LONGVIEW — LeTourneau University’s December commencement ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 12, in the university’s S. E. Belcher, Jr. Chapel and Performance Center, 2100 South Mobberly Ave.  LETU President Dr. Dale A. Lunsford will officiate the ceremony awarding diplomas to about 150 graduates, including traditional college-age students and nontraditional, working adult undergraduate and graduate students.

Giving the keynote address is contemporary Christian music artist Dallas Holm.  For more than 40 years, Holm has written, sung and ministered in some 4,000 concerts all over the country and abroad. Songs like "Rise Again," "I Saw the Lord," "Here We Are," and "Before Your Throne" have garnered gold records, multiple Dove awards, Grammy nominations, number one songs and countless accolades.      

He’s been called a Christian music pioneer, forerunner, icon and legend, although he never feels comfortable with such descriptions. His music has influenced a generation of believers including other Christian artists such as Steven Curtis Chapman and Twila Paris.  Greg Long of the Christian band Avalon writes that he rededicated his life to the Lord at a Dallas Holm concert.  Originally from Minnesota, Holm became a Christian in 1965 at age 16.  His pursuit of a music career in a rock and roll band was changed after he committed his life and music to the Lord.  After Bible college and a short assignment as a  youth pastor, Holm traveled and ministered with David Wilkerson’s youth crusades for 10 years, during which time he formed Dallas Holm and Praise. 

Holm says letters from around the world help keep him focused, fresh and committed to his calling to serve Christ through words and song.  Many of those letters express how God has used his ministry to save them, their children and their parents. Holm and his wife, Linda, have been married since 1969 and today live in Lindale.  They have two grown children and three grandchildren. 

"It's been a remarkable journey, yet it hasn't all been easy,” Holm said of his life and ministry. “I've had struggles, heartaches, and disappointments just like everyone else. Linda has fought an ongoing 22-year battle surviving cancer. But ‘nothing can separate me from the love of Christ.’"