As Pacific School of Religion prepares to celebrate its 159th Commencement Ceremony this Sunday, the community gathered in chapel last week to honor graduating students and faculty whose leadership, scholarship, service, and care have shaped life at PSR throughout the academic year.
The annual awards celebration recognized students who have embodied PSR’s commitments to justice, spiritual formation, academic excellence, preaching, and community engagement — while also honoring a faculty member whose teaching and mentorship have left a lasting impact on students across programs.
Faculty Excellence Award: Dr. Ish Ruiz
This year’s Faculty Excellence Award was presented to Dr. Ish Ruiz in recognition of outstanding teaching, mentorship, and community-engaged scholarship.
Students described Dr. Ruiz’s courses as thoughtfully structured and deeply supportive, highlighting clear course design, consistent expectations, and dependable communication that strengthened their academic experience and brought stability to program life.
Beyond the classroom, students emphasized the transformational impact of Dr. Ruiz’s advising and mentorship. Many shared that they arrived at PSR uncertain of their direction or voice, and through Dr. Ruiz’s encouragement and guidance, found renewed confidence, clarity, and purpose in both their academic and personal journeys.
The award also recognizes Dr. Ruiz’s commitment to bridging rigorous scholarship with meaningful community engagement — ensuring that research, teaching, and ministry remain connected to the lived realities of the communities PSR serves.
Through a combination of clarity, care, accountability, and compassion, Dr. Ruiz’s work reflects the kind of leadership and formation that defines the PSR experience.
Celebrating Student Award Recipients
Freda Smith Feminist Preaching Award
Honoring Rev. Elder Freda Smith, the first woman ordained in Metropolitan Community Churches and a groundbreaking feminist preacher, the Freda Smith Feminist Preaching Award recognizes a prophetic, innovative, and transformational feminist sermon advocating for the full humanity and well-being of women, including transgender women.
This year’s recipient is Shannon Marckx.
Marcella Althaus-Reid Award in Queering Religion and Theology
Presented by PSR’s Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion, this award honors the pioneering theological vision of Marcella Althaus-Reid and recognizes outstanding student work in “queer-ing religion and theology.”
This year’s recipient is Barbara Rene Craft.
Michael M. Mendiola Prize in Ethics
Named for beloved former PSR ethics professor Michael M. Mendiola, this award recognizes exceptional scholarship addressing theodicy, human suffering, or other vital topics in contemporary ethics.
This year’s recipient is Garrett House.
Paul Wesley Yinger Preaching Awards
The Paul Wesley Yinger Preaching Award honors graduating students recognized as outstanding preachers with demonstrated dramatic and homiletic skill. Recipients are selected by a faculty committee in homiletics and leadership.
This year’s recipients are Natalie Janine Gates and Manuel Teofilo Mansueto Falcon Padua.
Koinonia Awards
Presented by the Office of Community Life, the Koinonia Awards honor graduating students whose contributions have strengthened the spiritual, intellectual, and communal life of PSR through leadership, service, academic excellence, and active participation in campus life.
This year’s recipients are Carlos Altamirano, Barbara Rene Craft, and Manuel Teofilo Mansueto Falcon Padua.
Looking Ahead to Commencement
The student awards chapel served as a meaningful moment of reflection and celebration ahead of commencement, honoring graduates who have contributed to the life of the PSR community through leadership, scholarship, ministry, activism, preaching, and care for others.
This Sunday’s commencement ceremony, themed Metanoia: Awakened, Called, & Transformed, will celebrate one of PSR’s largest graduating classes in nearly a decade and mark the culmination of years of study, discernment, and growth.
As graduates prepare to cross the commencement stage, these awards offer a glimpse into the many ways students and faculty alike have shaped PSR through courage, compassion, creativity, and a commitment to transformative leadership.