My Congregation Memories

Andre Anthony, St John’s College, 2023

My main feeling, throughout, was one of enormous gratitude. Gratitude for my having had the privilege of attending Durham, for all my tutors, and for my own “staying the distance” through some of the toughest yet enjoyable assignments and my final achievement of passing the MA in Theology.

There was the unexpected too. Covid and lockdown meant my 2nd and 3rd year were achieved through distance learning only. At graduation, I and my 2nd and 3rd year tutors were meeting in the flesh for the very first time, after having only previously met our digital, pixelated selves. Now, we were actually present, here, human to human, and somehow this included our inner human selves also meeting for the first time. This part of human encounter was unexpected and it showed me that much of what I had learned during my three years of studying Christian Theology, which was essentially about how to be human, was playing out in these moments of encounter between me and my tutors.

The meticulous organisation, ritual, and ceremony of graduation, all with my family present, framed my experiences and filled my two days with fond memories.

Christine Sinnett, St Cuthbert’s society and Graduate society, 1998 and 2002

My memory of my Undergraduate congregation was a culmination of 3 years of first-class teaching and a lot of extremely hard work resulting in a 2:1. It was a sunny day and I was exhilarated. I enjoyed it so much, I did not want to leave. I then took up a postgraduate course part time and again graduated in 2002. It was an unmissable, magical time. Thank you, Durham.