Wayland commencement set for Friday

Wayland Baptist University’s Clovis campus will have something that is both a first, and a second, during its Friday graduation ceremonies at Central Baptist Church.

The 10 a.m. ceremony will celebrate the graduations for 25 students through the Clovis campus, located at the Masters Centre.

Dean Gary Mitchell noted that Joe Callahan, a pastor for St. John’s Baptist Church will receive the school’s master’s degree of divinity.

“He’s going to be the first one to walk on our stage,” Mitchell said. “Damon Pierce was the first, but he walked at (the main campus ceremonies in) Plainview since he was the first master of divinity students for all of Wayland.”

The degree is for people serving in the ministry. It is given out largely at seminary schools and rarely at universities.

Mitchell, who received his master’s of divinity in 1973 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said the Wayland program requires 80 credit hours of study. Most graduate programs at the school require 36 to 40.

Of the 25 students graduating, Mitchell said, 12 are getting master’s degrees and 13 are receiving bachelor’s degrees. He estimates 19 of the graduates will attend the Friday ceremony.

The commencement speaker will be Clovis Mayor David Lansford.