Pillsbury Baptist Bible College: 50th Graduation

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College held its 50th graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 5. The genesis of Pillsbury College was primarily the work of Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters, who was the long-time pastor of Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis. In those early years, he asked Dr. Monroe Parker (affectionately known as "Monk" to his friends) to become president.

One of Pillsbury's 1963 graduates was Dr. Fred Moritz, and it was Dr. Moritz who was the commencement speaker last Saturday. In addition to preaching from 2 Timothy 2:15, he also reminisced about those early days at Pillsbury. Dr. Moritz currently serves as Executive Director of Baptist World Missions, which is located in Decatur, Alabama. Dr. Moritz has been a great friend of Pillsbury, and he is one of the most popular chapel speakers that we bring to the campus.

Of course, we want to honor our graduates. To the left, Nancy celebrates with senior Lynette Benda, who was one of our student teachers this past spring. We will be attending her wedding this coming weekend in Wisconsin. Below, senior Ray Miller is standing next to Jon Calcamuggio, who was part of the Color Guard. Jon is a graduate of Pillsbury who also served two tours of duty in Iraq.


All told, we had about three dozen graduates this year. Because Pillsbury is relatively "small," you get to know just about every graduate along the way. Of those three dozen graduates, nine were education majors, so I worked with them rather closely during the last year or so. We bid our graduates Godspeed, and we pray that He will direct their lives in their vocations, marriages, families, and ministries. That's what Pillsbury is all about.