Good News: Amanda Bedard, MTS
I have been privileged to witness the way God has been working in Amanda’s life and ministry. It was just a couple of years ago that she enrolled at McMaster Divinity College and then not long after, came on staff at Queen Street Baptist Church.
When I did my seminary education in preparation for pastoral ministry, I was single and still living with my parents. While I did juggle school, church, and a job, I had no family responsibilities.
Amanda was able to do her seminary degree as a mother of five, with plenty of responsibilities that many students did not have. In addition, during her studies she both suffered a concussion and broke her hand. Amanda never does anything easy.
As we moved to Nova Scotia, Amanda finished all of her coursework and passed all of her courses for the degree of Master of Theological Studies. By the way, she did this while also going through the Arrow Leadership Program.
Amanda was soon to walk the stage for the first time (she earned her MTS without doing a bachelor degree) in all of her academic regalia and receive her degree.
But then I went and got into an ATV accident. Because I broke some ribs, my recovery is slow and there are many things that I cannot do (including driving). Amanda could not in good conscience leave us in Nova Scotia while she went to her convocation at McMaster. She decided to stay with us.
While I am thankful for Amanda’s ongoing care and support, it was not okay with me that she miss her chance to walk to stage. I could not send her to McMaster but there was another option.
I arranged for Amanda to walk the stage as a graduand at our church, Brookfield Baptist Church. I ordered a cap and gown and planned to place my MTh academic hood on her. In addition, I got her a stole/preaching scarf as a gift.
Amanda had no idea.
So yesterday at church, I had Amanda meet Emma in a room, who surprised her with the cap and gown. I then had Amanda walk the stage as I congratulated her for earning her degree. Amanda is pretty smart and I was quite surprised that I was able to pull this off without her realizing what was going on (she was getting suspicious that I was up to something).
The church then held a reception after the service to celebrate both of our graduations. It made for a very nice day.
I’m so proud of Amanda and I’m thankful I was able to do something to help celebrate her accomplishment.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
