On October 2, 2014, Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III was installed as Reformed Theological Seminary’s fifth Chancellor in an inauguration ceremony hosted at First Presbyterian Church, Jackson. The next morning at Grace Chapel on the campus of RTS Jackson, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and Derek Thomas discussed the Direction of and Trends in the American Church.
The inauguration ceremony was a convergence of the seminary’s past, present, and future. The second President of RTS, Dr. Luder Whitlock, gave the Invocation, and Whitlock’s successor, Dr. Ric Cannada, Chancellor Emeritus, gave the Inaugural Prayer. Rev. David Strain, Duncan’s successor as Senior Minister at First Presbyterian Church, gave the Call to Worship, and Mr. Richard Ridgway, Chairman of the Reformed Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, gave the Vows to install Duncan as Chancellor. Mr. Jemar Tisby, President of the Reformed African American Network and co-founder of RTS Jackson’s African American Leadership Initiative, made the Announcement of the Faculty and gave the Word of Fellowship. Dr. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Duncan’s friend with whom he founded Together for the Gospel and the Gospel Coalition, gave the Inauguration Sermon entitled, “Will He Find Faith on the Earth?” from Luke 18:8. Duncan gave his Inaugural Address casting his vision for Reformed Theological Seminary and then closed the service with the Benediction.
Dr. Bill Wymond directed the full choir of First Presbyterian Church and an orchestra complete with brass and a rousing percussion section. In addition to leading the congregation in two hymns, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” and “Rejoice, The Lord is King,” Dr. Wymond led in five other orchestral arrangements highlighted by the Prelude of Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and the Anthem of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Hallelujah.”
Audio of the full service, the Inauguration Sermon, and the Inauguration Address can be heard here.
There were seventeen Academic and Ecclesiastical Delegates, including, among others: Dr. Roger Parrott, President of Belhaven University, Dr. Jeffery Jue, Provost and Executive Vice President, Westminster Theological Seminary, Dr. Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Dr. Mark Dalbey, President of Covenant Theological Seminary.
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The next morning, Friday, October 3, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and Derek Thomas discussed the Direction of and Trends in the American Church. It was a lively conversation between old friends that interacted both with the trends of what Mohler called “exhausted Modernity” and the inescapable fact that Christ is at work building his church. A time of questions and answers followed.
Audio to the conversation can be heard here.
For complete photo coverage of the Inauguration, visit us here. For complete photo coverage of the Conversation, visit us here.