Spring graduates reflect on past and look to the future

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s largest graduating class since 2002 was celebrated during spring commencement on May 2 with 415 students from 36 different states and 21 countries receiving diplomas and certificates.

Some of these graduates will move directly into church positions, others into the mission field, and still others into further academic pursuits. Representing backgrounds from around the world and experiences across generations, these graduates share how their time at Southwestern has prepared them for the path ahead.

Matthew Waymack, a native of Flowery Branch, Georgia, graduated with his Master of Divinity in Worship Leadership. He and his then-fiancé initially toured another seminary, but Waymack said he recognized he was “taking this into my own hands” instead of following God’s leading.

After taking three months to pray for guidance, Waymack noticed, of all things, a Southwestern pen on his desk one day. Upon looking into the seminary, touring it with his father, and meeting with faculty, he had no doubts it was where he was meant to be, especially after speaking with Joe Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship.

“God used that conversation just to solidify that, ‘yes, I want to study here,’” Waymack said.

Waymack said he has enjoyed classes as well as the friendships he built throughout his time on campus. He also is grateful for the opportunity to serve on staff and as an adjunct professor.

“I’m completing this trifecta,” Waymack said. “I’ve had a student experience; I have a staff experience; I’ve had a faculty experience. And then each of the three experiences, the relationships I’ve had with those higher up and those that I’m pouring out into, has been nothing but positive. I’ve really just enjoyed seeing the school in the seminary from those three viewpoints.”

Waymack was ordained just two days before commencement at the church he had been serving as worship minister while finishing his studies. Several faculty members attended.

Upon graduating, he and his wife will move back to Georgia, where he will serve as a worship pastor at the First Baptist Church of Eastman. They are also expecting their first child in the summer and look forward to being close to family, though Waymack plans to continue his studies at Southwestern one day.

“But for now the plan is just to move, have the baby, to start serving, and just take everything kind of one step at a time, relying on the Lord,” Waymack said.

Mikayla Wand, from Stephenville, Texas, graduated from the Texas Baptist College with her Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies. In searching for a Christian college based around the Bible after high school, Wand said Southwestern stood out to her, especially the nature of the intercultural studies degree.

“I really liked how broad the intercultural studies degree was,” Wand said. “I thought that it was not only giving you a good theological foundation, but practical areas as well, whether it be ministry related, business related or just connecting with people.”

Wand especially enjoyed getting to spend a semester abroad in Germany with her sister, who graduated from Southwestern in December. Wand said the opportunity provided good, practical experience.

“Studying abroad was a unique experience that I think our degree offered,” Wand said. “… That was really a highlight of the degree just getting to kind of put to practice what we’ve been learning.”

While Wand is still waiting to see where the Lord leads her career after college, she knows she wants to be in Fort Worth, and she knows she wants to provide support for her church.

“My desire is really to be involved in my church, serving at my church, finding ways to use what I’ve learned and experienced to serve others,” Wand concluded.

Chloe Purcell, from Birmingham, Alabama, completed her Master of Divinity in Biblical Counseling. Having received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi, Purcell initially intended to pursue her Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling at a secular school but felt the pull to continue her education at a seminary instead, specifically Southwestern.

“I remember I talked to them, and they were telling me about the biblical counseling program here, which is different,” Purcell said. “It’s the idea that we counsel straight from the Word of God, and we don’t need secular theories to counsel with.”

Purcell attended Preview Day in fall of 2022 where she says she “fell in love with Southwestern.”

For Purcell, her time at Southwestern so far has been highlighted by the faculty and the unique relationship she feels they have with their students in comparison to other higher education institutions. Whereas in the past she described feeling almost like a “number,” at Southwestern, Purcell found herself dumbfounded by the personability of her professors and the other staff she encountered.

She valued the program’s “intentional” nature as different from other educational options. “It’s also a group of believers, and so that automatically adds something special.”

Purcell said Chris Shirley, dean of the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries, and Jonathan Williams, affiliate faculty of the Terry School, were highly influential and supportive in her time on campus, but added she has also been invested in by faculty from other departments as well.

Purcell begins her doctoral work in the fall, with an ambitious goal in mind—to receive her advanced degree before the age of 30, after which point she hopes to educate others in the same passionate fashion in which she feels she has been.

“Five years from now, hopefully I get the doctorate, and I would love to be a faculty member here—just at a seminary in general, teaching biblical counseling, basically doing what Dr. [Jon] Okinaga or Dr. [Lilly] Park are doing,” Purcell said. “That’s why I look up to them so much because I really respect what they do, and I would want to do that one day.”

Father and son duo, Kyle and Evan Anderson, from Harrah, Oklahoma, graduated together with a Master of Theological Studies and Master of Divinity, respectively. While Evan’s journey to Southwestern was straight-forward, his father’s began in 1999. But when family and life began to take over, Kyle found himself leaving seminary with 42 credit hours but no degree.

More than 20 years later, when Evan began to pursue his degree, he realized that his father was on the cusp of receiving his degree and encouraged Kyle to complete the program.

“Evan was starting to pursue his education and do his research,” Kyle recalled, “And he came to me one day, he said, ‘you have more than enough hours to graduate with a Master of Theological Studies.’ And so, he encouraged me to do it. So, it was a great opportunity to do it that way.”

Earning his bachelor’s from Oklahoma Baptist University, Evan chose to attend Southwestern when he heard of David S. Dockery’s election as the 10^th president.

“David Dockery had just been elected the president here at Southwestern and I had known about Dr. Dockery, his work at Trinity International and at Union University, and what he did there,” Evan said. “And so, when he came here, I saw the vision that he cast for the school. I knew him and his leadership, and I saw where the school was going, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Kyle said he enjoyed completing the classes in order to finally graduate, listing systematic theology as one of his favorites.

“I learned so much about how to study the Bible, just how to rightly divide the Word,” Kyle said. “And let the Bible interpret the Bible and pulling resources together and knowing whose resources you’re pulling together, trying to be careful as to who’s shaping your theology.”

For Evan, it was the hands-on practical approach to ministry that stood out to him, adding he enjoyed being taught by pastors with real-world experience in ministry such as Chris Osborne, professor of preaching and pastoral ministry, and Michael Wilkinson, professor of theology.

“Everything we talked about, whether it was the atonement, or we talked about the Holy Spirit and salvation, these intricate concepts, it’s like ‘now, here’s how we actually apply this in our local church,’” Evan recounted. “And so, I think that was one of the most impactful, is seeing theology applied at such a practical level, but also at a high level. And so, it’s theologically rich, but ministerially relevant.”

Kyle, who plans to retire from a secular position soon, hopes to use his degree and education to serve the Lord in new ways.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me to support probably some of the smaller churches, mainly because I’m not looking for a church to pay me enough money to live on,” Kyle said. “Got that taken care of. I can just focus on ministry, look to see where God wants to go next.”

Meanwhile, Evan plans to begin serving in a local church before pursuing his PhD in the coming years, saying the purpose of his education is to serve the local church.

Claire Weaver, from Fort Worth, Texas, graduated from TBC with her Bachelor in Music and Worship Studies. She came to Southwestern seeking to finish her degree which she began in Nashville, Tennessee. She took a break from her education as life ramped up, finally picking it up last year on the Southwestern campus.

“I loved the fact that I could continue my musical studies while getting the theological training as well, Weaver recalled, “… I’ve learned this from my experience at Southwestern that the professors really care about our hearts and our walks with the Lord more than our grades. And I would say this is the healthiest music program that I’ve ever been a part of.”

Recalling highlights of her time on campus, it was the community in the music school, the lessons she learned from her music teachers, and the spiritual encouragement of her professors that stood out as the most impactful to Weaver.

“I was nervous coming back to school in my mid 20s and being in classes with 18-year-olds, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how well I was able to find a community here,” Weaver said of coming to TBC. “One of the beautiful things, especially about the school of music, is that there’s collaboration between undergrad, grad, and doctoral students all the time.”

Weaver plans to continue her education, hoping to receive her master’s and then her PhD, with the goal of writing songs for congregations that are rooted in a biblical foundation, as well as creating a curriculum to help future musicians do the same.

Everardo Borunda, from Mexico, graduated with a Doctor of Ministry, one of the first Hispanic students graduating through the Spanish language DMin program.

His educational journey is a tale of faith and persistence, at first taking only a couple of classes at a time as he juggled family life and his own ministry, having founded a church in Oklahoma City in his early 20s.

Borunda, now in his late 40s, completed a Master of Theological Studies from Southwestern in 2021 and was surprised when he felt called to continue his education, becoming part of the first cohort to do the Spanish language DMin at Southwestern.

“I really felt that God was calling me to do it specifically so I can be better equipped to help bi-vocational pastors,” Borunda said of the program.

As a pastor who works primarily in bilingual or Spanish ministries, he felt it important to pursue this new specialization. Borunda truly feels it will help to further and support his ministry.

He said he enjoyed studying under professors and having fellowship with his classmates when on campus. Though he was not interested in a doctorate at first, Borunda is looking forward to using his education to continue building upon and furthering the ministries he helps lead.

“[God] helped me understand that pursuing higher education wasn’t for my benefit, but it was for the benefit of the church,” Borunda said. “And that’s been my motivation, really. It’s not to get a degree and to be called doctor at the end of the day. But it’s really just I wanted to be better equipped to be a blessing to the church.”

D.H. McClain, from the Rio Grande Valley, graduated with a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling, Missiology, and Islamic Studies. In her time at Southwestern, she has come to appreciate a number of professors who she credits with mentoring and guiding her through her educational journey.

“I would not be here today without the professors, SWBTS employees, family members, and friends who have supported me to this point,” McClain said. “I especially want to thank Dr. Cheryl Bell who has mentored me over the last six years and has been there for my family continually during the most difficult of times.”

She also mentioned three professors she had that have passed away since she attended their classes or was mentored by them, including Tony Maalouf, Roy Fish, and Samuel Shahid.

“The legacies these men have left, remain today,” McClain said.

McClain hopes to pursue a Master of Theology next, with the goal of “helping the next generations develop a love for the nations and walking with women through seasons of suffering.”

These graduates join the more than 50,000 other Southwesterners who have graduated since the school was founded in 1908 who have and are impacting the world in churches, the mission field, academia, the society, and their homes through the equipping they received on Seminary Hill.