Portraits honor long-serving Southwestern faculty

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary honored 11 former faculty members for their decades of faithful service during a portrait unveiling ceremony held on Jan. 20 in the Rotunda of the B.H. Carroll Memorial Building prior to the spring Convocation service.

“We count it a great privilege to stand on your shoulders, to carry on your commitment to Southwestern, and to carry out the very best of this place,” President David S. Dockery said, pointing out that the cumulative tenure of the 11 honorees was more than 270 years.

The ceremony marked the seminary’s third portrait unveiling, as part of its Faculty Portrait Project, an initiative which seeks to honor and recognize individuals whose teaching, leadership, and ministry have made lasting contributions to Southwestern and its students of at least 20 years.

Six of the honorees were present for the event: Jerry Aultman, John Babler, Keith Eitel, Bill Goff, Paul Gritz, and Bruce Leafblad. Harry Hunt, former professor of Old Testament, was honored posthumously.

Paul Gritz, former professor of church history, was honored for his 32 years of service.

“Fifty years ago, I visited Southwestern Seminary in order to find a place where I could do my seminary studies—and I stayed here; I didn’t leave,” Gritz said, recounting his journey to and time at Southwestern.

After thanking the Southwestern community for the portrait, Gritz described his time at the seminary, recalling his love for Southwestern’s ability to combine “academic excellence with ministerial training,” which gave him the assurance to teach and touch the lives of students.

“When I looked down at my students, I realized that I am being given the privilege of touching their lives and their lives touching the world,” Gritz said. “And it is where I see that making these disciples to be disciple makers, I am part of the nations hearing the Gospel.”

Bill Goff, a former professor of ethics in the School of Theology, served for 23 years.

Goff thanked the Southwestern community for the honor and recalled being encouraged to remain in Fort Worth rather than return to South America, where he had served with the now International Mission Board for more than 20 years. Keith Eitel, another honoree, greatly influenced that decision, he said.

“We’re grateful for the support Southern Baptists have given to us and to all of [Southwestern’s] dear leadership over the years,” Goff said of the support he received from the Cooperative Program for about 50 years as a missionary and then a seminary professor. “We’re so grateful for the affirmations, caring, love, and support that we’ve been given, and even this is a wonderful expression of affirmation and love, and we’re grateful.”

Bruce Leafblad, a former professor of worship in the School of Church Music and Worship, taught for 23 years, influencing generations of students in worship ministry.

Leafblad said he was first invited to give a lecture at Southwestern in 1980 and again in the spring of 1983. He then became a part of the faculty the following August. He described what he came to love about his time at the seminary.

“The American educator Will James once said, ‘the great use of life is to spend it on that which outlasts it,’” Leafblad said. “And it has been my privilege for nearly a quarter of a century to spend my life here on this hill and to invest, as my colleagues have, in the lives of countless others. And those have been the most wonderful years of my life in ministry.”

Jerry Aultman, former professor of organ, was recognized for his 24 years of dedication to excellence in teaching music theory and his service to the seminary community. Aultman was grateful for the portrait and happy to be on campus again, reminiscing about students he had taught and ran into later in life.

“Words cannot describe the effect that Southwestern has had on Christianity all over the world,” Aultman said. “I am still grateful for students that I had who tell me how much they appreciated what I taught them. … These students will probably forget most of what I taught them academically—they might, hopefully, they’ll remember some of it—but what they will remember, is who I was to them. And so, I’m grateful to have been offered the privilege of touching all of these great lives.”

Keith Eitel, a former professor of missions and dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, helped start the 2 + 2 program for future missionaries. He expressed his own fulfillment coming from the students he helped foster on Seminary Hill, who went on to fulfill the Great Commission around the globe.

“The greatest appreciation is to the myriad of students throughout the world that are still, many of them, in the field, and they’re approaching decades of service themselves,” Eitel said, before concluding with a comment about Southwestern’s ethos by revered missions professor Calvin Guy.

“‘Missions is not what we’re doing,’” Eitel quoted. “‘It’s the air we breathe.’”

John Babler, former professor of counseling, was honored for his 25 years on campus, training students for effective, Christ-centered counseling ministry. Babler spoke of the heritage of Southwestern and the joy he continues to find in the many generations who have come through Seminary Hill.

“The heritage of what I see here going on at Southwestern is significant,” Babler said, saying coming as a student and then as a faculty member felt like coming home.

He spoke on his own journey to the school and the journeys he had been on with various faculty members from previous generations and the current, concluding with a loving thanks for Southwestern and its impact on his life.

“I appreciate what God is doing at Southwestern and continue to pray for her and the ministries for those of you that are here,” Babler said. “It’s just been a blessing. It’s been, as some would say, a fun ride.”

Dockery also honored the life and legacy of the late Harry Hunt, saying “We’re grateful for his memory.” Hunt’s service as professor of Old Testament for 20 years left a lasting impact on students and colleagues alike.

Though other recipients were unable to attend the ceremony, portraits were also unveiled for George Klein, former professor of Old Testament; Bruce Corley, former professor of New Testament; Albert Travis, former professor of organ; and David Keith, former professor of conducting.