This year, 317 students will graduate from Bethel University. The 2025 commencement ceremony will be held Saturday, May 3, in the Wiekamp Athletic Center on Bethel’s campus. This single ceremony at 2 p.m., includes traditional undergraduate, adult and graduate programs. Rev. Rodney Arnold, President of the Missionary Church – Bethel University’s denominational school, will be the speaker. The event will also be livestreamed on Bethel’s website, BethelUniversity.edu.

“We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of all of our graduates with their families and friends,” says Abson Joseph, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Services. “This year’s class is unique as it includes one of the largest percentages of international students in Bethel’s history, with 50 students born outside the United States, representing 30 different countries. Our graduates are equipped to impact the world for Christ, which is a key part of the mission of Bethel University.”

Graduation day activities also include a nurse pinning ceremony at 10 a.m., in the Everest-Rohrer Auditorium and a traditional procession through Bethel’s campus at the start of the commencement ceremony, as well as a 50-year reunion for the class of 1975.

On Fri., May 2 at 5 p.m., Bethel University will hold a Senior Celebration for graduates and their families that begins with a Baccalaureate Chapel, followed by a celebratory dinner in the Dining Commons.

For more information about the weekend’s graduation activities, visit BethelUniversity.edu/Commencement.

About the speaker

Rev. Rodney Arnold is the current president of the Missionary Church, a position he’s held since 2023. In this role, he provides leadership to a network of 500 churches in the United States and more than 70 mission fields around the world, partnering with thousands of churches in more than 20 international Missionary Church denominations and networks.

He has been credentialed with the Missionary Church since 2009 and has been serving as Lead Pastor of OneLife Church in Knoxville, Tenn., since its founding in 2009. He has served on the GOC (General Oversight Council) of the Missionary Church since 2019, was vice president of the denomination from 2022-2023, and helped launch the Ignite Church Network. At 40 years old, his election to the presidency of the denomination in 2023 made him the youngest president ever chosen by the modern-day Missionary Church since its merger in 1969. His spiritual gifts include leadership, administration, and discernment; his strengths are competition, individualization, relator, and belief, and he is a creative/pioneer (5 voices).

Beyond his roles as pastor and President of the Missionary Church, he has leveraged his talents in public relations on a freelance basis to support a variety of initiatives, from rebranding, to event planning, to fundraising and more, for churches, businesses and organizations. He has also served the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for 19 years as a coach/support staff for their cheer, dance and mascot teams, focusing on communications, coaching and leadership development. Prior to that, Rodney began his career in NASCAR public relations, working with Speedway Motorsports, Inc., Bristol Motor Speedway, and Bristol Dragway.