Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, cordially invites the public to its Commencement exercises for the 2013 graduating class on Friday, May 17. The day will begin with a Theological Diploma Service 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. Andrew Bartelt, professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary and executive vice president for academic affairs, will deliver the sermon for the Theological Diploma Service. Dr. Abjar Bahkou, lecturer in Arabic literature, language, and culture at Baylor University, 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 174-year history.

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