CLU holds 50th Founders Day Convocation
Service will honor the past and look to the future
The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, the Executive Director for the Vocation and Education Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will speak on the ELCA’s commitment to and partnership with Lutheran higher education and its vision for the future.
(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Oct. 10, 2008) On the 50th anniversary of California Lutheran University’s first convocation, a speaker will discuss “The Future of Lutheran Higher Education.”
The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, the Executive Director for the Vocation and Education Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will speak on the ELCA’s commitment to and partnership with Lutheran higher education and its vision for the future during Founders Day Convocation at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24.
In his current position, Olson works with seminaries, universities and youth ministry programs to help develop church leaders. Previously, he served as Executive Director for the Division for Ministry of the ELCA and as bishop of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod. He was also a pastor at two Minnesota churches and a professor of New Testament at his alma mater, Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He is a graduate of two ELCA colleges (Waldorf in Iowa and St. Olaf in Minnesota) and holds a doctorate from Yale University. He is the author of a number of articles and Christian education resources for children, youth and adults.
CLU’s annual Founders Day Convocation is an opportunity to recall the university’s genesis, give thanks for its heritage and pray for its success. The first convocation was held on Oct. 24, 1958.
The service will include the presentation of the Christus Award to Beverly Anderson of Sun City West, Ariz., for her work building a bridge between the university and the church through the years. In addition, the university’s Convocators and Board of Regents will be commissioned.
The convocation, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Samuelson Chapel, near the intersection of Olsen Road and Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. For more information, call the Church Relations office at (805) 493-3936.