2023 Baccalaureate Speaker

from 2023 Baccalaureate

Prayer of Commissioning

Rev. Emily Vermilya, DWS, serves Indiana Wesleyan University as an Assistant Professor of Christian Worship in the School of Theology and Ministry. A native Hoosier, Emily has spent more than 20 years serving the local church in the areas of Worship, Ministerial Development, and Administration in Indiana and Colorado. She is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University (B.A. 1997) and The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (M.W.S. 2009, D.W.S. 2012).

She has served small, mid-sized, and large congregations, as well as a faculty member for The Webber Institute and Asbury Theological Seminary. She recently was a part of the faculty of the Leitourgia Project being conducted by Seattle Pacific University. Rev. Vermilya has been privileged to contribute to several worship blogs and other publications.

Rev. Vermilya is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church and serves as IWU’s Head Coach for Women’s Swimming. She and her husband, Jim, live in Marion, Indiana, and have two children, Silas and Aynsley.

About IWU

Indiana Wesleyan University is an evangelical Christian comprehensive university of The Wesleyan Church, with its world headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1920, the University is committed to liberal arts and professional education.

With a current enrollment of more than 11,000 students, IWU is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a leading regional university in the Midwest. IWU is one of the largest institutions in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the 2nd largest private university in the state of Indiana.

IWU has three Principal Academic Units:

The College of Adult and Professional Studies: Providing educational opportunities for working adults through instruction at locations in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, and globally, via online instruction. The College of Adult and Professional Studies serves more than 4,000 undergraduate and 2,500 graduate students, with cutting edge majors relevant to today’s workplace.

The College of Arts and Sciences: Founded on a traditional, residential educational model enriched by innovative instructional programs, The College of Arts and Sciences serves more than 2,300 undergraduate and more than 400 graduate students in over 80 liberal arts, pre-professional, and professional major fields.

Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University: With more than 500 Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Ministry students, the first seminary of The Wesleyan Church is impacting congregations throughout the country. The Master of Divinity program provides on-the-job ministry training in an onsite and online innovative format. The accredited Spanish Master of Divinity program offers courses primarily online.