Kennemur teaches students to minister to the ‘little ones’

Long before Karen Kennemur became professor of children’s ministry and Bessie Fleming Chair of Childhood Education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary her family roots at the institution were already deep. Her dad, Jerry Poteet, was a student at Southwestern when she was born at Harris Hospital in Fort Worth, and she and her family lived on campus until he graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1973. Kennemur’s late mother, Carolyn, worked for the Baptist Radio and Television Commission while her dad was in school.

Ministry was part of the DNA of her family when she was growing up as her dad was a senior pastor of a church and a United States Army chaplain. Although Southwestern Seminary was “always important” in her life “because it was important” to her parents, she “never planned on going to seminary, ever,” she said.

Yet, many years later in her late 30s, as a married, stay-at-home mom, she was called into children’s ministry, which eventually led her back to Southwestern as a student herself.

Kennemur’s passion for children’s ministry began with the birth of her first-born child. “The Lord began to work on my heart and passion,” recalled Kennemur.

After the birth of her three children, she taught in the weekday preschool ministry at her church, Spring Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. She also directed Vacation Bible School there which had over 1,000 children in attendance. Kennemur also helped her church start a private school, Spring Baptist Academy, which she directed for two years.

In 1996, Kennemur’s husband, Danny, was transferred for work so they moved to Vancouver, Washington, where she also began working in children’s ministry. Later, she was asked to be the children’s minister at her church, Cascade Park Baptist Church, but at the same time, her husband’s job was transferred back to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

“During the first summer of our return to Texas, the Lord made it very clear that I was to go into children’s ministry and attend our beloved seminary,” said Kennemur.

Kennemur earned her Master of Arts in Christian Education with a concentration in childhood ministry in 2003 and a Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in childhood education from Southwestern Seminary in 2008. Kennemur has served at Southwestern for 20 years, including as director of the former curriculum lab before joining the faculty in 2008.

“I love Southwestern. I love my students and I love teaching here,” Kennemur said.

The classes Kennemur teaches at both the master’s and doctoral levels equip students to be ministers to teach kids about Jesus.

“I believe children should learn about Jesus and His saving grace,” she explained. “Also, I believe that we should teach our children that God listens to the prayers of children. I want children to understand that they can always speak to God and they are never alone.”

While Kennemur works full-time at Southwestern, she also serves part-time for the Southern Baptists Texas Convention (SBTC). She began 12 years ago with the church ministry division where she wrote preschool, children, parenting, and family curriculum and traveled to train leaders in Texas churches.

Kennemur is now the children’s and family ministry associate and is a liaison for children’s ministers, helping train them with several aspects of children’s ministry such as Bible drill, Vacation Bible School, and more. Kennemur also helps lead and coordinate the “Heart of the Child Conference,” which occurs every other year. The conference is hosted by preschool, children’s, and family ministry associates from the state conventions in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri, along with Lifeway. The purpose of the event is to provide training for ministers, leaders, and volunteers in the areas of missions, curriculum, Bible skills, small groups, camps, parenting, current issues, leadership, teaching, and more. Encouragement is expelled through plenary sessions as well as a time for worship. The next “Heart of the Child” conference will be April 5-6, 2024, on the campus of Southwestern.

“I enjoy working with the Southern Baptists Texas Convention because it helps me stay current,” Kennemur added.

Kennemur likes to tell students, “I can be a professor until graduation, or I can walk with you through your ministry.” This statement is a testimony to her mentorship process with her students. She invests in students’ lives by always being available, meeting with them, being a personal mentor to new students who are working in churches, staying in contact with a lot of graduates and having coffee or lunch with them, and helping former students during her SBTC trainings.

“I like to call on former students to give them opportunities to speak in a conference,” she said.

Ashleigh Taylor, a Master of Arts in Christian Education student from Mesquite, Texas, hopes to work full-time as a children’s or preschool minister after graduation. She has taken several courses with Kennemur and sees the investment Kennemur is making in her by “teaching and preparing me to go out into the world and minister to children and their families” and “also help[ing] me understand the role and responsibility that I play to be an effective children’s minister.”

“Dr. Kennemur is committed to helping me live my calling by offering me the needed resources and materials that are going to help me succeed in my calling,” said Taylor. “What I like best about Dr. Kennemur, is no matter how busy her schedule is, she is always willing to sit down and talk about school or ministry with her students. She offers the best advice and tips on accepting the call that God has placed on our lives.”

Kennemur wants students to be excited and passionate about what they are about to learn when they walk into her classes and she is purposeful in giving them tools they can use when they walk out of her classes. Her classes are engaging with plenty of interaction with her students. “What ignites my passion to teach my students is the knowledge that they will go into the world to teach children that Jesus loves them,” she said.

Gerhard Burau from Paderborn, Germany, has an undergraduate degree in biblical studies from Biebelseminar Bonn, Southwestern’s partner school in Germany, and a MACE with a concentration in childhood education from the seminary. He is currently a Ph.D. student majoring in foundations of education and is Kennemur’s teaching assistant (TA).

“Dr. Kennemur is inspiring because of her vision and heart for equipping ministers to help the next generation love and trust God. She is a gold mine of connections to churches, church leaders, convention leaders, and children’s ministers and will let her students benefit from these connections in her classroom and beyond,” said Burau.

Burau noted Kennemur “brings experts and practitioners into the classroom” and allows her classes to “have the opportunity to listen to firsthand experiences of a chaplain in a children’s hospital, executive pastors teaching on [a] ministry budget, and convention leaders teaching students where to get help and advice in church ministry.” He said she also “connects students with churches in need” and she “loves to listen to students’ questions and draws from her broad academic and practical knowledge to speak wisdom into students’ lives and ministry.”

Burau sees Kennemur’s “passion and love for Christ, the church, and especially the little ones.”

On the home front, she is married to her husband of nearly 40 years, and they share three kids and five grandchildren. They enjoy spending every Sunday afternoon together as a family and as much time with their grandchildren as possible. She also enjoys being a part of Stonegate Church in Midlothian where she continues to put her passion and skills into practice teaching kindergarten Sunday school.