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Commencement at Northeastern Seminary

Graduating in May? Find everything you need here:

Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 1:30 pm ET.

Today's Graduates join over 600 Northeastern Seminary alumni ministering around the nation and world. Representing over 30 different Christian faith traditions they share in the mission of God through innovative approaches to ministry, engagement of their cultural context, perseverance in the face of challenges, excellence in biblical preaching and worship, and transformation of self and others through spiritual formation. Since opening its doors in 1998, the Seminary has continued to grow in prominence as an independent, multi-denominational seminary and as a significant resource for the Church community in upstate New York.

Northeastern Seminary's Commencement Ceremony will be held in Hale Auditorium in the Cultural Life Center on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College.

Parking will be available in Lot A, located off Orchard Street behind Pearce Memorial Church. Accessible parking is also available on the lower level of the Cultural Life Center and in Lot A.

12:00 pm |  Doors Open  

1:15 pm | Ceremony Live Stream Begins - Live Streaming will be available on Northeastern Seminary’s website. 

1:30 pm | Ceremony Begins

3:00 pm | Ceremony Ends - Light reception to follow

Questions? Please contact Maria Gilluly, Commencement Coordinator at Gilluly_Maria@roberts.edu or 585.594.6807.

If you have an accessibility request or would like sign language interpretation, please contact Maria Gilluly, Commencement Coordinator at Gilluly_Maria@roberts.edu or 585.594.6807.

Keynote Speaker

A photo of Richard Middleton

Dr. J. Richard Middleton

Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis

Dr. Middleton holds the following degrees: Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (in a joint-degree program with the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto); M.A. in Philosophy, University of Guelph, Canada; B.Th., Jamaica Theological Seminary, Kingston, Jamaica. He has done additional graduate studies in the Old Testament at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, and in religious studies and philosophy at Syracuse University. Dr. Middleton serves as an adjunct professor of theology at Roberts Wesleyan College and an adjunct professor of Old Testament at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica. He is past president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (2011-2014).

Dr. Middleton is the author of Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God (Baker Academic, 2021), A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Baker Academic, 2014) and The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Brazos, 2005).

He co-authored (with Brian Walsh) The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (IVP Academic, 1984) and Truth is Stranger than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (IVP Academic, 1995), and has co-edited (with Garnett Roper) A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology: Ecumenical Voices in Dialogue (Pickwick, 2013). Dr. Middleton is widely published in religious periodicals and journals. His current research includes Old Testament theology; the doctrine of creation; lament prayer and the problem of suffering; the dynamics of human and divine power in the books of Genesis, Samuel, and Job; and the relationship of biblical faith to contemporary science. His books have been published in Korean, French, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Dr. Middleton giving a lecture on a tour of Israel with Northeastern Seminary faculty, staff, and students in 2022.

After twenty-two years at Northeastern Seminary & Roberts Wesleyan University, Dr. Middleton will be retiring at the conclusion of this academic year. To help show our gratitude for his scholarship and excellence in teaching, we'd like to collect words from you — our students, alumni, and fellow faculty and staff. Do you have a memorable story about Dr. Middleton, words or encouragement, or would you like to say thank you? Fill out this form at the button below.

We are proud of each graduate!

Watch the video below for a message from the faculty and staff of Northeastern Seminary.