FIRST POST-PANDEMIC SOM GRADUATES

This spring the School of Ordained Ministry will have two graduates, our first ones post-COVID.  Both are a tad atypical.

Dr. Dann Wigner, with a theological doctorate, has already been an important part of our SOM faculty.  For a number of years Dann has taught our Sunday afternoon sessions on spirituality and other topics.  But this past year, Dann has also been a 1-year student in preparation for ordination to the diaconate.  Dann has brilliantly navigated being a Friday & Saturday student while continuing his teaching role on Sundays.  While I'm personally going to miss Dann's interactions as a student, I'm thankful his presence as a faculty member will continue.

Lt. Col. Joe Biles (USAF) has had an atypical beginning and ending to his SOM preparations for eventual ordination to the priesthood.  While Joe will have done a full 3-year program, only 2 have been in NWTX.  Because we did not have a sufficient cohort when Joe was ready to begin, he commuted once a month his first year from Abilene to Camp Allen (between Houston and College Station) to participate in the program of our "mothership" (the original program of which SOM in NWTX is an offshoot) in the Diocese of Texas.  Then he folded back into our program his 2nd and 3rd years.  But just to be different, Joe has also finished his time with us atypically.  The Air Force has deployed him to Germany this spring, and he's had to meet remotely with us for his final sessions, which has been a challenge for him given a 7-hour time zone difference.  Nevertheless he has carried it off with aplomb. 

Congratulations to Joe and Dann, our atypical class of 2025!