminary as a place of transformation and inspirational resourcing challenge and growth. Thank you Austin Seminary

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for contributing to my ministry and the ministry of so many of my colleagues denomination and globally in ways that both prepare and I'll be no as they say in the language of our ancestors and parents. And at

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times such as this, I donate my sister Siobhan and excitement. I am overjoyed to represent not only the large church but also a personal privilege of representing the Presbyterian Phil and in which you are a member

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and friend and where you are loved greatly among, I'll also celebrate with a great sense of pride, having a, a front, a front row seat for almost a decade. As a member of that

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Presbytery, I've witnessed firsthand your love of teaching, of learning your commitment to the church and your love and joy for the gospel and its place. Well , you are a bridge builder of culture. I

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like cheese, a special love of music and arts and joy who eats that already. Notwithstanding the challenges that we all know we are facing as a church . Something exciting is happening. It's theological education.

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God is on the move and we've been called together with this community to God on this. And so as you weaken this journey, offer the liberating and hopeful Romeo prayer that has been a companion on our

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journey esco moderators, it helps now and then to step back and take the long view. God is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision we accomplish in our lifetime, only a fraction

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of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always is beyond us. Statement says all that could be said, no prayer fully

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expresses our faith, no confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness, no program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything out. We plant the seeds that one day will

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grow. We water the seeds already planted. Knowing that they hold future promise foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. I do everything. There is a

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sense of liberation in realizing that this enables us to do something and do it well, it may be incomplete but it is a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do

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the rest. I never see the end results. But that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders , ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of

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a future, not our own siblings. A we continued young, unbounded people five by God's grace. Yeah. Come bless the Lord. All the servants of the Lord lift up your hands. May the

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Lord maker of heaven and earth, bless you all