This Week on the Hill: Honoring Spring 2020 graduates, Dockery named editor of SWJT
“This Week on the Hill” is a weekly roundup of campus news, announcements, and events from Southwestern Seminary and Scarborough College.
Class of Spring 2020…
Southwestern Seminary and Scarborough College have never had a graduating class like you. You finished the last steps of your degrees during one of the most turbulent times in living memory.
With every aspect of your life disrupted, you stayed faithful to your studies and faithful to your calling. Wherever God calls you, our prayers go with you, and we will always be honored to call you Southwesterners.
Announcements
Summer Classes
The first 8-week term of Summer 2020 is underway, but registration is still open for the second.
Summer “B” classes begin June 29, so get registered today.
Ministry Now: New Limited Series
As we continue to move forward in a world radically altered by COVID-19, many ministers and lay leaders are asking the question, “What does ministry look like now?”
So this summer, we are launching a new limited series featuring our faculty. We’ll be discussing how COVID has altered the ministry landscape, and how we can continue to move God’s kingdom forward within this “new normal.”
“Ministry Now” will air on Facebook and YouTube Premiere on Thursdays at 10am CT. The pilot drops next Thursday, May 14, and will feature Dr. Terri Stovall and Dr. Katie McCoy (our host), discussing “second-chair leadership” during times of great change and crisis.
Campus News
Dockery named editor of Southwestern Journal of Theology
David S. Dockery—“a universally respected theologian and Southern Baptist statesman of Christian higher education”—has been named editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology, the academic journal of The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and “one of the premier and historic publications in theological education,” President Adam W. Greenway announced on May 7.
“It is a sign of God’s favor on Southwestern Seminary that I have the honor to announce that David S. Dockery—a universally respected theologian and Southern Baptist statesman of Christian higher education—has accepted my request to serve as the next editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology,” said Greenway, who serves as editor-in-chief of the journal.
Read more here.
Newly revised professional doctoral program ‘prioritizes formation of the whole student’
A revised program structure along with new and refreshed concentrations have poised the professional doctoral program at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to be “the premiere program among evangelical institutions of higher learning,” says Coleman Ford, director of professional doctoral studies. Both the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) and Doctor of Educational Ministry (D.Ed.Min.) have been “uniquely designed” to “accommodate vocational pressures most students experience while simultaneously prioritizing the ‘residential experience,’” he says.
Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Seminary, states, “With these innovations, our professional doctoral program is now poised to provide the very best in advanced ministry training, which will result in more effective ministers for the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and beyond. I am deeply grateful for the leadership of Dr. Ford in bringing about this renewal of our Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Educational Ministry programs.”
Read more here.
Amidst COVID-19 crisis, Fort Worth church reaches community through drive-thru food pantry, prayer tent
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are struggling to find reliable means of feeding their families. Upon seeing this need in their own Fort Worth community, Southcliff Baptist Church, with volunteer help from The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has responded by partnering with the Tarrant Area Food Bank to establish a drive-thru food pantry in the church’s parking lot.
Since March 10, Southcliff has hosted a free drive-thru pantry every Tuesday night from 5-7 p.m. (or while supplies last). Individuals remain in their cars while volunteers (wearing gloves and masks) place a box of food in the backseats or trunks of their vehicles. This effort is an entirely volunteer-run operation, and many of these volunteers are current students and alumni of Southwestern Seminary.
Read more here.
New Video from the School of Church Music and Worship
Nearly 70 students and faculty from The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have collaborated as a “virtual choir” to record a legacy hymn, “Be Thou My Vision,” uniting an array of Christian voices and musicians to inspire the body of Christ during this time of separation caused by COVID-19.
Read more here.
Student Emergency Assistance Fund supports Southwesterners affected by COVID-19
The Student Emergency Assistance Fund (SEAF) at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary provides support for students adversely affected by crisis or emergency. The fund existed prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but recent events have caused the school’s administrators and Office of Institutional Advancement to place special emphasis upon it in order to meet the needs of seminary and college students adversely affected by the current crisis.
“At Southwestern Seminary and Scarborough College, students are the most important constituency of our institution,” says President Adam W. Greenway. “It is my firm commitment that our institution will do everything in our power to assist students who have been adversely affected by COVID-19. I urge all Southwesterners to contribute generously to the Student Emergency Assistance Fund.”
Read more here.
Seminary Hill Press releases new edition of Dockery’s ‘The Doctrine of the Bible’
Nearly 30 years after its first release, Seminary Hill Press—the publishing arm of The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary—has published a new edition of The Doctrine of the Bible, written by David S. Dockery, distinguished professor of theology and scholar-in-residence of the B.H. Carroll Center for Baptist Heritage and Mission.
“Perhaps in God’s good providence, this little book may provide encouragement for some to reexamine the message of Scripture and there re-discover the drama of the redemptive message found only in Jesus Christ,” Dockery writes in the preface of the new edition. “We pray that the book will serve as a guide for others who have questions about the Bible, its meaning, and its authority. Primarily, we hope that the book will strengthen the convictions of God’s faithful people, granting them assurance of the full truthfulness and complete authority of God’s Word written as the inward work of God’s Spirit bears witness by and with the Word in our hearts.”
Read more here.
Southwestern Seminary announces plans to resume on-campus instruction in fall
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary plans to resume on-campus instruction on its Fort Worth campus this fall after thorough preparations have been completed to “make our facilities as safe as possible for students, faculty, staff, and others on Seminary Hill,” President Adam W. Greenway announced on April 29.
The seminary’s common spaces will undergo a “deep cleaning” in the months preceding the beginning of the semester, Greenway said, noting adjustments will be made to class sizes and the use of classrooms “to ensure all public health recommendations relevant upon re-opening are strictly and faithfully observed, with a heightened cleaning regimen upon resumption of classroom instruction. The Campus Clinic will continue to evaluate student health and provide testing, when appropriate. As good citizens, our plans will be consistent with any governmental limitations when on-campus classes resume, while also doing everything possible to advance our mission of theological education.”
Read more here.
Center for Church Revitalization to provide ‘virtual interim preaching and music’ for churches in need
Helping congregations without pastors or worship leaders during a time when churches are unable to hold in-person meetings is the focus of a new resource launched by The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Center for Church Revitalization.
Many churches across the nation were in the midst of searching for pastors when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented congregations from gathering together on Sunday mornings. Thus, while many pastors have been able to reach their congregations through pre-recorded messages or live-streamed services, a great number of pastor-less church members have gone unreached during this season. Furthermore, some churches simply lack the personnel and tools necessary to offer their people online services.
Read more here.
