Friday, May 16

The 2008 Commencement Ceremony was held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 16.

Commencement program
The commencement program is now available for download: [VIEW]

Event photos
Photos from this event are now available.

Order a DVD
This event was recorded and will be professionally produced by our studio. If you would like to purchase a DVD of the ceremony, print and mail a DVD order form along with your payment. The deadline for ordering is July 1, 2008.

• Video order form [VIEW]

2008 Bethany Lutheran College Commencement Speaker

Reverend Larry Burgdorf was born in northern Minnesota in 1930. He attended Bethany Lutheran High School and College earning an associate in arts degree in 1950.

After graduating from Bethany, he spent one year working on the Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. After his time in Arizona, Burgdorf attended and graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

Following graduation from the seminary, Reverend Burgdorf organized a congregation in Brunswick, Ohio. He subsequently served parishes in the Kansas City area; in Galveston, Texas; and in Overland, Missouri.

Burgdorf retired from the parish ministry in 1991 and has served as Executive Director of the Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation to the present time. He is the author of several children’s books.

Reverend Burgdorf married Sue Parker of Topeka, Kansas in 1956. Sue earned a master’s degree in education and taught in elementary education for many years. The Burgdorfs have three children and eleven grandchildren.