There will be a fellowship dinner following the second worship service in the commons.
AU 2023 Baccalaureate
Saturday, May 06, 2023
OPENING MUSIC
“O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing” • Healey Willan
PROCESSIONAL
“Lift High the Cross” • Donald Busarow
HYMN OF PRAISE
“Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart!” • 27
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
*Nadia Nosworthy, Associate Professor ofEducational Psychology
**Jean Cadet, Associate Professor of Population Health, Nutrition and Wellness
WORSHIP IN MUSIC
*“The Lord’s Prayer” • Albert Hay Malotte, arranged by Paul Langford
Jason Marquez, BMus, clarinet; Jamison Moore, BMus, cello; Tyler Ninalga, piano
**“He Shines” • Grant Steinweg
Baccalaureate Choir, Stephen Zork, conductor; Grant Steinweg, BA, piano
SCRIPTURE
Genesis 1:1
*Robert D. Bates, Adjunct Professor of Archaeology
**Jenica Joseph, Assistant Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
HYMN OF MEDITATION
“Be Thou My Vision” • 547
INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER
Andrea Luxton, President
BACCALAUREATE SERMON
“Created for Greatness” • Garth Gabriel, President, Lake Region Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
HYMN OF COMMISSIONING
“Go Forth, Go Forth With Christ” • 377
BENEDICTION
*Nathan Hess, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy
**A. Rahel Wells, Associate Professor of Old Testament
RECESSIONAL
“Dialogue” • Gilbert Martin
CLOSING MUSIC
“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” • Kenneth Logan
Fellowship Dinner
Pioneer Commons
Offering for January 10, 2026
Religious Liberty
Seventh-day Adventists have stood firmly for religious liberty—for everyone—for more than 150 years. But do you know the reason why? Part of the reason is that, when our church was founded, almost every American state had Sunday-keeping laws on the books. Adventist pastors, farmers, laborers, and others were arrested, jailed, or fined for doing “secular work” on Sunday. Even Wille White, son of James and Ellen, was arrested in Oakland, California, in 1882 for keeping the Pacific Press Publishing presses operating on a Sunday! But that’s not the full story. The deeper reason why we continue to stand for religious liberty—in the courts, before legislatures, and through the pages of Liberty magazine—is because we want to reflect the character of the God we serve. He’s a God who created us in His image and who has given each one of us the freedom to choose whom we will worship. He’s a God who, in the words of Ellen White, “desires only the service of love,” which “cannot be won by force or authority” (The Desire of Ages, 22).
Today, please help support this vital ministry of religious liberty. It’s a ministry that defends not only the rights of individual conscience, but also the ability of our church to continue to do its mission. And as we face uncertain days ahead, your prayers and support are needed now, more than ever.
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries