Southwestern hosts Baptist Hispanic Consortium, continues to work with Hispanic seminary leaders
The newly elected leaders of the Baptist Hispanic Consortium for Theological Education share more in common than their faith and Hispanic heritage—each is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Southwestern Seminary hosted the consortium’s 11th annual meeting, held June 18-20.
David S. Dockery, president of Southwestern Seminary, welcomed the 35 seminary presidents and faculty members to the meeting, whose theme was “Training Missionaries in the Global South.”
“The gathering of Baptist educators from across multiple Spanish-speaking countries was a source of great encouragement for all who participated,” Dockery said. “It was certainly a delight to learn that the large majority of these leaders had been equipped for their calling and service at Southwestern Seminary. I am grateful for Daniel Sanchez and many others who work hard to strengthen this work on an ongoing basis.”
Sanchez, distinguished professor emeritus of missions at Southwestern, serves as liaison for the consortium. He holds an MDiv from the seminary.
Other officers elected during the meeting were:
Barbaro Marrero, elected president of the consortium. He serves as president of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Havana, Cuba, and holds a PhD in World Christian Studies from Southwestern.
David Tamez, elected vice president of the consortium. Tamez serves as president of the Lacey Baptist Theological Seminary in Oaxaca, Mexico, and hold a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Southwestern.
José Angel Samol, elected secretary of the consortium, holds a Master of Theological Studies from Southwestern Seminary.
Each officer will serve a two-year term.
Sanchez said the leaders “are deeply grateful to Southwestern Seminary for the personnel, time, and resources it has invested in the formation of the Hispanic Consortium for Theological Education. They have a sincere appreciation for Southwestern’s conservative theology, for the degrees in Spanish that it is offering, and for Dr. Dockery’s ongoing encouragement.”
Sanchez noted that 11 of the presenters at the consortium were former Southwestern students.
The Baptist Hispanic Consortium for Theological Education has strong ties to Southwestern Seminary and its Global Leadership Development (GLD) initiative, which supports and promotes the expansion of conservative, Baptist theological education around the globe.
In 2008, Sanchez was invited to help the Baptist Theological Seminary in Havana establish a degree in missions. Other Southwestern professors began teaching intensive courses that enabled 15 of the Cuban seminary professors to obtain their master’s degrees and start extension centers, which increased the seminary’s student body from 68 to more than 800.
Other Latin American seminaries heard about the project and began asking Southwestern for assistance as well. Sanchez and Brent Ray, former director of the World Missions Center at Southwestern, developed the idea of forming a consortium that would include Baptist seminaries in Latin America and Spain. By the end of 2020, the Baptist Hispanic Consortium for Theological Education encompassed every country in Latin America.
Today, GLD has fostered relationships with more than 100 Baptist seminaries worldwide, represented by more than 160 campuses and extension locations on six continents and more than 80 nations. The initiative also has helped to start 11 new Baptist seminaries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Central and Southern Asia.
