Hope is what Durant High School seniors were told not to lose during the Senior Baccalaureate May 17 at Durant First United Methodist Church.
Sebastian Connor, pastor of connections and students at Durant First Baptist Church, was the speaker.
Connor was born in Songtan, South Korea. His father was in the air force, and the family moved to numerous places before settling in Del City in 2001. Connor graduated from Del City High School and then proceeded to get his Bachelor’s in Management Information Systems from UCO. After that, he worked in the corporate world for more than 11 years before surrendering to ministry.
He has served as a high school/discipleship pastor, children’s minister, college/ young adult minister, and next gen pastor overseeing all next generation ministries. His passion for apologetics and evangelism has led him to earn his Master’s in Apologetics from OBU and he is currently working on his Master of Divinity at OBU.
Connor has a strong passion for helping others to know their faith, take ownership of their faith, share their faith with others, while being prepared to defend it when the time comes.
He spoke to the seniors about hope.
“Before anything else is said today know this, we are proud of you,” Connor said. “Not just for finishing but for who you are becoming. You are standing at one of the most significant thresholds of your life. Behind you is everything that shaped you. The teachers, the late nights, the friendships, the hard seasons. The wins that you earned and the losses that taught you more than the wins ever could.
“Ahead of you is a world that’s wide open and to that wide-open world I want to talk to you today about one thing, that’s hope. Not the shallow, wishful kind, I hope it works out but the deep-rooted unshakeable kind that carries people through the hardest chapters of their lives and still has something left over to give away.”
Connor said that in the coming months, people will look at the graduates with a mix of fondness and pity because they are so young and have not experienced much.
“They would say it like it’s a liability of some sort that because of your age and your lack of experience in the world that you don’t know as much as they would know or you don’t have as much to offer or there’s just a lot of things looking down that this world will do to you,” Connor said.
“It’s like there’s some reason the world sees youth and hope are things that you will eventually outgrow when you got to become an adult someday. You’ve got to stop the way you’re thinking someday. Like it’s some type of reality that will set in that will make you realize that the hope you once had doesn’t match up with the way reality is.”
Connor said the seniors should push back on that because a world without hope is not realistic and is exhausting. “Somewhere along the way, a lot of adults traded their hope in for cynicism that they call it wisdom,” Connor said. “They stopped believing things could be better and started managing their expectations instead. How many times have you heard that? Managing your expectations and the result is a world that is deeply, widely desperate for someone to walk into the room and remind them that it doesn’t have to be that way.
“That someone can be you and I’m asking you, don’t let go of hope. You see, not because of you being naive can this person, can you as a person, deliver hope to the world, but because you haven’t given up yet. You don’t have to. The fact that you haven’t experienced much is not a weakness, it’s a window. A window in which you can choose before disappointment has a chance to harden you, what kind of person you’re going to be. What you’re going to stand for and what you refuse to let go. So again, I ask, don’t let go of hope.”
At the conclusion of the baccalaureate, Kiwanian Matt Goddard awarded Spiritual Aims scholarships to Emma Green and Reeselyn McNeill, and he said that the scholarships represent more than just academic success.
“It’s intended to honor graduating seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment of their faith, their church and their community,” Goddard said. “These students have shown through both words and actions what it means to live with integrity, compassion, humility and servant leadership. The students nominated for this scholarship have distinguished themselves through active spiritual involvement and meaningful participation within their church communities.
“Whether through worship, leadership, youth ministry, mission work, volunteer service, mentoring younger students or simply being a positive example to others, these young students have reflected values that strengthen both their congregations and the broader community.”
Goddard said the world often challenges young people to compromise their values, however, these students remained grounded in faith and committed to serving others.
“Their dedication reminds us that leadership is not only measured by achievements but also by character, kindness and willingness to put others before themselves,” Goddard said.
