At a baccalaureate service, usually held around the same time as a graduation, a ser-mon is given to honor the graduating class. This year, Waynesburg’s Baccalaureate and Commencement exer-cises will be held April 30, and the Baccalaureate service will center around the Rev. Dr. Daniel Migliore, the Charles Hodge professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Semi-nary, in Princeton, New Jersey.
A native of Pittsburgh and graduate of Westminster College, Migliore went to Princeton Theological Semi-nary for his Ph.D. Since then, Migliore considers himself a natural educator—born to be in a classroom. He is often a speaker at special events such as this.
“I was a Commencement speaker at my alma mater, some years back,” said Miglio-re. “And I’ve been a preacher and teacher in local congrega-tions as well.”
He has also written several books and articles, including “Faith Seeking Understand-ing: An Introduction to Christian Theology.” Migliore said this was one text that has been especially impactful in his career.
“It’s in its third edition and has been widely used for years as a textbook in colleges and seminaries across the United States and other countries,” said Migliore.
Migliore was invited by Waynesburg University Presi-dent Douglas Lee and is plan-ning to expand on text from the Gospel of Luke, read-ing the story of the walk to Emmaus. From the reading, Migliore wants to share the messages that “the strangers that we meet in life may well be God’s gift to us,” and “God may be nearest to us when God seems totally absent.”
Migliore served as professor of systematic theology and chair of the Department of Theology at Princeton. Migliore has been on the faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary for 47 years, but he said he has several connections to Waynesburg University, including his roommate his first year of seminary school, and a former student he had.
“I have a good friend and former student at Princeton Seminary, Larry Stratton,” he said. “Very fine and very brilliant young man, and I recommend taking one of his courses.”
Migliore said he didn’t have to be persuaded to speak at Waynesburg during the Com-mencement activities, and is, in fact, looking forward to the discussion.
“It’s an honor to be invited to do this responsibility,” said Migliore. “I spent my entire life teaching young people, post-college people. So the group of students I will be speaking to are basically the age of the students I will have seen in my classes on their first year of seminary or graduate school, or whatever they’re doing after college. These are young people at the crest of their lives, asking many questions.”
Today, Migliore is in his retirement, but he still re-mains active in the academic community. He continues to research and write in his specialization, and speak to congregations and groups across the country. He said he is excited to speak at Waynes-burg’s Baccalaureate service for that very purpose.
“Being in the classroom is always a very lively place,” he said. “And what I miss most from my retirement is the contact.”