Hartford Seminary welcomed students, alumni, trustees, staff and faculty to its 183rd year at Convocation on Wednesday with words shared from poets, scripture and the heart.

Academic Dean Uriah Kim gave a welcome address, followed by a reading of the Father Pedro Arrupe poem “Fall in Love” by Admissions Recruiter Jennifer Sanborn.

Prof. Miriam Therese Winter read from 1 Corinthians, and Prof. Feryal Salem recited from the Holy Qur’an.

President Heidi Hadsell spoke about the ways that love figures into the mission at Hartford Seminary.

“We love what we do here,” she said. “Faculty love to teach. …  We love our ideas and books and discussions.”

Another form of love, she said, is that which we have for our religious traditions. Those traditions enrich us and teach us to approach others with love. Not the Hollywood kind of love, she said, but “a posture — a way of being in the world.”

Participants at Convocation then thought about their gifts to the community and wrote the word or phrase on a piece of paper that made up a mosaic.

Convocation was also streamed live on Facebook. Please visit our page to see the video: https://www.facebook.com/hartsem/