By Elizabeth Clarke, LCU News
PINEVILLE, La. (LCU News) – Louisiana Christian University held its first baccalaureate service, May 8, at First Baptist Church in Pineville for its graduating seniors – something President Mark Johnson said will become an important tradition moving forward.
“This was a time of prayer and to show our thankfulness to God for the conclusion of this journey for these students,” Johnson said. “Commencement is a time for awards and congratulations. The baccalaureate is a time for honoring the Lord with praise.”
Stewart Holloway, pastor with FBC Pineville, delivered a charge to the graduates.
He encouraged the students to continue believing in God even though they may feel uncertainty in their future paths.
“Graduation is a time of disorientation,” he said. “One day, you know exactly what you are. You have a routine, a schedule, and the very next day you don’t.”
Reading from Ecclesiastes 3, he told the students their lives will be full of highs and lows and everything between, but that God is in control of all of it — even when the purpose may be unclear.
“Behind every season of life stands the good purpose and plans of God,” Holloway said. “There will be moments you’ll feel at the top of your game and moments you’ll feel forgotten, but God wastes nothing. He uses every extreme of life to shape you and write your story. God teaches us and strengthens us through the highs and the lows.”
Holloway encouraged the students to fix their eyes on God and listen to His calling on their lives.
“Look up and also look within,” he said. “The ache inside the human heart is for God. Nothing earthly can completely satisfy because we are built for something greater, beyond what we can see. That something is a someone, and that someone is God. We see only a small part—a joy, a sorrow, but God sees the whole picture.
“When you stand back, you realize God has made everything beautiful in His time.”
At the conclusion of the service, Johnson called all the seniors to the front of the sanctuary for the faculty, staff and families to pray for them.
Student Government Association President Camille Allgood, a history major, said the service was very special.
“This was a perfect ending to my LCU career,” Allgood said. “Dr. Johnson really shows he cares about the students. This made us feel cared for and prepared to leave.
Lexi Broussard, an exercise science major, echoed Allgood’s sentiments.
“This meant everything,” she said. “It was good to hear the words everyone spoke. I feel very blessed with all the support we got throughout the year from our faculty, our family and Dr. Johnson.”
Following the baccalaureate service, seniors were invited to the president’s home to share a celebratory non-alcoholic toast.
The Senior Class Commencement Toast was created by the president and his wife, Heather, as a newly established tradition designed to provide something that graduation ceremonies often cannot fully offer: intimacy, reflection and one final shared moment as a class family.
“Hosting the event at the president’s home made the evening even more meaningful for us, as it symbolized both welcome and farewell,” Johnson said. “Just as our freshman class was welcomed at the beginning of their journey, our seniors were celebrated and sent forward as they prepared to begin a new chapter.”
The toast revealed late-night conversations, chapel experiences, classroom discussions, athletic victories, spiritual growth, friendships formed, challenges overcome, and memories made across campus. The toast was designed to honor those moments in a meaningful and relational setting.
Allgood lifted a toast “to a prosperous future” for the graduates.
“Her words reflected both gratitude for the journey behind them and hope for the calling ahead,” Johnson said. “In many ways, the moment represented what we strive to be: a place where students are known, celebrated, challenged, and prepared to walk faithfully into their future.”
