Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, cordially invites the public to its Commencement exercises for the 2012 graduating class on Friday, May 18. The day will begin with a baccalaureate service at 10:00 a.m. in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus, and end with Commencement at 7:00 p.m. in the main quadrangle of the Seminary campus, weather permitting.

During the morning service, all graduates who have been certified by the Concordia Seminary faculty as eligible to receive calls to serve as pastors or deaconesses in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod will receive theological diplomas. In the evening, academic degrees and honors will be conferred.

Dr. William Utech, associate professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary and director of resident field education, will deliver the sermon for the Theological Diploma service. Rev. Héctor Hoppe, senior editor at Concordia Publishing House, will deliver the Commencement address.

This year’s graduates join more than 12,500 previous Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, graduates who have served as pastors, missionaries, chaplains, and deaconesses during the Seminary’s 173-year history.

For more information, contact creative services, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-505-7379; communications@csl.edu.