Southwestern’s largest fall graduating class in decades encouraged to love, lead to God’s glory

During the fall commencement of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on Dec. 5, Robert Brown, alumnus and chairman of the Board of Trustees, encouraged the graduates to consider their love and leadership of others for God’s glory as markers of their future success. Almost 350 students from more than 30 states and 30 countries graduated, making it the largest fall graduating class since 2000.

“We’re happy for each and every one of you, and trust God’s blessings upon you,” President David S. Dockery said addressing the graduates. “As you leave this place, we encourage you to go forth carrying forth the best of the Southwestern tradition, to be committed to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, to reflect the commitments to being grace filled and Christ centered, scripturally grounded, confessionally guided, and continuing the work of being a globally engaged class.”

Brown said each graduate will face different next steps, such as continuing their education, entering the ministry, joining the work force, or continuing in a current place of ministry. But wherever God leads them, Brown said, “we all share a desire for you to be finding success in the work that God lays before you.”

“The important question for us then would be, how might we define such success?” Brown continued.

In a culture that often determines success based on fame, wealth, achievement, and social status, Brown said the graduates, and all believers, need to look to Jesus to define success, such as found in His prayer to the Father in John 17:4: “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

“Today, we rejoice with you that you have fought the good fight, that you finished your degree,” Brown said. “Yet for most, the course that God has laid before you is just beginning. As followers of Christ, each of us have that course, a race, each of us have a stewardship, a work of God that has been placed in our trust. And while the details may still be in the process of being worked out and defined, all of us have been given a work to do. It is not something be completed randomly, but specifically directed to bring glory to our Father, to give glory to Him by finishing the work that He gave us to do.”

Brown said the chief way to give God glory through one’s life is by following the Great Commandment to love God and love one’s neighbor. Pointing out early writings that describe how Roman society noticed the love among the early Christians, despite their persecution, Brown said that is what should define believers today as well.

Only with that love for God and others and the goal of glorifying God can believers lead and influence others without being negatively influenced by the world, Brown said.

Brown encouraged the graduates to love and lead in words, deeds, and relationships, as strong servant leaders willing to go beyond where they are most comfortable.

“In a world that prizes position and power, to understand and model that kind of leadership, that leadership is not about titles or ranks, brings enormous influence. It brings integrity. It brings service,” Brown said.

Brown pointed to Jesus as the perfect example of a servant leader, willing to wash the feet of others and humbly lay down His life.

“As you step out from this place today, whatever work God has planned for you, may you lead with humility, with courage, and with compassion,” Brown said. “Let your leadership reflect Christ—serving others, standing for truth, inspiring hope, all to the glory of God.”

But while loving and leading to the glory of God are markers of success in ministry and in Christian living, Brown pointed out the graduates should also always be ready to listen and learn.

“There’s no end to studying, be it in a classroom or in everyday life,” Brown said, advising them to be willing to learn even from those they lead. “It begins the moment you’re born and should never cease this side of glory.”

Brown said his prayer is that the graduates would see the completion of their degree as preparation for a lifetime of service in God’s work for His glory, accomplished by loving and leading others until the race is complete.

“These past few years have been more than an academic pursuit, it’s been a refining fire,” Brown said, reminding the graduates of the faculty and family members who have invested in and encouraged them along the way. “…They’re saying, ‘Way to go. To God be the glory!’”

Brown is a 1985 Master of Divinity graduate of Southwestern. The executive director of Lakeway Christian Academy in White Pine, Tenn., Brown previously served as a pastor and with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He began his term as chairman of the Board of Trustees in 2025.

Dockery presented the J. Howard Williams Service Award to its inaugural recipient, John Rayburn, a businessman and real estate investor in North Fort Worth, Texas, who served as a trustee for 10 years, 2014-2024, helping to bring the seminary to a place of financial stability during that time.

The new award, to be presented annually, is named after the fourth president of Southwestern, 1953-1958, who is remembered for his passion for missions and the stewardship and beautification of the campus that laid a foundation for future generations of Southwesterners.

Dockery said Rayburn, himself an evangelist and faithful church member who loves the Lord and His Gospel, has served the seminary with similar qualities held by the Southwestern president for whom the award is named.

“We owe much to Mr. John Rayburn for his service to this place,” Dockery said. “He is a person of integrity, a person who loves Southwestern, and a person who gives of himself in service.”

In response, Rayburn said he is glad to give back in service to the seminary that had such a significant impact on his own life, such as through an alumnus who led his father to Christ, current and prior pastors and mentors who were Southwesterners, and his own family members who are students and graduates.

“Southwestern has had a major influence on the men who’ve had a major influence on me,” Rayburn said after receiving the recognition. “… I praise God for allowing me to serve here as trustee for a season. I praise God for those professors in the classroom who have faithfully taught those who have faithfully preached God’s Word to my family for four generations and counting.”