Southwestern Seminary campus recognized with 2020 Fort Worth Beautiful Award

The Fort Worth Garden Club has recognized The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as one of the winners of the 2020 Fort Worth Beautiful Award. For 33 years, the award has recognized Fort Worth institutions and properties that have worked to beautify their corner of the city through thoughtful landscaping, serene spots, and historical impact.

In a statement about the seminary, the Fort Worth Garden Club called the 200-acre campus “a beautiful central city location with stately buildings and mature trees.”

“Walking this lovely campus in the fall, we were delighted by plantings of variegated abelia, ornamental grasses and berried hollies,” the statement continued. “There are intimate gardens for reflection and water features that can calm the soul on this peaceful campus. Thank you to SWBTS for sharing your heritage with this lovely site.”

Joey Cruse, landscaping supervisor at Southwestern Seminary, oversees a team of student workers who are devoted to the task of creating and maintaining beautiful and inviting space—gardens, landscaping, and the overall maintenance of campus facilities.

Cruse says he hopes the award reflects their care for and stewardship of God’s creation. “What we do here is not a job, but a ministry,” Cruse explains.

Cruse says the landscaping department’s mission is to create a welcoming environment and first impression for Southwesterners and guests alike. “We want everyone from staff to students to visitors to our neighbors to find this a place where they can find peace, beauty, a light in a dark world, and hopefully experience God though His creation.”

Cary McMillan, director of facilities and maintenance, says the Fort Worth Beautiful Award is a great honor, as “very few places throughout Fort Worth receive this award each year.”

“Our ultimate goal is to glorify God in our work here on campus,” McMillan says. “To be able to do that with the landscape He has provided makes our work that much better. We want the students and staff to be proud of the campus they walk daily and live on. The beautiful landscape provides a place for students and staff to take time to be still before the Lord in their day-to-day lives.”

Vice President for Institutional Advancement Travis Trawick, who accepted the award alongside Cruse and McMillan, says the award serves as a tangible reminder of the seminary’s century-long relationship with the city of Fort Worth community.

“One cannot help but reflect on God’s creative beauty when walking on our campus,” says Trawick.

“Whether it be the stately, towering pecan trees, the green in front of the rotunda, or the flower beds that are meticulously maintained, the aesthetic beauty they provide is intended to create a welcoming environment to every visitor to campus,” Trawick says. “I am grateful for the Fort Worth Garden Club’s recognition of the diligent labor of our landscaping and campus facilities team.”