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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (April 30, 2002)–Milligan College will hold its spring graduation on Sunday, May 12, in Seeger Chapel, with a baccalaureate service at 10 a.m. and commencement at 2 p.m.
Paul M. Blowers of Emmanuel School of Religion will present the commencement address, and his father, Russell F. Blowers, retired senior minister of East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Ind., will present the baccalaureate address and be honored with Milligan’s highest award for service, the Fide et Amore.
The 127 graduates include 33 bachelor of arts (B.A.), 88 bachelor of science (B.S.), three bachelor of science in nursing (B.S.N.), two master of education (M.Ed.) and one master of science in occupational therapy (M.S.O.T.) degrees. [More information about the graduates and their accomplishments will be released commencement weekend.]
Paul Blowers, professor of church history at Emmanuel School of Religion, will present the commencement address. Blowers is a 1977 Milligan College graduate, a 1982 graduate of Emmanuel School of Religion, and received his Ph.D. in early Christianity and patristics from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a John O’Brien Fellow.
Educated as a historian of early and Byzantine Christianity, he has particular interests in the history of biblical interpretation and in the theological and spiritual tradition of the Eastern churches. He also teaches courses and conducts research in the Stone-Campbell heritage.
“Paul is an alumnus who has distinguished himself in the area of church history,” said Milligan President Don Jeanes. “He is a published writer and a well-known lecturer.”
Blowers is published widely, especially in the field of early church history, and has authored the book Exegesis and Spiritual Pedagogy in Maximus the Confessor (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991). He served as editor for The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity (University of Notre Dame Press, 1997) and In Dominico Eloquio – In Lordly Eloquince: Essays of Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken (Eerdmans, 2002). He is currently at work as one of three general editors of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Eerdmans, 2004). Blowers and his children live in Elizabethton and attend Grandview Christian Church in Johnson City.
Paul’s father, Russ Blowers, retired minister at East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Ind., will present the baccalaureate address. Blowers is a graduate of Ohio University and Christian Theological Seminary. He is a World War II veteran, who served in the 8th Air Force. From 1951 until his retirement in September 1996, Blowers served as the senior minister of the East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Ind.
Blowers has been active in many organizations. He has served on the boards of Food for the Hungry, the World Convention of the Churches of Christ, Christian Missionary Fellowship, Emmanuel School of Religion, European Evangelistic Society, and Milligan College. He has served as chairman and honorary chair of three Billy Graham Crusades and as a member of the Publishing Committee of Standard Publishing Company. He also has been an adjunct faculty member at Kentucky Christian College and a faculty and dean at Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism.
Many awards and recognitions have come to Blowers during his career. One very notable one is his six times serving as a guest chaplain for the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. Milligan College honored Blowers in 1974 by awarding him the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Divinity; again in 1997 the College honored him by naming the main road through campus, Blowers Boulevard.
Blowers is married to his wife of 55 years, Marian Blowers. They have three children: Melinda Ann, who is deceased; Philip, a prosecuting attorney in Indianapolis; and Paul, professor of church history at Emmanuel School of Religion.
Russ Blowers will also be the recipient of Milligan’s distinguished Fide et Amore award during commencement.
“The trustees and faculty voted for the college to present Russ with the Fide et Amore award for his decades of service to the College and to ministry,” explained Jeanes.
The award is the college’s highest honor and is presented to individuals to recognize loving and faithful service to the college. The Fide et Amore award will be presented by Dr. Gene Wigginton, retired president of Standard Publishing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and assistant to the president for church relations at Milligan College. Blowers and Wigginton are long time friends and colleagues.
“I’m very grateful to Milligan College for conferring this Fide et Amore award on my father,” said son Paul Blowers. “His 45-year pastoral ministry was marked both by the depths of his own faith and by his passionate love for the church and its mission.”
Due to limited seating and the large crowds expected, a ticket is required for entry to the main level and balcony of Seeger Chapel for the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony. General seating will be available in Lower Seeger where live viewing will be provided via video projection. The main level and balcony will be open for general seating at 1:45 p.m. Tickets are not required for the 10 a.m. baccalaureate service.
For more information about spring commencement, please contact the registrar’s office at 423-461-8788 or go to www.milligan.edu.