Lennon learned how to be a ‘lifelong learner’ during time at Southwestern

After feeling God’s call on her life three different times, Andrea Lennon, women’s ministry specialist for the Arkansas Baptist Convention, surrendered to vocational ministry at age 24. Without knowing what this looked like, she followed the Lord by attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Growing up in Paris, Arkansas, Lennon said she and her family were “faithful members” of their home church, First Baptist Church in Paris. Lennon was adopted at birth by her parents and had two other siblings. She described her young life as “an instant family” as she and her siblings’ ages were all within three years of each other.

While attending First Baptist Paris, Lennon gave her life to Christ when she was six years old during a kid’s night at a revival being held there.

“I remember all the little details of the revival like eating the hot dogs, Great Value chips, red Kool-Aid, and all the things that went along with the kid’s night,” Lennon recalled. “The evangelist shared about the love that Jesus has for me and I believe that I was one of the first kids to walk down the aisle that night to receive Christ and was baptized shortly after.”

Andrea Lennon (far right), women’s ministry specialist for the Arkansas Baptist Convention, uses the theological and ministry lessons she learned at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as she assists local church women’s ministries, leads conferences, and serves as a leadership resource.

Following her father taking a new job in Harrison, Arkansas, the family moved and joined the First Baptist Church in Harrison. It was at this church that Lennon began to take her faith more seriously.

“When we got to First Baptist Harrison, my faith really started to develop and grow,” Lennon said. “I was about 16 years old and started joining the women’s ministry and doing Bible studies. The ladies there just took me in. I wasn’t a distraction to them; they just allowed me to be a part of their group.”

Lennon said that the women she was around “saw a calling” in her life that she did not see herself. During that time, an internal struggle began about whether or not she would follow God’s plan.

“I would say that I was very reluctant in surrendering to God’s calling on my life because I was really wanting control of my life,” Lennon said. “When you’re in your teens and early 20s, you want to get control in your life. I felt a call to vocational ministry at age 16, again at age 18, and by God’s grace, I surrendered to His call at age 24.”

Lennon described surrendering to God’s calling as a “process” in which God put people in her life who recognized her calling and encouraged her to “figure out the next steps of obedience and faith.” The next steps in obedience for Lennon were to attend seminary to receive theological education.

She attended Southwestern Seminary through the extension campus that met on Mondays in Little Rock, Arkansas. Lennon said that she also was required to do some of her credit hours on the main campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

“The classes that have stayed with me are the big survey classes like systematic theology, Old and New Testament surveys, and classes like that,” Lennon said. “My classes in women’s ministry taught by Dr. Stovall were very helpful as well because they helped me see what I believe my role is as a woman in ministry. She really challenged me to have a strong foundation as a woman in ministry.”

Lennon earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education in 2004.

Lennon earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Seminary after she surrendered to God’s call to ministry at the age of 24. In addition to serving with the Arkansas Baptist Convention, Lennon leads her own ministry, Andrea Lennon Ministry, where she facilitates live speaking events, publishes books, and hosts a blog.

Southwestern prepared Lennon for a life of serving the Lord in vocational ministry, including her current role with Arkansas Baptists. Through this role, she supports women’s ministries in churches, leads conferences, and is a leadership development resource for the churches in Arkansas.

“For all of the women in Arkansas, we have a podcast where we do ministry to minister’s wives during it,” Lennon said. “It is such a joy to be a part of Arkansas Baptists to be able to encourage other women who are sensing a call to ministry and may be struggling with the same questions I had so many years ago.”

Lennon attributes a lot of what she knows and how she operates in her ministries to what she learned during her time at Southwestern.

“The biggest thing I learned during my time at Southwestern is actually learning what I didn’t know,” Lennon recalled. “The second biggest thing I learned was how to be a lifelong learner. It exposed my need to learn and then it gave me practical tools to learn and be successful in my learning. I tell women now ‘to be successful in ministry, there is a lot to learn,’ but I give them practical ways to learn it.”

In addition to serving the churches in Arkansas, Lennon also started her own ministry called “Andrea Lennon Ministry” where she sets up live speaking events, publishes books digitally and physically, and hosts a blog for women to interact with each other and “share how God’s Word has changed their lives,” Lennon said.

Lennon said that her life is “busy in seasons” where she and her husband have to rely on the Lord’s guidance to find rhythms and a healthy work-life balance.

“The best thing we have done is to find those seasons of busyness and the seasons of intentional rest,” Lennon said. “We get to take summers and most of December off of the busy time to be intentional with each other and with our kids. We’re in the empty nest season of life right now, and we have learned how to say ‘no’ to certain things now because no one person can do it all.”

Lennon feels that the theological education she received at Southwestern has helped make her the leader in ministry that she is. Because of that, she said that she encourages those “wrestling with their calling” to go to seminary and learn more.

“God uses education to open up doors and to build relationships, and you are never going to go wrong with pursuing those next steps in deepening your relationship with the Lord,” Lennon said. “To this day, I have ministry relationships because of my time at Southwestern. I know for sure that God works through theological education to provide opportunities, relationships, and an ability to minister in a way that brings Him glory and honor.”

Lennon continues to find ways to serve the Lord and build His Kingdom through her work with the women in Arkansas.