Graduation Events

The 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 will be Saturday, May 9, 2026

Day: Saturday, May, 9, 2026
Time: TBA
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

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

Graduation Application
You should have received a notification in your My Mercer portal to submit an Application for Graduation. If you have not completed an application, please do so by the deadline listed below. You must complete and submit the application in order to graduate. The application is free and takes less than 2 minutes to complete. This is where you will indicate if you plan to participate in Commencement, how you want your name to show in the graduation program, and what city you want listed as your hometown.

Login to MyMercer, choose Dashboard from the left-side menu, and choose Action Items. Select the Graduation Application and submit online. Only if the electronic application is not available, print the paper version of the Atlanta Graduation Application and submit to registraratlanta@mercer.edu.

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.

Photos for Class Composite

Date: Monday, February 9, 2026
Time: 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Location: Atlanta Campus, see Amanda Coe Burton

Every year, McAfee gifts each graduate with a photo composite of the class suitable for framing. This composite will also hang on the walls at McAfee in perpetuity. To make this happen, we need each of you to email a picture of yourself.  We will offer a free opportunity for professional photographs during the annual Self Lectures event in February 2026.  Please plan to have your photo take on Monday, February 9, 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

If you are unable to attend in February, please submit, via email, a photograph of yourself.  The photo must be a color head shot that includes the top of your shoulders against a neutral/plain background in .jpeg or .png format. Most of the cameras on your phones will take a picture of high enough quality for these purposes. Make sure you are well-lit and do not send a selfie. Please have another person take the picture for you. Please email your picture to Amanda Coe Burton.