The following excerpts are from the Graduate Response .

Our class has been able to witness the beginning of a remarkable new stage in the life of this institution. The new leadership comes out of what is, in a sense, a second generation, raised up by those who pioneered this seminary from the beginning. This provides us with a pattern and an example that we should be able to follow in whatever missions we find ourselves in the future.

Our future prospects in life are both serious and exciting: serious- because all of us are here as a result of having the providential hand of God touch us in a very real way; and exciting-because we find ourselves now better equipped to do the tasks to which He has called us, and more ready to take on lives of higher dimension.

You will find that every graduating student has gone through some special life-course to be here today. Among the thirty-two graduates of this 18th graduating class, twelve are from Japan, and I single them out only to illustrate a point: for most of these student it was probably not possible for their friends and families to be here today (although I do know of at least one mother and one mother-in-law who have traveled all the way from Japan). Imagine what these young men and women have done and you begin to understand the value of this place. Having studied, in the English language, in a Western seminary, such things as church history, Western philosophy, and Christian theology, how uniquely are they equipped to bridge the gap between their own culture and ours, an urgent task which even leaders of nations often fail to do successfully. They have made an extraordinary effort to understand the roots of our Christian heritage, and have helped us to understand the depth of the challenge that accompanies the adoption of Unificationist ideals, and the qualities needed to meet that challenge. When they return to their home country, they will surely stand as a precious hope in God's eyes.

In this way we are all striving to build a world where a unity in diversity is a working reality; even for former enemy nations the world becomes "embraceable".

Outside of our relatively safe and protected environment here, the world is facing serious challenges-we see the events developing on the Korean peninsula at this time; and great opportunities-many of last year's graduates, for example, are working in the former Soviet Union, which is now eagerly embracing our religious education programs into its schools, having freed itself from Communist oppression. We, too, as graduates of this seminary, will strive to meet these kinds of opportunities and challenges to the best of our ability and to make an offering of our lives to God and humanity, in prayerful service.

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