Massey, Ray assume new roles to reinvigorate SWBTS legacy of missions-sending

John D. Massey and Brent Ray have assumed new positions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, President Adam W. Greenway announced Tuesday, June 4. Massey has been named interim dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, and Brent Ray has been named director of the World Missions Center.

“I am grateful that God has raised up John Massey and Brent Ray to assume these strategic posts at Southwestern Seminary,” said Greenway. “Southwestern Seminary was the original ‘Great Commission Seminary’ of the Southern Baptist Convention and has historically been the leading seminary partner for Southern Baptist missions efforts. I look forward to their leadership in strengthening our academic programming offered through the Fish School as well as mobilizing our students for deployment to the nations through the World Missions Center. My prayer is that one day every Southwestern Seminary and Scarborough College student will leave Seminary Hill with not only a diploma, but with a stamped passport in hand.”

Massey served from 2001-2011 as a missionary through the International Mission Board, and has served at Southwestern Seminary since 2012 as associate professor of missions.

As a former career missionary, Massey brings extensive experience in teaching and mission work to the role of interim dean. Since 2003, he has lectured in Theological and Historical Studies at Singapore Baptist Theological Seminary under an IMB appointment. In 2010 and 2011, he served as interim faculty director and chairman of the Theology and Church History Department at International Chinese Theological Seminary. In 2009, he served as IMB Team Strategy leader for Southern Malaysia and Singapore of the ICTS.

From 2009-2011, Massey was Ph.D. Theology Program Chair at Malaysia Baptist Theology Seminary, Penang. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Singapore Bible College; Trinity Theological College, Singapore; and Zerapheth Bible Institute, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Massey obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss., in 1988, and a Master of Divinity degree from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tenn., in 1994. He then earned a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology with a minor in New Testament at Southwestern Seminary in 2000.

“Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has historically been the seminary that has trained more missionaries for field service and equipped more church leaders for evangelistic/apologetic ministry than any other,” says Massey. “The sun never sets on Southwestern alumni. Through intentional cooperation with the IMB and NAMB, a faculty rich in field experience and academic training, and newly updated and expanded academic programs, I hope to reinvigorate the rich Southwestern legacy as being the original ‘Great Commission Seminary.’”

“In my short time here, John Massey has already stood out as a leader and academician who is passionate about reaching the nations with the Gospel,” says Randy L. Stinson, provost and vice president for academic administration. “His missionary experience uniquely positions him to lead the Fish School to send the next generation of missionaries, church planters, and church revitalizers into the field.”

Brent Ray brings extensive experience in a variety of ministry settings to his new role as director of the World Missions Center. From 1976-1990, while beginning his education, he served in four pastoral ministry roles in North and Central Texas. After preliminary studies at Baylor University, Ray transferred to Dallas Baptist University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. He then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Seminary in 1989, and later a Doctor of Ministry in 2000.

Ray and his wife, Elaine, served as IMB missionaries in South America from 1998-2003. In addition to founding a regional church-planting ministry in Brazil, teaching at Northeast Baptist Theological Seminary in Bahia, and guiding mission leaders in the development and execution of strategic ministry initiatives, Ray also served in regional supervisory and administrative roles for missionaries in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In 2003, he served as president for the Hope for the Heart and Hope Center Foundation in Dallas.

In 2012, Ray came to Southwestern Seminary as director of Global Theological Innovation (GTI) and associate director of the World Missions Center, a role that saw him foster relationships with overseas seminaries. As GTI is absorbed by the World Missions Center, Ray will now oversee all missions mobilization efforts of Southwestern Seminary.

“Dr. Greenway has clearly expressed his desire to see Southwestern expand its role as the greatest missionary-sending seminary in SBC history, and the World Missions Center at Southwestern Seminary will contribute to this vision by actively engaging every Southwesterner in global evangelism and discipleship, passionately seeking to fulfill the Great Commission and glorify God,” says Ray.

“Three operating presuppositions will undergird the operations of Southwestern’s World Missions Center: every Christian is a soul-winning disciple-maker; every disciple is a missionary; and every local church is a sending body into God’s global harvest. We will, therefore, seek to inform, inspire, equip, network, and engage all Southwesterners in God’s vision for his church as expressed in Revelation 7:9-12.”

“Brent Ray is just the right man to lead the World Missions Center,” says Stinson. “As a former career missionary, he will bring strategic leadership to our campus-wide efforts to send students all over the world. I am eager for him to get to work.”

Both Massey and Ray will assume their new roles immediately.