It has been an interesting time for you, your families, your communities, and the entire world. It has required some changes in our lives, sometimes for the best, other times as a necessity, and sometimes regrettably things have had to take a step back. Here at Carey, we're quite aware of this as we have had to make adjustments to our graduation ceremonies for the last two years. We've tried pushing dates back, explored options that then fell through, and even contemplated ways we could ship materials around the world (but it seems the Evergiven and Vancouver's own postal service woes were denying us this basic service).

However, this also provided us with space to think about our student body and its global outreach. As we continue to pursue our vision and mission of providing Christians with theological education all over the world, we constantly remind ourselves that one main staple of this vision is that our students (you!) are not only able to stay in their ministry context and community to learn, grow, and best serve those around them, but also celebrate with their community. We're proud of the work you have done and the amazing ministry you are a part of, and often a graduation ceremony is our chance to celebrate that. But it also requires bringing everybody to one physical location, which in this day and age is not entirely feasible. And often once the graduation ceremony is over, it might feel like you are abandoned or released from your school. We weren't very happy with these options.

After many conversations we landed on two things: First, we wanted to find some way of announcing to anyone that was looking into Carey Theological College that we are proud of our graduates, each and every one of them. Second, that we wanted our graduates-turned-alumni to be able to keep up with one another, to maybe reconnect over the years, or even network with each other down the road. Maybe you remember a fellow student mentioning the work they did in their town and you wanted to followup to see how things were going. Or you suddenly have an opening at your church that you think a fellow classmate would be perfect for. Or maybe you want to pray for everyone who graduated alongside you.

To that end we're happy to announce two new projects at Carey. First, we have launched the official 2021 Graduation page on our website. You have been approved by the Board and Senate as official graduates of Carey Theological College, and you can find blessings and encouragement from the president and faculty to all of you. We plan to keep this page up forever because we want everyone to know who our graduates are and as a reminder of the important work all of you have done.

Second, we have also launched our Alumni Database where you can find information about our alumni, the work they are doing, and where they are located at. If you haven't already, we strongly encourage you to fill out the Alumni Information Form which will create your own personal page so your fellow alumni can keep up with you. You can also update this information by filling out the form again, so if you ever want to update your location or current ministry in the future, fill it out again and we'll get it updated.

It has taken a bit to get to this moment, especially with a lot of starts and stops, but we're excited to not only create a network for our alumni, but also to proudly display the name of every Carey student that has put in the time and effort to help spread the Gospel to all corners of the earth. In the words of our namesake, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God."