Graduation Events

McAfee’s Blessing of the Graduates

Day: Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Time:  Service 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Reception 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Location: Online & Atlanta Campus, room TBA; Reception in Theology Student Lounge.

One of the great traditions at McAfee is the annual Blessing of the Graduates held during the final chapel service of the Spring Semester. This year, this special service will be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. with a reception to follow from 12:00-1:15 p.m. in the Theology Student Lounge. Graduates, please plan to attend in person or virtually via Zoom to receive a blessing from your McAfee community and share about your own experience in this place and offer gratitude to your community. Community, please plan to attend and offer a blessing to this year’s graduating class. This service will honor all graduating M.Div., M.A.C.M., M.T.S., and D.Min. students, as well as students completing the Graduate Certificate Programs. Graduates, please RSVP to Amanda Coe Burton to let us know if you will be attending in person or virtually and receive the Zoom link.

McAfee’s Commissioning Service

Day: Friday, May, 8, 2026
Time: Reception at 9:45 a.m. (Reservations required),
Service at 11:00 a.m. (No reservations required)
Location: Smoke Rise Baptist Church
5901 Hugh Howell Road
Stone Mountain, GA 30087

The McAfee Class of 2026 Commissioning reception and worship service will take place on Friday, May 8, 2026 at Smoke Rise Baptist Church. We hope you will join us for this grand time of celebrating all the hard work and accomplishments of our graduates.

All graduating students will be recognized and receive gifts from the school. We will also present student awards.

Doctor of Ministry students will be hooded by their faculty supervisors. Doctor of Ministry students will need to order and bring their regalia for the hooding ceremony. All other graduates will not need regalia for this event.

At the end of the event, we will take a class photograph.

Mercer University Commencement

Day: Saturday, May, 9, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia

You can find more information about graduation festivities here. Information about this event, including ticketing, ordering regalia, etc., will come from the Atlanta Registrar’s Office if you indicated you will participate in Commencement on your Application for Graduation.

Final Steps For Theology Graduates

Photos for Class Composite

Every year, McAfee gifts each graduate with a photo composite of the class suitable for framing. This composite will hang on the walls at McAfee in perpetuity.

To make this happen, we need each of you to email a picture of yourself. The photo must be a portrait-oriented, color head shot that includes the top of your shoulders. You should be standing against a neutral and plain background. The photo need to be in .jpeg or .png format. Most of the cameras on your phones will take a picture of high enough quality for this purpose. Make sure you are well-lit and do not send a selfie. Please have another person take the picture for you. McAfee staff will happily assist you on request. Please email your picture to Amanda Coe Burton.

Graduating Student Questionnaire
Complete the Graduating Student Questionnaire (GSQ). Look for for an email and link from Dr. Michelle Garber in your Mercer email in the Fall semester.

Graduation Application

All students must apply for graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of all department, school/college, and university degree requirements as published in the catalog, and to ensure that such requirements have been met or that appropriate waivers have been secured and file in the Office of the Registrar.

The application must be filed with the Registrar’s Office at least one term prior to the expected date of graduation.

  • Online Graduation Application: Login to MyMercer, choose Dashboard from the left-side menu, and choose Action Items. Select the Graduation Application and submit online.
  • If the online application is not available: You may have already submitted it, or it might not be available to you yet. In nearly all cases, the graduation application is available to students who are eligible to submit it.
    • To check whether you have already submitted the graduation application:
    • Login to MyMercer, choose My Documents from the left-side menu, and choose Document Center.
    • If you don’t see your graduation application in the document list, click “View Previously Submitted Documents” and then type “Graduation” in the search box. If the application is listed here, it has already been submitted.

Graduation Application Deadlines

Graduation Application Deadline for Spring and Summer – September 30th

Graduation Application Deadline for Fall – February 28th

If you have any questions, please contact the Atlanta Registrars Office.