Published: May 15, 2009 12:13 pm      

Central College class of 2009 graduates May 17

Two-hundred and sixty-one Central College seniors will participate in commencement exercises in H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. The Central College Symphonic Wind Ensemble will perform starting at 1:30 p.m. For tickets, call the alumni office at 800-447-0287.

Jim Wallis, president and executive director of Sojouners and this year’s honorary degree recipient, will give the keynote address. The speech is titled “The Vocation of the Next Generation.”

Wallis is a bestselling author and international commentator on religion and public life, faith and politics. He is editor-in-chief of Sojouners magazine. His latest book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a post-Religious Right America talks about the need for further support of social justice. A previous book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, was on the New York Time’s bestseller list for four months.

Originally from the Midwest, Wallis is a graduate of Michigan State University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. Wallis currently lives in Washington, D.C., with his family.

Baccalaureate will take place Saturday, May 16, at 2 p.m. at First Reformed Church in Pella.

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), will deliver the message. Since being installed as general secretary in 1994, the RCA has implemented a visionary plan for revitalization and church development, built on its historic commitments to mission, outreach and education and on innovative new approaches to leadership development and models for new churches. A native of Park Ridge, Ill., Granberg-Michaelson graduated from Hope College and completed his theological education at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich. Prior to becoming general secretary, Granberg-Michaelson served for six years as director of Church and Society for the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. He also was managing editor of Sojourners magazine for four years and served on the staff of U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon.