Successful Defenses

Good news: we both successfully defended our dissertations!

Over the course of 84 hours, we drove to and from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY (nearly 20 hours roundtrip), and met with our dissertation committees:

• Randy met with Russell West (mentor), Chris Kiesling (second reader), and Milton Lowe (D.Min. team representative).
• Joleen met Russell West (mentor), Stephen Martyn (second reader), and Tony Headley (D.Min. team representative).

We showed up at the appointed times for our hearings, then the committee members went into a closed room for 30 minutes to get their heads together. That time was the most nerve-racking part of the whole experience.

The defense hearings went well and were very affirming. At the end of the hearings, our committees sent us out to make their decisions. Fortunately, that part of the process only took about 60 seconds or so.

We came away with mainly minor changes to make in the next week or so. Following those changes, we will submit copies of our drafts for one final technical edit. After making those corrections, we will print and mail our final copies (due May 9).

We have been referring to our dissertations as the “projects that never end.” Thankfully, they are finally coming to an end!