EUREKA, Ill. — Rev. Beau Underwood, a 2006 Eureka College graduate and senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Jefferson City, Mo., will serve as guest speaker at the College’s annual Founders Day Convocation on Friday, Feb. 2 beginning at 4 p.m. at Becker Auditorium inside the Donald B. Cerf Center.
Rev. Underwood’s address is titled “The Virtue of Vocation” and will emphasize how the liberal arts tradition is not just about teaching critical thinking or professional skills, as so often depicted today, but about training students in virtue so that in acquiring their education they might discover a sense of vocation. It will be a mix of autobiographical reflection on his time at EC and ruminations on the state of higher education today.
Rev. Underwood has served as the senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Jefferson City, Mo. since February of 2015. Prior to moving to Missouri’s state capitol, he was the senior director of advocacy and communications at Sojourners in Washington, D.C. A native of Princeton, Ill., he is a 2006 alum of Eureka College and a 2010 graduate of both the Divinity School and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where he was also a Disciples Divinity House Scholar.
He is currently working on a doctorate at the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Public Affairs. In addition to serving his congregation in Jefferson City, Rev. Underwood is the First Vice-Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for the 2017-2019 biennium and Board Chair for Higher Educational and Leadership Ministries for 2017-2018.
For more information about Founders Day Convocation, call Chaplain Bruce Fowlkes at (309) 467-6429.