Lancaster Seminary to Award 21 Graduate Degrees at 197th Commencement May 7

April 27, 2022

Latina religious scholar Rev. Dr. Daisy Machado to deliver commencement address

Lancaster Theological Seminary will award 21 advanced degrees during the graduate school of theology’s 197th Commencement at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Church of the Apostles United Church of Christ in Lancaster. The degrees conferred include 13 Master of Divinity degrees, four Doctor of Ministry degrees, and four Master of Arts in Ministry and Leadership degrees.

Nationally known Latina religious scholar the Rev. Dr. Daisy L. Machado will deliver the commencement address, “God is Making a New Thing: Can You Not See It?”

Rev. Dr. Machado is a native of Cuba who grew up in New York City. She is professor of American religious history at Union Theological Seminary, New York, where she also served as academic dean, the first Latina to hold the position. She also was the first Latina ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Northeast Region, where she served a Latino congregation in Brooklyn. She has been a pastor developer in Texas, helping to establish two new Disciples Latino church starts in Houston and Fort Worth.

Rev. Dr. Machado’s teaching and writing focus on the U.S. borderlands, a name that refers to the reality of the Latino community in the U.S. in addition to a geographical location. The author of numerous articles and encyclopedia entries, most recently she co-edited Borderland Religion: Ambiguous practices of difference, hope and beyond (Routledge, 2020), an anthology on borderland religion that collects the work of scholars from South Africa, Norway, Austria, Denmark, and the U.S.

Rev. Dr. Machado is currently the director of the Hispanic Summer Program, a national program of theological education for Latino seminary students who are enrolled in schools accredited by The Association of Theological Schools. The program, which recently received a $1.8 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, will open its 33rd consecutive summer session in June.

Lancaster Theological Seminary, an ecumenical graduate school of theology affiliated with the United Church of Christ, is known for academic excellence, celebration of differences across Christian traditions, and creative engagement on issues important to our world.