SPRING 2016
16 PRAY NOLA: Join us in praying for local churches & plants 22 RACE RELATIONS: Luter sees church as unifier
vision NEW ORLEANS BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Ordinary People
AMAZING SAVIOR
Evangelism Across the Street and Around the World
THE GREAT COMMISSION WHERE ARE WE NOW?
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HE GREAT COMMISSION IS MATTHEW 28:1820. Based on His authority as the Risen Lord, Jesus gives a very clear command. It is not a recommendation, a request or a suggestion. He commands us to make disciples among all nations, noting that He will always be present with us as we go about the task. Note how Jesus explained “make disciples.� The mark of Great Commission progress is not how many hear the Gospel, nor is it simply making the Gospel known to an ever growing number of people. According to the text, new disciples who are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who know and obey the commandments of Jesus, and who are themselves engaged in making disciples are the truest measure of progress. I call your attention now to a provocative chart on the Great Commission progress of SBC Churches (see next page). The chart begins on the left in 1881 and concludes on the right with the most recent year for which data is available, 2014. The gold line, which indicates the total number of SBC churches, is generally positive with a sustained, clearly upward trend over a very long period of time. Next, note the blue line which indicates total SBC baptisms. An explosive growth in baptisms, outstripping the growth in number of churches began around 1930. As you move through the years, the two lines crossed about the year 2000. An ever-widening gap between the number of churches and the number of baptisms began
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and continues to this day. WOW! We are about 15 years into the longest decline in baptisms in SBC history. We have more and more churches, but they are reaching fewer and fewer people.
CONCLUSION 1 Lostness in North America is having a bigger impact on Southern Baptists than Southern Baptists are having on lostness. Put another way: The world is having a bigger impact on the behavior of Southern Baptists than we are having on the behavior of the world. In addition to the decline in baptisms, we are down in membership, down in worship attendance and down in Bible Study attendance. We have more churches, but fewer people, and the people we have are drifting away.
CONCLUSION 2 Southern Baptists are becoming a shrinking presence with a diminishing voice in our nation.
CONCLUSION 3 Southern Baptists are closer to losing the South than we are to reaching North America. Consider this graph of our baptisms per 10,000 people in the population. Clearly we are losing ground relative to the population. The
PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
Number of SBC Churches vs. Baptisms Per Year (1881-2014) 50,000
500,000
400,000
40,000
300,000 30,000 200,000 20,000
100,000
10,000
0 1880
1900
1920
1940
Churches
millenials (age 16-36) are the largest generation in the history of the United States, but their lives are unfolding during our longest decline in baptisms.
CONCLUSION 4 Consider the economic implications for financial support for Great Commission activities. Because time takes all away, if we stop adding new disciples from our communities to our congregations, we stop adding new dollars to Great Commission budgets in the future. To have enough dollars to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, SBC churches must make disciples of the lost in their communities.
CONCLUSION 5 The steadily growing gulf between the number of our churches and the number of our baptisms reveals a true life and death question for our future: What can we do to improve the Great Commission health of our churches? Here are some brief suggestions on the way forward in our present situation. First, we must own the problem and acknowledge the need for our churches to reach their communities for Christ. Second, we must live distinctively in the culture. The foundation for every fruitful evangelism strategy is the presence of living illustrations of lives transformed by the Gospel. If we fail in discipleship, we will inevitably fail
1960
1980
2000
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Baptisms Per Year
in evangelism. Third, we must provide and promote strategies, resources, and training to engage SBC churches in reaching the lost in their communities. To send out church planters and missionaries without mobilizing existing churches to reach their communities is like putting flowers in a vase without water. They cannot survive long. However, all is vain if God does not move. We must seek spiritual awakening, a great movement of the Spirit of God in our churches and across our land. Whether we know it or not, we are at the point of desperation for God to move. Our survival is at risk. There is a very particular wall in the ancient city of Jerusalem. The stones in that wall are all that remains of the glorious temple that once stood during the time of Jesus. It is often called the Wailing Wall, because seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, Jews and others gather at that wall to weep and remember the glory that once was as they pray for the day the glory will be restored. If we do not improve the Great Commission health of our churches, only one question remains: To what wall will our grandchildren go to weep and remember who Southern Baptists were and what Southern Baptists once did to fulfill the Great Commission?
DR. CHUCK KELLEY NOBTS PRESIDENT
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The
DeMENT SOCIETY B
yron Hoover DeMent, the seminary’s first president, raised money for the newly formed Baptist Bible Institute in the early 1900s. As DeMent raised money, he simply told the story of the enterprise, lifted up its ideals, gave a vision of its needs and possibilities, and let the message work its way into the hearts of people. He is the inspiration behind the DeMent Society, formed to honor those who have included NOBTS in their estate plans. Would you like to be counted among these members who have a passion to see God’s kingdom grow and to see His causes advanced through theological education? Contact the Office for Institutional Advancement at (504) 282-4455, ext. 8002.
et us know that you have New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in your estate plan and we will send a free copy of Dave Keesling’s devotional book, A Journey: Life in Real Time. Keesling, Executive Vice President of PhilanthroCorp, spent his career as consultant to a wide range of Christian organizations. The book includes 365 challenging devotionals designed to guide the reader to greater intimacy with God.
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ontact Randy Driggers, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at NOBTS, to reserve your copy of A Journey: Life in Real Time.
Email | rdriggers@nobts.edu Phone | 800-662-8701 ext. 8002
CONTENTS
FEATURES
6 SPRING 2016 Volume 72, Number 1
SBC Churches
New Orleans Ministries • Evangelism • Foster Care
Send NAMB Church Plants
DR. CHUCK KELLEY President
MARILYN STEWART Managing Editor BOYD GUY Art Director and Photographer
DILLARD
LAKEWOOD
ST. ROCH
VENETIAN ISLES FLORIDA
MID-CITY
7TH WARD
BAYOU ST. JOHN
ST. CLAUDE
LOWER 9TH WARD
TREME MARIGNY
BROADM OOR
U BLEA AINE FONT
FRENCH QUARTER
TULANE B.W. COOPER
UPTOWN
HOLY CROSS ARABI CHALMETTE
TOURO
EN RD GA RICT DIST
IDE EAST RIVERS
LOWER GARDEN DISTRICT
GRETNA NEW AURORA
TERRYTOWN
WESTWEGO MARRERO
TIMBERLANE
BE LLE CH AS SE
HARVEY
DEPARTMENTS
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ADVANCEMENT NEWS
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SEMINARY NEWS
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a Cooperative Program ministry, supported by the gifts of Southern Baptists.
Reminiscing about God’s provision
NOBTS Trustee ministers during Flint water crisis
The Writing Center: Good writing has academic and Gospel implications NOBTS writer receives BCA award
JORDAN STEWART Writing Intern
All contents ©2016 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. All rights reserved. Please send address changes and Alumni Updates to the office of Alumni Relations at the above address. NOTE: Alumni Updates will be used for the publication of the VISION magazine and on the Alumni website.
Join us in praying for local churches and church plants.
ALGIERS
IRISH CHANNEL
TRAVIS MILNER Graphic Designer
VISION is published two times a year by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary 3939 Gentilly Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70126 (800) 662-8701 (504) 282-4455 www.nobts.edu www.nobtsfoundation.com
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GENTILLY TERRACE
FAIR GROUNDS
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Our students and alumni faithfully answer God’s call to share the Gospel, both at home and abroad
VENETIAN ISLES
CITY PARK
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/ N AS W ID TO ON ON LE IGE P ON LT OL RR CA
FOREST LAKE WEST
EVANGELISM ACROSS THE STREET AND AROUND THE WORLD
GENTILLY WOODS
ST. BERNARD
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WEST END
NER
GARY D. MYERS Editor
FILMORE
LAKEVIEW
METAIRIE
RIVER RIDGE
DR. DENNIS PHELPS Director of Alumni Relations
READ BLVD. EAST
LITTLE WOODS LAKE TERRACE & OAKS
LAKESHORE
KEN
MR. RANDY DRIGGERS Vice President for Institutional Advancement
VILLAGE DE L’EST
• Community Development • Drug Rehabilitation • Women’s Shelter • Homeless
ORDINARY PEOPLE | AMAZING SAVIOR
Defend the Faith Upholds the ‘Matchless Gospel’ Greer-Heard 2016: Bird argues against heretical view of Jesus’ divinity Luter on race relations: sees church as unifier TEL GEZER: More Canaanite evidence found by NOBTS dig team
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FACULTY NEWS
Phelps leads Evangelical Preaching Society Kevin Brown named Outstanding UNO Grad student in Planning & Urban Studies dept. Innovative technology brings twist to classroom approach New faculty books
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ALUMNI NEWS
Post-Katrina ministry in New Orleans prepares alumnus for service in Mali Distinguished Alumni Class Notes
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ORDINARY PEOPLE
AMAZING
SAVIOR Evangelism Across the Street and Around the World
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by Marilyn Stewart
Crossing bridges for the Gospel often comes down to a believer simply being available. In God’s hands, an “ordinary” Christian can be used to open hearts to an amazing Savior.
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HILE THE GOSPEL IS SIMPLE, its message can change the human heart in ways that are transformative and sure. It is a message that any believer can deliver. Every believer can be an evangelist. NOBTS President Chuck Kelley has called the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, one of the most important passages of Scripture for Southern Baptists and for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Though evangelism has been an undergirding principle of NOBTS from the beginning, Kelley noted the lagging numbers in baptisms convention-wide and issued an urgent call for personal evangelism and intentional discipleship when he spoke to the student body at the start of the Spring semester. “How do we go forward? We have to engage in Gospel conversations outside the walls of the church as we are living our lives ... as we are going about this city,” Kelley said. “If you cannot plant the seeds of the Gospel in the lives of people, there will be no harvest.” While Gospel conversations can take place anywhere and in everyday places, the effort IF YOU CANNOT to evangelize must be intentional. For these PLANT THE NOBTS students, answering God’s call meant SEEDS OF THE stepping into an Ohio apartment complex offGOSPEL IN limits to evangelism, speaking to a prisoner a deserted park, and going into a VoodooTHE LIVES OF in controlled Haitian village. For one group of PEOPLE, THERE students, faculty and staff traveling in Southeast WILL BE NO Asia over Spring Break, answering God’s call HARVEST. meant breaking through closely-held cultural taboos. For one alumnus, a bridge “to the world” was built on simple acts of kindness. While courage might seem to be a requirement in each situation, willingness to obey was the only real prerequisite. God took care of the rest.
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Dr. Bo Rice leads teams of students to evangelize. An unexpected joy, he said, is seeing students come to embrace that door-todoor evangelism still is an effective tool.
“There are a lot of people who are hurting and who need to be touched with the Gospel. All we have to do is just go and do it. Just be faithful, and it’s amazing to see how God continuously opens doors.”
CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
STEPPING THROUGH OPEN DOORS THE MANAGER ON DUTY at the apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio, the site of the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention, had already asked two Crossover evangelism teams to leave when he met NOBTS Miami extension center student Carlos Rodriguez and his team at the back of the complex. Crossover, an evangelism initiative that precedes the annual convention, mobilizes Southern Baptists to share the Gospel in the host city. Dr. Preston Nix, professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching, led Rodriguez and other NOBTS students into the apartment complex going door-to-door. A Cuban national who once lived under the Castro regime and now a church planter in Miami, Rodriguez knows that God can use any situation. He also knows that simply asking questions can put people at ease and open doors for the Gospel. As the manager asked the team to leave, he admitted he believed the students were doing “something good.” Rodriguez
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DR. BO RICE
ASSOCIATE DEAN OF SUPERVISED MINISTRY AND MENTORING PROGRAMS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EVANGELISM AND PREACHING
asked, “Why do you say what we’re doing is good?” As they talked, the manager identified himself as a Christian “by name,” but one who “wasn’t in.” When Rodriguez asked what he meant, the manager began to verbalize his beliefs, bringing his own spiritual condition into clear focus and acknowledging that he didn’t want to be “out” when it comes to salvation. Rodriguez saw the open door and led him to faith in Christ. Being “in” when it comes to commitment to the Lord is something Rodriguez understands well. Baptism in Cuba meant registering with the government and turning over important personal information. Property confiscation threatened any house church that grew too large. Life in Cuba demanded commitment, Rodriguez explained. “We had to make decisions for Jesus.” Escaping Cuba meant starting his theological education over, a price Rodriguez was willing to pay. Coming to New Orleans campus for a workshop and seeing for the first time the Leavell Chapel steeple light against the night sky was a moment he’ll never forget. NOBTS is a place he loves. As Rodriguez works toward a master of divinity, he leads Palabra de Vida
Baptist Church, a congregation of 120 where more than half are new believers Rodriguez has led to the Lord. His members, ordinary people like him who put their lives in God’s hands, are seeing their community come to faith in Christ. One member, Leo, escaped Cuba as a political dissident and arrived in Miami on a raft, leaving behind his wife and children. After Rodriguez led him to faith in Christ, Leo asked Rodriguez to return to Cuba in his stead and take the Gospel to his family. Though returning was a risk, Rodriguez kept his promise and arrived in Cuba to find God already at work. Befriended by other believers who ministered to her, Leo’s wife was ready to give her life to Christ. Reunited, the family recently moved to Orlando and opened their home there to host a church plant. While Rodriguez’s congregation has faced ups and downs, a group of 50 meet faithfully each week for two hours of prayer. Where God will lead next, they don’t know, but they are content to trust and follow, taking to heart Rodriguez’s reminder that “We surrender our lives to him.”
MICHAEL POGUE
NOBTS students Boyd Guy and Michael Pogue with two people they shared with in southeast Asia while on a seminary trip.
SIMPLY FAITHFUL TOO FAR OUT TO HAVE AN ADDRESS OF ITS OWN, Liberty Baptist Church, on the Mississippi/ Alabama line, has its mail delivered to a church member’s home. When it rains, muddy roads make it impossible for members to get to services. With a congregation and community that small, finding opportunities to share the Gospel can be hard. For Michael Pogue, pastor and NOBTS master’s student, waiting for someone in need of Christ to cross his path was something he couldn’t do. He hungered to share the Gospel. After enrolling at NOBTS on the main campus, Pogue sat in Dr. Preston Nix’s classroom and listened as Nix told stories of sharing the Gospel weekly in the Gentilly neighborhood near the campus. Pogue knew he’d found what he was looking for. “I want to go out to witness with him,” Pogue told himself. Pogue and Nix went door-todoor sharing the Gospel on behalf of Edgewater Baptist Church, a congregation whose help to neighbors following Hurricane Katrina has softened hearts to the Gospel. In a community heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism, “everyone thinks he’s saved,” Pogue said. “Most think receiving Christ as Savior is taking communion.” But helping people see that knowing Christ is different from identifying with a denomination strikes a chord, Pogue says. The last five people his team have led to the Lord in New Orleans are “a Greek Orthodox, a Baptist, a Roman Catholic, an Episcopalian, and a Lutheran.”
Not content to let a weekend go by without sharing the Gospel, Pogue drove around the nearby town of Meridian, Miss., one rainy Saturday. He was alone because a colleague had a last-minute scheduling conflict. He prayed, “Lord, show me where to go.” God directed Pogue to a man in an orange jumpsuit, a county prisoner, who was taking a cigarette break from his assigned work at a local park. Soon, the man gave his life to Christ. “God laid it on my heart that there was one person who needed to hear about Jesus,” Pogue said. “He led me to that man.” A quiet young man with an allAmerican demeanor, Pogue’s speech is true to his Mississippi upbringing. Pogue does not let his unassuming manner hinder him from talking about Jesus with the people he encounters. With Muslims in Southeast Asia or tourists on the streets of the French Quarter, Pogue is driven by the understanding that all people need the Gospel and that God saves people, not him. For Pogue, sharing the Gospel, simply put, is about being faithful. “I’m not good at speaking,” Pogue insists. “I’m introverted myself, but God blesses if we’re faithful.” Pogue depends on God’s leading and expects divine appointments. Recently, Pogue met a woman in a hurtful situation and led her to the Lord. She said afterwards, “I’m here at the park every Saturday and you’ve never come before. How did you know I was here?” Every believer can share the Gospel, Pogue insists. “If you know John 3:16,
you can share the Gospel.” At home or around the globe, Pogue has found that all people face the same problems of broken families, children in trouble, or depression and that the Gospel speaks to all. For those who are anxious about talking to others, Pogue suggests beginning by going out with someone who is experienced. Being a silent prayer partner while someone else shares the Gospel can have a powerful impact, Pogue says. And like anything else, practice improves performance, Pogue tells others. “The more you’re faithful, the more God will grow you.”
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Fertil Dieujuste, left, baptizes a new believer during a recent trip to Haiti. Dieujuste has seen many villagers turn away from Voodoo to embrace the Gospel.
FERTIL DIEUJUSTE
A MODERN-DAY JONAH THE SMALL BUILDING AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, a place no car can reach, fills with people from the small Haitian village in time for the worship service to begin. Though few can fit inside the tiny building, the portable sound system makes hearing the service as easy outside as in. Some sit on chairs they carried from home. Most are standing. Chairs, like electricity, are a luxury the congregation can’t afford. Fertil Dieujuste, a master of divinity student studying church planting at NOBTS, started the church two years ago after running NO ONE IN from God’s call to DIEUJUSTE’S take the Gospel to his FAMILY HAD native country of Haiti. EVER MADE Dieujuste, he admits, was THE KIND a modern-day Jonah. As a teenager, Dieujuste OF MONEY and his family moved to HE WAS MAKING. the United States from Haiti. Life in South Florida was comfortable and gave Dieujuste the opportunity for school and a chance for advancement. When a career and
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a family of his own came along, so did money … and security. No one in Dieujuste’s family had ever made the kind of money he was making, and with each passing year, Haiti faded further into the background. “That’s when God started working on me,” Dieujuste said. God was convicting him to leave his job and depend on Him, but Dieujuste ran. As he finished college and considered seminary, all he could think of was what other people would say. His job as produce manager at the franchised supermarket netted a sixfigure salary and a nice retirement plan. “Who would give that up?” Dieujuste thought. No one would understand. “It was a crazy call,” Dieujuste said. “I fought it for three months and never mentioned it to my wife. I just saw the money.” When he finally told his wife, Marie, she gave her complete support. But as time went by, Dieujuste convinced himself he needed to stay at his job and forget about God’s call to Haiti. An unhappy turn of events brought the job he loved to an end. When a worker with whom Dieujuste had shared the Gospel confronted his stubborn attitude, Dieujuste’s heart was
broken. That moment, Dieujuste says, “was like I was sleeping and I woke up.” Following God’s call to seminary, Dieujuste settled in New Orleans but once again, seldom thought about Haiti. After a personal trip to Haiti three months before the devastating earthquake of 2010, Dieujuste vowed never to return. With Haiti’s extreme poverty, what husband and father would dare think of moving back? But it was a call he couldn’t run from. Two years after beginning his seminary classes, Dieujuste was forced to admit that God had “put Haiti in my face.” In the summer of 2014, Dieujuste arrived in Haiti with a “mission team of three” — his wife Marie who stayed home and prayed; himself; and God, who led the way. For a full week, Dieujuste observed the Creole village of Lacroix St. Joseph, where most of the 1,500 residents are illiterate and where Voodoo and Catholicism blur together. One year later, Dieujuste returned to Haiti bringing with him a group of Haitians now living in Georgia. Their door-to-door evangelism efforts saw 40 people come to faith in Christ. Months later, the team returned again, this time distributing vouchers promising 15 pounds of rice, 10 pounds of beans,
AMAZING SAVIOR
and a gallon of cooking oil to every family. Three hundred vouchers were distributed. Six hundred showed up for the service. Dozens came to THAT’S WHEN THEY START faith in Christ. “They see you WANTING WHAT confront the Voodoo YOU HAVE. priest. So when months go by and nothing happens, that’s when they realize that if this guy says this about Satan and nothing happens, then ‘I don’t need to be afraid.’” Dieujuste said. “That’s when they start wanting what you have.” Between trips, Dieujuste mentors by Skype the men he left behind to lead the congregation of all new converts from Voodooism. The portable sound system Dieujuste ordered arrived by cargo ship. A later shipment of metal chairs sits at the bottom of the Caribbean, cargo on a ship sunk in Hurricane Joaquin. As Dieujuste looks toward graduation, Haiti is on his heart and mind. He sees himself as an ordinary man, a modern day Jonah, following an extraordinary Savior. Until the day Dieujuste and his family can return to Haiti, he waits for God’s guidance and direction.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
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KIMBERLY MYERS
WHEN YOU GET THEM INTO A HOME AND THEY SEE WHAT REAL CHRISTIANITY LOOKS LIKE, IT OPENS UP THEIR EYES. AND, IT’S ATTRACTIVE TO THEM. THEY WANT TO LEARN MORE.
CUTTING A PATHWAY TO THE WORLD WHETHER IT’S A TRIP TO WALMART to help a Syrian Ph.D. student pick out bedsheets or driving Chinese students to the airport, Kimberly Myers, international student ministry coordinator for the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the University of New Orleans (UNO), knows the impact that ordinary acts of service can make. As Myers (MA ’07), a North American Mission Board Mission Service Corp missionary, and her team of NOBTS student helpers and other volunteers minister to UNO students representing 75 countries—some that are closed to the Gospel—they live out the Gospel through relationships that become as close “as family.” Many hear the Gospel for the first time as a result. Some are coming to faith in Christ. At student orientation, Myers listens as university personnel encourage internationals to make friends while in New Orleans. When Myers takes her turn at the microphone, she WE DO invites them to a “Welcome PRACTICAL to America” progressive ACTS OF dinner the very next day. “We try to be their friend,” SERVICE IN LOVE FOR THE Myers says. “I tell them we OPPORTUNITY are a Christian organization, TO SHARE but anyone is invited. You JESUS. don’t have to be a Christian or a Baptist to come.” Though Myers’ daily tasks may be as small as helping a student move into the dorm or driving them to the store, she knows her real job description is doing whatever it takes to open doors for the Gospel. “We do practical acts of service in
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love for the opportunity to share Jesus with them,” Myers said. “That door is thrown open wide more often than not. I usually don’t even have to bring up the conversation; they bring it up for me.”
A COMPELLING POWER The young Iranian couple’s first real contact with Christians was their growing friendship with Myers and her husband, Gary. Highly educated but self-conscious about her English, the young wife asked Myers to help her with language proficiency. As they met together using the New Testament as the textbook, the woman was struck by the beauty of Scripture. “Reading the Bible with a student who has never read it before is the most rewarding aspect of this ministry,” Myers said. “I’ve seen students moved to tears as they read Scripture, and I get to witness the active work of the Holy Spirit in the moment.” The twice-a-week English lessons gave Myers multiple opportunities to share what knowing Christ meant in her life. The couple confided to Myers that they identified as Muslims back home in their own country, but in reality had no faith in Islam. After a job opening in another state took the Iranian couple away from New Orleans, an unexpected opportunity to show the power of prayer came up. Though the young couple were not believers, the husband contacted the Myers family asking for prayer when his situation at work became unbearable. Their prayer was answered within two weeks’ time when a new position, a job back in Louisiana, was offered.
“It struck us how he reached out to us, believing we would pray and believing that prayer would make a difference,” Myers said. Doors for the Gospel open as Myers teaches English using the Gospel of John, supplemented with the online “Visual Bible” to make Scripture come alive. An English professor from China, in town as a visiting scholar, told Myers she teaches the Bible as literature back home and asked Myers to help her understand it better. Though the woman was not a Christian, Myers saw the moment as divinely orchestrated and recognized that God was at work. “Whatever she learned,” Myers said, “she took it back with her to her students in China.” As Myers gives away Bibles in English or in a student’s heart language, she sees Scripture’s compelling power to move hearts and fuel a hunger to know more.
OPEN HOMES, OPEN HEARTS Claire became a Christian at home in China through her contact with a Korean missionary serving there. Soon afterwards, Claire stepped off the plane in New Orleans to begin college life, greeted by BCM volunteers bearing a welcome gift of a pillow, a blanket, and information about the BCM. For the next four years, Claire was a part of the Myers family, spending each Christmas with them, including one holiday with extended family in Oklahoma, where Claire adopted the family’s “Grandma” as her own. After graduation, Claire settled into a wellpaying job in New Orleans, but the burden of her own lost family members weighed heavy on her heart. Soon,
TOP: Kimberly Myers uses Soularium cards (developed by Campus Crusade for
Claire returned home to China to share Jesus with her family. “My goal with Christian international students is to disciple them so they can one day go back and teach other people,” Myers said. For Myers, it is a pathway to the world. A pathway paved with small acts of service takes time, but time isn’t always on Myers’ side. The university’s exchange program with Austria typically brings students to New Orleans for one semester only, and with students on the move, Myers is forced to prioritize what she does. Still, the outreach to Austrian students is making an impact. A young co-ed told Myers she first heard of the BCM back home in Austria when someone advised her to seek out the BCM for support. For others, the process takes longer. Iranian women students are reserved at first but as they open up to Myers she finds them to be welcoming and open. “They have all been the most gentle, sweet, kind people,” Myers said. “Every one of them.” Often, internationals arrive believing America to be a Christian nation and are put off by what they see on television and in movies. Changing that poor perception of Christianity happens quickly when Christians open their homes to students. Around the dinner table, Myers points out, Gospel conversations come naturally. “Hospitality advances the Gospel,” Myers said. “When you get them into a home and they see what real Christianity looks like, it opens up their eyes. And,
Christ) to initiate Gospel conversations with two visiting scholars from China. BOTTOM: Christmas Day offers a unique opportunity to share the Gospel as the Myers family opens their home to internationals from around the world.
it’s attractive to them. They want to learn more.”
LEAVING IT UP TO GOD Saying goodbye to people Myers has come to love is as much a part of her job as any other aspect. Each goodbye is a reminder of the constraints of time. “That’s the nature of my job. I say goodbye all the time,” Myers said. “It puts urgency at the forefront.” Many stay in contact with Myers after they leave, even asking for help in finding a church in their new surroundings. Some who once said “not yet” to the Gospel, email later to
say they have committed to following Christ. Loving others is a risk, Myers admits, and rejection is always a possibility. But for those who leave without coming to faith, Myers finds the goodbye is easier if she feels she has been faithful with her time and resources. Obedience is what matters, Myers knows. She leaves them in God’s hands. “He’s the one who put them in my path in the first place, so, He was working before me,” Myers said. “They’re not mine, so I have to release these dear people whom I’ve grown to love and treasure to Him, and pray, that one day, I will see them in heaven.”
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SOUTHEAST ASIA TEAM SMALL STEPS TO A G LO B A L I M PA C T
HOW DO YOU SHARE the Gospel in a place where starting conversations about the Gospel is taboo? How can you tell the good news when doing evangelism in traditional ways isn’t even an option? The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary mission team of 10 that traveled to Southeast Asia over spring break left New Orleans without fully knowing the answers to those questions. Six days later, the team had engaged 95 people from 14 different countries in Gospel conversations, sharing with half of them a full Gospel presentation with an invitation to respond. How did they do it? Team member Evan Anderson said the team’s partner on the field had instructed them to “come prepared to be tourists.” “He told us to, ‘Go out and meet people,’” IT WAS Anderson explained. “Talk AWESOME to them. Engage them in TO SEE AND conversation. Ask them HEAR HIM about their faith and their WITNESSING beliefs, and then tell them TO HIMSELF BY READING about yours. And, brag on SCRIPTURE. Jesus.” In the densely populated city where Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims far outnumber Christians, the team utilized the Any-3: Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime approach, formulated by church planting movements trainer Mike Shipman, that
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connects a person’s sense of needing forgiveness to the Gospel. Drake Nosco, a master’s student, asked a Muslim man at the national mosque how his religion provided forgiveness for sin. “We pray five times a day to receive forgiveness,’” Nosco said, recounting the man’s answer. “He said, ‘We do our best to please Allah. We cannot know whether or not Allah will accept us into heaven. We know Allah is merciful, but we do not know if he will bring us into heaven.’” Nosco used the open door to show that through Christ forgiveness has been won once and for all for those who follow Him. For Dr. Ken Taylor, missions professor, a fruitless afternoon of ministry turned more frustrating when he missed the train back to the group’s meet-up place. As he settled in for a long wait in the heat, Taylor struck up a Gospel conversation with the man seated next to him at the train station. When the conversation hit a roadblock over the meaning of “sin,” Taylor pulled up a translation of the book of Romans on his cell phone, in the man’s heart language. Grabbing the phone out of Taylor’s hands, the man proceeded to read a full chapter, out loud. “After the encounter, I knew the heat and missed train was not wasted,” Taylor said. “It was awesome
to see and hear him witnessing to himself by reading Scripture.” While the city has a rich diversity of ethnicities and religions, some are there as refugees, driven from home by war. Jamie and Lizzy McElrath, adjunct faculty members, shared a meal at a local restaurant with three generations of one family. They discovered that the youngest daughter, a medical doctor, is a “secret believer in the One True God” who came to know Christ through the kindness of Christians while studying abroad. Grateful for the listening ear, the grandmother told of their struggles and was moved to tears. “The grandmother has seen the kindness of Christians, the hands, feet and voice of Christ as they reach out to her and her family,” Lizzy McElrath said. Conversations on the street, at the train station, a meal at a restaurant— ordinary events of life that are making an impact for God’s Kingdom. “It is hard to express how thankful I am for the effort the New Orleans team gave this past week,” the partner on the field said in an email. “My heart is full and refreshed by this group and I look forward to seeing the fruit that results from it. To God be the glory.”
TOP RIGHT: Dr. Ken Taylor, professor of urban missions at NOBTS, saw the power of sharing God’s Word in a person’s heart language during a witnessing encounter at a train station. BOTTOM: Drake Nosco talks about Christ with a Muslim man during the group’s trip to a mosque.
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JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR LOCAL CHURCHES AND CHURCH PLANTS
KEN
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WEST EN D
Join us in praying for the Southern Baptist churches and recent NAMB church plants as they make Christ known in the Greater New Orleans area. Ministry opportunities abound in this great city, from community development to foster care to evangelism. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest, that He might send out more laborers.
LAKEWOO D
METAIRIE
D
JEFFERSON RIVER RIDGE
HOLLYGROVE
S/ WN DA TO I ON ON LE IGE P N TO LL O RR CA
ELMWOOD
T FON
HARAHAN AUDUBON
BRIDGE CITY WAGGAMAN
WEST
AVONDALE WESTWEGO
MA
Information found at joinnoba.com and namb.net 16
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#PrayNOLA SBC Churches
New Orleans Ministries • Evangelism
Send NAMB Church Plants
• Foster Care • Community Development
VILLAGE DE L’EST
• Drug Rehabilitation • Women’s Shelter • Homeless
READ BLVD. EAST
LITTLE WOODS
ST. ANTHO NY
LAKESHORE
FILMORE
LAKEVIEW
PONTC HARTR AIN PARK
LAKE TERRACE & OAKS
MILNEBURG
T FORES LAKE WEST
PINES VILLAGE
PLUM ORCHARD
LVD. READ B T WES
GENTILLY WOODS
VENETIAN ISLES
CITY PARK
DILLARD
GENTILLY TERRACE
ST. BERNARD
DESIRE
NAVARRE FAIR GROUNDS
ST. ROCH
VENETIAN ISLES FLORIDA
DIXON
MID-CITY
7TH WARD
BAYOU ST. JOHN
ST. CLAUDE
LOWER 9TH WARD
TREME
E
MARIGNY
BROA DMOO R
AU BLE NE I A T
FRENCH QUARTER
TULANE
GERT TOWN
B.W. COOPER
ARABI
CHALMETTE
CENTRAL CITY MILAN TOURO
EN RD T GA TRIC S DI
RSIDE EAST RIVE
RIVERSIDE
HOLY CROSS
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
FRERET
UPTOWN
BYWATER
LOWER GARDEN DISTRICT
ALGIERS
IRISH CHANNEL
GRETNA NEW AURORA
TERRYTOWN
ARRERO TIMBERLANE
BE LLE CH AS SE
HARVEY
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ADVANCEMENT NEWS
Reminiscing A B O U T G O D’S
Provision By RANDY DRIGGERS
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GREW UP IN A FAMILY OF SIX KIDS IN SELMA, Alabama. To help make ends meet, the oldest child would give his old jeans to the next in line, and he would wear them after mama patched the knees and sewed up any tears or holes. The same went for shirts. In those day you could go barefoot to school, and we did so until I was in the seventh grade. We went to school without shoes even in the middle of winter. My dad had a small farm about five miles from town, and there he would plant a gigantic garden with everything from tomatoes to watermelons. We boys had the chore of keeping the rows hoed and clean from weeds and grass. About sundown, Daddy and my older brothers stood watch over the garden taking care of the rabbits who managed to get through the fence. Mama spent her time canning for the winter and those vegetables on cold winter nights were as good as it got. My dad and his two brothers returned from WWII and opened an automobile dealership which they ran for 47 years. Though times were lean with so many mouths to feed, I always saw my Daddy write a check to the church for his tithe and offerings. He was unwavering in his belief that the first 10 percent belonged to God. He contributed in other ways as well. As we grew older, we began to sing together with some other young people in the church. There were 21 of us in the group at our largest point. We needed sound equipment, and my dad bought a top of the line Peavey sound system with speakers bigger than a curbside mailbox. It took many years before I began following his example with my giving. It was like Dad told me many years ago – I should give a tithe and offering because I really would not miss what I had given. Dad said God would provide for our
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every need, and He has. It has not been easy but we have always had enough. Going to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., at age 32 with two pre-teens was scary. Going to seminary at age 37 was even scarier. Yet, God provided for all our needs. I count it a blessing to be able to give back to my alma mater, NOBTS. I am so grateful for those who provided scholarship funds, emergency funds, etc. I wish I could tell each of you what God has done, but this article space will not allow it. Perhaps that is for another article. I want to encourage every alumnus and Friend of the Seminary to give to NOBTS. If every alumus would give something, anything, we could do great things. If you are not giving to NOBTS, will you do so today? Write a check or make a gift online. And to the many Friends of the Seminary who are giving, God bless you for allowing God to use you as His vessel. Your gifts help NOBTS to fulfill its mission of equipping leaders for the local church and its ministries. Your giving is so important.
CONSIDER A GIFT TO THE PROVIDENCE FUND By partnering with NOBTS through the Providence Fund, you are participating in Kingdom work. You are paving the way for the next generation of pastors, teachers, ministers and missionaries to answer God’s call and take the Gospel to the far reaches of the world. To date, the seminary has raised $1.5 million through the Providence Fund, and we need to raise an additional $500,000 by July 31, 2016. Every dollar given to the Providence Fund is a dollar we do not have to charge our students.
The Providence Fund keeps costs as low as possible to help students answer God’s call to ministry.
WAYS TO GIVE Gifts of real estate or securities. Life Income Gifts that pay you a lifetime income. Give your home and continue to live in it. For information about these and other giving options, call (504) 816-8002 or (800) 662-8701, ext. 8002 or email rdriggers@nobts.edu.
Free estate planning from NOBTS.
Hard to beat that.
A no cost planned giving solution for NOBTS alumni and Friends of the Seminary. NOBTS has partnered with PhilanthroCorp, a Christ-centered estate planning firm, to offer our alumni and friends the opportunity to receive free and personalized estate and will planning. These are private consultations between you and one of the estate specialists at PhilanthroCorp. Even if you have yet to begin preparing for the future of your assets, today is a great time to let us help you create or update your legacy plan.
Call Susan at PhilanthroCorp at 1-800-876-7958 or visit www.nobtsfoundation.com/wills
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SEMINARY NEWS NOBTS TRUSTEE MINISTERS DURING FLINT WATER CRISIS The discovery of lead in the Flint, Mich., water system created a monumental, ongoing health crisis, but the needs go far beyond clean water. The citizens of Flint are hurt, fearful and have lost trust in their elected officials. NOBTS Trustee Tom Clore of Eldorado, Ill., led a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team to help the city’s beleaguered residents March 13-20. Their goal was to provide water filters and bottled water, but most of all, they sought opportunities to share the hope of Jesus with hurting people. “I felt like we were able to minister to many people’s needs,” Clore said. “Not just their water needs, but their spiritual needs as well. Water needs were on their minds, but most of them had many problems beyond water needs. We had a chance to pray with the people who lived in almost every home we went to.” The team divided into groups of three to respond to water needs obtained through the City of Flint’s call center. The group members included a driver, someone to install new filters and someone to ask each resident about his or her specific needs. They delivered two cases of bottled water to each home they visited. In addition to these items designed to help with the water crisis, Clore and his team left Bibles and tracts at many of the homes. “We handed them bottled water, but I pray that what we were really giving them was the water of life that never stops flowing,” Clore said.
THE WRITING CENTER: GOOD WRITING HAS ACADEMIC AND GOSPEL IMPLICATIONS
NOBTS PR STAFFERS PRODUCE CREATIVE VIDEO ON SUCCEEDING IN SEMINARY
This spring New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary community launched The Write Stuff — the seminary’s quality enhancement plan designed to improve academic writing. The plan calls for a host of writing helps, resources and services for students. One of the most visible aspects of The Write Stuff initiative is the new NOBTS writing center which opened Feb. 16. While the writing center focuses on helping students improve their class papers, the center’s director, Dr. Jeff Griffin, sees a much greater purpose. “The Great Commission has to be communicated,” Griffin said. “Even though the writing center is helping students hone their skills to meet the course requirements, at the end of the day, we are helping students learn to communicate the greatest message ever told.” The writing center, located in Hardin Student Center Room 290B next to ITC, is open from noon until 5 p.m. on weekdays. Staffed by student writing coaches, the center’s services are available to all NOBTS and Leavell College students regardless of location. Writing coaches will read the first five pages and the conclusion of a student’s paper before a follow-up consultation. Each paper will be evaluated on the following five criteria: 1. Logical Development; 2. Grammar; 3. Citation Style; 4. Quality of Sources; and 5. Writing Style.
Know someone who is considering Seminary? The 36 Tips to Succeed in Seminary video, produced by the Office of Public Relations shows prospective students many ways to succeed in their education at NOBTS. These helpful tips vary from ways to thrive in the classroom, tips on what to do during Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, and how to avoid giving a “know-it-all” impression at church. Check out this clever video, produced by Boyd Guy, an NOBTS graduate, and current student Travis Milner, on the NOBTS YouTube channel (youtube.com/ nobtspublications).
NOBTS WRITER RECEIVES BCA AWARD FOR FEATURE Marilyn Stewart, Vision magazine managing editor and assistant director of public relations at NOBTS, received a writing award during the 2016 Baptist Communicators Association Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition and Communications Audit. The article, “Strength to endure runs deep,” garnered second place in the Feature Writing Division, Single Article (Less than 750 words) category.
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NEW BAPTIST CENTER JOURNAL ISSUE FOCUSES ON THEOLOGY OF YOUTH MINISTRY The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at NOBTS recently announced the release of the Spring 2016 issue of the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (JBTM). The issue is available free at www.baptistcenter.net. Baptist Center director Dr. Adam Harwood co-edited the issue with youth ministry specialist Dr. Allen Jackson. The issues includes seven articles on “Theology of Youth Ministry” followed by book reviews in the fields of biblical studies, historical theology, Christian ethics, biblical theology, evangelism, apologetics, and systematic theology.
DEFEND THE FAITH UPHOLDS THE ‘MATCHLESS GOSPEL’ Defend the Faith, a conference held Jan. 4-8, 2016 and sponsored by the NOBTS Institute for Christian Apologetics, brought together two-dozen noted scholars and speakers to equip believers in clearing a path for the Gospel by answering objections to the faith. “Every age presents unique challenges to the Christian faith,” said Rhyne Putman, assistant professor of theology and culture and Defend the Faith director. “We face moral shifts in our culture, religious pluralism, other competing worldviews, and assaults on religious liberty.” Held on the New Orleans campus, the conference was attended by more than 200, including collegiates from various campuses. Speakers included noted resurrection scholar Gary Habermas; PUTMAN Paul Copan, philosopher and author of leading apologetic works; quantum chemist Neil Shenvi; Tom Gilson, editor of The Stream; Doug Groothuis, of Denver Seminary, and others. Pointing to 1 Peter 3:15, Groothuis said defending the faith is a “privilege and responsibility” that every believer can be prepared to do. “We ought to be in public and interpersonally engaging people with the matchless Gospel of our Lord,” Groothuis told conference attendees. “God can accommodate our mistakes. You don’t have to be a master of apologetic method to do apologetics.” Visit www.nobtsapologetics.com for resources and information about next year’s conference, Jan. 2-6, 2017.
JOSH PEELER WINS TOP HONORS Josh Peeler, Ph.D. student in preaching, won top honors at the inaugural Young Scholars Competition presented by the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for his paper, “The Pastoral Theology of Thomas Chalmers as a Model of Christian Cultural Engagement.” Seven papers were chosen to be presented at the July 2015 competition from submissions made before an April deadline. Scoring was based on writing evaluation, presentation, and peer evaluations. First place prize was $1,000. Prizes of $750 and $500 were also awarded. In addition to the master of divinity in expository preaching from NOBTS, Peeler holds the master of arts in interdisciplinary studies with a specialization in cross-cultural communication from the University of Oklahoma.
GREER-HEARD 2016: Bird argues against heretical view of Jesus’ divinity A noted evangelical-turned-agnostic and a well-known agnostic-turned-evangelical were the featured speakers at the 12th annual Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Feb. 12-13. Bart D. Ehrman, an agnostic and author of numerous best-selling books including How Jesus Became God, dialoged with Michael F. Bird, a lecturer in theology at Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia, and the editor of How God Became Jesus and author of the award-winning The Gospel of the Lord. The Greer-Heard forum hosts respected scholars of differing opinions to dialog on critical issues in religion, science, philosophy and culture for the purpose of helping students and ministers think critically and learn to engage a secular society. With a focus on when and how the early church came to believe that Jesus was the divine Son of God, Ehrman, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and noted New Testament scholar, argued for an “adoptionistic Christology” that sees Jesus’ divinity as a later invention of the early church. Bird disputed Ehrman’s claims using examples from history, early debates, and Scripture to show that while the early believers struggled with language to properly describe who Jesus was, they were not adoptionistic. Bird also pointed to adoptionism’s failure theologically saying that adoptionism implies self-justification and is at odds with the Gospel of grace as understood by the early church. More than 600 attended the event that included presentations the following day by noted biblical scholars Simon Gathercole, Cambridge University, and Larry W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh. The forum is made possible through the gifts of William Heard, a Louisiana Baptist layperson, and his wife Carolyn Greer Heard. Carolyn Greer Heard passed away Feb. 14, the day after the conference. For information on conference materials and for upcoming events, visit www.greerheard.com.
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of all the things the media and society have tried to do to divide us, we can be one.” As the SBC’s first African American president, race isn’t an issue he can avoid, Luter said, citing one question that consistently comes up when he is interviewed by journalists. “Every last one of them asked this question: Why would a black man want to be president of a convention that started because of slavery?” Luter said his answer was always the same. “Racism, segregation is a part of our past, but that’s the thing: it’s our past.” The Southern Baptist Convention has addressed the past and has taken deliberative action to demonstrate its desire to be diverse, he said. “We regret the past of this convention,” Luter said. “This convention has publicly apologized for our past ... We’ve made it known through resolutions that we want this convention to be diverse, and it is. I believe the Southern Baptist Convention is the most diverse convention of any in America ... There is no other convention that comes close to our diversity in the Southern Baptist Convention.” Luter said he longs for the day when the topic of conversation will be inroads Southern Baptists have made in evangelism, discipleship and in changing the world – “where I can go to a church ... and be introduced not as the first African American president, but as, ‘This is our brother, Fred Luter.’ That’s my prayer for this convention and for America.”
LUTER ON RACE RELATIONS: SEES CHURCH AS UNIFIER
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By MARILYN STEWART
ACE RELATIONS ISSUES HAVE NOT IMPROVED since the election of the first African American U.S. president, but the church can lead in modeling reconciliation, said Fred Luter Jr., immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the first African American to hold the position. Luter addressed the issue in a video produced by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and said, “I really thought this nation was ready to move forward” with the historic election of Barack Obama that garnered votes from Anglos as well as diverse ethnic groups. Luter serves as a national alumni officer for NOBTS. The video was posted on the seminary’s Facebook page and garnered 36,000 views in the first ten days of its release. “As much as we needed racial reconciliation in America, I really thought that was the opportunity for our nation to come together and make us one as a nation,” Luter said. “But unfortunately ... that’s not the case.” Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, expressed optimism for the future as the body of Christ leads the way as an agent for social change. In analyzing today’s situation, Luter quoted a pastor-friend who states it this way: “America doesn’t have a skin problem, we have a sin problem.” When the sin problem is resolved through faith in Christ, racial reconciliation follows, Luter said, noting that the church has both the responsibility and capability to model what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ. “We can be one,” Luter said. “Regardless of your race, regardless of what side of the track you were born on, regardless
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A WIN-WIN SITUATION Luter pointed to the close relationship between the church he leads and New Orleans Seminary, a friendship benefitting both, modeling what Christians can learn from one another. As a young pastor with a background as a National Baptist, Luter said he was at first unaware of what NOBTS offered in terms of theological education, continuing education and resources. With his church located two miles from the campus, “a great partnership” developed. “I began to appreciate all that this seminary had to offer us, a small mission church in the inner city,” Luter said. As regular chapel speaker at NOBTS, Luter invites students to visit and join with Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. For some, it is their first experience worshipping in a predominantly African American church, Luter said. “I think it’s a win-win situation,” Luter said. “What New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has meant to Franklin Avenue, but also what Franklin Avenue Baptist Church has meant to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.”
SEMINARY NEWS
MUSIC STUDENT TYLER BRINSON WINS DOVE AWARD
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By MARILYN STEWART
HEN IT COMES TO TOP-OF-THE-CHART Christian music, the coveted Dove Award is the prize that sets off the best. For NOBTS doctor of music arts student Tyler Brinson, it’s an honor he now counts among his achievements. Brinson, with noted Gospel songwriter and producer Geron Davis, received the 2015 Dove Award for Choral Collection of the Year for the recording project, “Splendor of Heaven.” Davis is noted for such hits as “We’re Standing on Holy Ground” and “In the Presence of Jehovah,” and others. Produced with the 150-member choir of First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Tenn., where Brinson serves as minister of music and worship, the collection’s title song “Splendor of Heaven,” is a contemporary praise and worship melody based on Ephesians 2:6-7. “Many of the songs evoke a strong imagery of the beauty of God, the eternal promise for believers,” Brinson said. “That title song encompassed well the message throughout the project.” The Dove Awards, presented annually by the Gospel Music Association, honor musicians and music productions in 41 categories including Gospel, Southern Gospel, contemporary Christian, Hip-hop, Pop, Bluegrass, and others. Intended to reach an audience with a wide demographic, the album “speaks to everyone,” Brinson said. Two songs on the
album are anthemic ballads; one is folksy with acoustic guitar, bass, and fiddle; and one song, “Great God, Great Praise,” is Black Gospel, Brinson said. “There’s music for every generation on this project. It speaks to everyone,” Brinson said. One song, “Glorious Savior,” was written by his father, Terrell Brinson. Brinson said, “One line says, ‘When I kneel before Amazing Grace.’ God doesn’t just offer amazing grace. He is amazing grace.” Brinson’s choir has performed in Washington D.C. outside the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument where they closed with an invitation to listeners to learn more about Christ. The choir has also performed at New York City’s Brooklyn Tabernacle and sings the national anthem each year at an Atlanta Braves’ game. Since the album’s release, choir membership has expanded, but so has members’ understanding of calling. “The project has helped develop a greater sense of calling and purpose among the choir members and a clear and broader vision of the choir’s role as worship leaders,” Brinson said. “Through this project and its circulation, I believe the choir’s gained an even greater sense of their part in the church’s ultimate calling, not to just grow in the worship of God at home, but also to move the message of the Gospel of Christ beyond our church’s four walls.” Brinson, who is in the dissertation phase of his degree, married his wife, Diana, the same month as receiving the award.
LOUISIANA PASTOR STEVEN ARMSTRONG RECEIVES CASKEY PATHFINDER AWARD
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Steven Armstrong shares about his church’s community ministry during the “No Restraints” Conference.
HE CASKEY CENTER FOR CHURCH EXCELLENCE and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary presented this year’s Caskey Pathfinder Award to Steven Armstrong, a bivocational pastor from Addis, La., during the “No Restraints” Conference April 23. The award recognizes new pathways in ministry and advances in church excellence. Armstrong has pastored Westside Community Church, a newer church plant, for three years. Under Armstrong’s leadership, the church started going into mobile home parks two nights a week to provide after-school tutoring, a meal for children in the area, and to teach Bible stories. A refurbished bus is used to facilitate the ministry. Armstrong said he launched the ministry with the intent to “quit trying to find creative and strategic ways to get the children and families to the church but maybe bring the church to the community.”
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Members of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary archaeology team clear dirt and debris from storage rooms near the Bronze Age wall at Gezer.
TEL GEZER
MORE CANAANITE EVIDENCE FOUND BY NOBTS DIG TEAM By GARY D. MYERS
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DDED EVIDENCE THAT AN ANCIENT WATER SYSTEM at Tel Gezer in Israel could be the product of Middle Bronze Age Canaanites living between the time of Abraham and the Israelite conquest was uncovered by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s archaeology team during a 2015 dig season. The Bible provides a tantalizing parallel to the Gezer system in the accounts of King David. In 2 Samuel 5:69, David’s men utilized a “water shaft” to invade and conquer the fortress of Zion/ Jerusalem. This rock-hewn system has been located in Jerusalem’s “City of David” area. Based on all the available data, Dan Warner, co-director of the NOBTS Gezer dig, believes the City of David tunnel and the Gezer system are both products of the Middle Bronze Age. The Gezer water system excavation is a joint project of the Moskau Institute for Archaeology at NOBTS and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). The dig is co-directed by Dan Warner, an NOBTS professor, and INPA chief archaeologist Tsvika Tsuk. Jim Parker, NOBTS professor and executive director of the Moskau Institute, and Dennis Cole, professor and chairman
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of the division of biblical studies, also provide leadership for the excavation. This summer’s dig at Gezer will run from May 22 to June 10. Warner estimates that the Canaanites likely built the water system during the height of Gezer’s prominence as a Canaanite city-state. Though this would place construction approximately 600700 years before the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the water system can shed light on the Canaanite people and their culture – a culture which plays a formidable role in the Old Testament. Canaanite Gezer is mentioned multiple times in the Israelite conquest narrative recorded in the Old Testament book of Joshua. The most notable mention occurs in Joshua 10:33. When Joshua and his men attacked Lachish, the army of Gezer came to that city’s aid. The Israelites defeated Lachish and the army of Gezer, killing King Horam of Gezer. Gezer is connected to the Israelite failure to take the entire land that God had given them. In Joshua 16:10, the biblical author notes that the Israelites “did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer.” And though the Israelites set aside Gezer as a “city of refuge,” the Bible indicates that the Canaanites controlled Gezer until the time of Solomon when
they were finally defeated by an Egyptian pharaoh (1 Kings 9:15-17). The Canaanites experienced a time of cultural decline in the years before the conquest but were still a frightening foe with heavily fortified cities. The water system, along with the massive defensive walls and gate, illustrate an advanced society with great technical know-how, significant engineering skills and a desire to build things on a large scale, Warner said.
EVIDENCE FOR A MIDDLE BRONZE AGE DATE “The pottery retrieved from the system this past season appears to date either from the end of the Middle Bronze Age or the beginning of the Late Bronze Age,” Warner said. “Either way, the system had to be dug before the pottery was deposited, giving the earliest possible date in the Middle Bronze Age.” The massive rock-hewn water system was created with flint and bronze tools as early as 2000 B.C, Warner noted. Already the largest known of its type, evidence suggests the Gezer system may be one of the oldest. The ancient water system, which provided a water source inside the walls
SEMINARY NEWS
TOP LEFT: The NOBTS archaeology team places sand bags over the ancient steps of the Gezer water system. The massive water system measures 12 feet wide by 24 feet high at the opening. TOP RIGHT: Light streams into the Gezer water system as volunteers take measurements of the tunnel. BOTTOM: Team members wash pottery sherds at the end of a long day of excavation.
of Gezer, consists of at least three parts: a keyhole-shaped entrance, a long diagonal shaft and a basin to collect water which may extend into a cavern located just beyond the basin. The noticed a clear transition from Late massive water system measures 12 feet Bronze Age pottery to Middle Bronze wide and 24 feet high at its opening, Age pottery dating between 1800 and stretching 130 feet into 1500 B.C. under the the ground at a 38-degree “pottery dump.” The slope. For the past six years, THE WATER pottery finds make a 2000 a team of archaeologists SYSTEM B.C. construction date and volunteers has been CAN SHED more likely, Warner said. investigating the site in an LIGHT ON THE When Irish archaeologist effort to determine who R.A.S. Macalister excavated CANAANITE constructed the ancient the system from 1906-08, PEOPLE AND water system and when it he attributed it to Middle THEIR CULTURE Bronze Age Canaanites. was constructed. In previous years, the – A CULTURE However, his primitive team encountered a highly WHICH PLAYS archaeology methods along concentrated area of Late A FORMIDABLE with persistent theories Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 about the systems in Hazor ROLE IN B.C.) pottery sherds. and Megiddo led many to THE OLD This discovery led the dismiss his claims about dig leaders and Eli Yanni, TESTAMENT. the Gezer system. Recent who serves as the dig’s pottery expert, evidence suggests that the Megiddo to speculate that the tunnel may have system also is a product of Middle been used as a pottery dump after it was Bronze Age Canaanites, providing no longer used as a water source. Why additional evidence for an early dating it ceased use as a water system remains of the Gezer system. a point of speculation. This year Yanni Shortly after Macalister’s excavation at
Gezer, a retaining wall collapsed and refilled the water system with dirt rocks and debris. It remained untouched for 102 years. During his dig, Macalister laid a “causeway” of stones across the muddy basin to reach the cavern. While the causeway helped Macalister’s team reach the cavern, it also protected materials resting in the basin from contamination following the retaining wall’s 1908 collapse. The NOBTS/ INPA team discovered Macalister’s causeway during the 2012 dig season. For the past four seasons, the team has been removing datable pottery samples from the area Macalister left untouched. How the Canaanites could build such a system remains a mystery. Many have attributed the system to outside influences such as the Minoans, Egyptians or Mesopotamians. But the Middle Bronze Age dating removes that option. Warner maintains the possibility that the Canaanites developed the technology.
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FACULTY NEWS PHELPS LEADS EVANGELICAL PREACHING SOCIETY New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary preaching professor Dennis Phelps is serving as the 2015-2016 president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. EHS promotes the exchange of ideas related to instruction in biblical preaching, academic publication in homiletics and the effective communication of the Gospel from a biblical-theological standpoint. Phelps joined the NOBTS faculty in 2006 and occupies the J.D. Grey Chair of Preaching. He has 19 years in theological education, including 10 at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and more than 21 years in pastoral ministry. In addition to his teaching duties, Phelps also leads the alumni relations office at NOBTS. Phelps is a frequent guest presenter at preaching conferences, including a pastors’ preaching and evangelism
KEVIN BROWN NAMED OUTSANDING UNO GRAD STUDENT Kevin Brown was named the Outstanding Graduate Student for 2016 by the University of New Orleans (UNO) Department of Planning and Urban Studies. Brown, associate professor of social work, was recognized for his research regarding one troubled New Orleans neighborhood. Brown, who completed his Ph.D. in urban studies at UNO this spring, used his dissertation as an opportunity to study the high crime rate in Hollygrove, the neighborhood where he lived and ministered for many years. In his dissertation, Brown expresses the challenges that the residents face and looks for ways to decrease crime in this area. “My research suggests that the way to reduce neighborhood homicide is to empower residents to improve their neighborhood,” Brown said in a recent Louisiana Weekly article. “We spend a lot of time thinking about the individuals who commit the murders and too little thinking about the conditions that incubate them.”
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conference in Belarus, and has appeared regularly at the E-4 Preaching Conference, a collaborative expository preaching conference hosted by the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Seminary and Louisiana College. EHS will mark its 20-year anniversary when it convenes in October at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Phelps assumed EHS’ presidency at last fall’s annual meeting in Fort Worth, having served the previous year as vice president. Phelps was among the society’s founders. “Almost 20 years ago many of us gathered at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary outside of Boston to organize a professional scholarly society specifically for evangelical homileticians with a high view of Scripture and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone,” he recounted. “It has been fascinating to watch the group grow, to see the respected contributions made to national and international scholarship, and to encourage
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY BRINGS TWIST TO CLASSROOM APPROACH
the next generation across several evangelical cultures,” Phelps said. “To serve as the current president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society is quite humbling and exhilarating.” Phelps holds a Ph.D. in preaching from Southwestern Seminary, a master of divinity focused on pastoral ministries, theology and biblical studies from New Orleans Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana College. EHS produces the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. Membership is open to homiletics professors and instructors, pastors, evangelists and others committed to the organization’s goals.
of a discovery made in recent years. A Roman inscription to Caesar Augustus on an altar at Metropolis, near Ephesus, calls Augustus hilasterion, or “reconciler.” Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, brought warring factions together at a time when division threatened to destroy the empire All the way from the other side of the built by Julius Caesar. Augustus’ reign globe, a New Testament archaeological ushered in an unprecedented period of scholar and researcher peace and prosperity known “stepped into” Dr. Gerald as the Pax Romana. Stevens’ Romans Exegesis Stevens said Paul’s use of class this semester to bring a the word hilasterion signals fresh look to a familiar word what might be called a in Scripture. “countersubversive Gospel” Dr. Mark Wilson, founder by shining a light on the and director of the Asia Minor Roman understanding of Research Center in Antalya, reconciliation and showing Turkey, spoke to students its inadequacy. through the online delivery STEVENS “Rome has its gospel, the system BlueJeans regarding Pax Romana,” Stevens said. the Greek word hilasterion translated in “But here is the real Gospel. The real good English as “propitiation” or “expiation” in news is the Reconciler who brings real peace.” Romans 3:25. A question and answer period followed The experience was a “technological Wilson’s presentation. Steven said the twist to the visiting professor” scenario, successful class session inspired him Stevens said. to write “Teaching with Technology,” a Stevens, who developed a friendship paper he will present at the annual Society with Wilson through his many journeys to of Biblical Literature meeting when it biblical sites in Turkey, enlisted the help of convenes this year in San Antonio, Nov. his friend to inform students of the impact 19-22.
FACULTY NEWS GOD AND COSMOLOGY: William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll in Dialogue Dr. Robert Stewart Fortress Press, 2016 The question of God and cosmology is far from abstract. In fact, the subject raises the deepest questions of human existence: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Or, to put it more personally, “Why am I here?” Structured as a debate, the 2014 Greer-Heard Forum focused on the issue of God and cosmology and its impact on life and self-understanding. Christian philosopher William Lane Craig and atheist cosmologist Sean Carroll presented their views before a packed crowd of more than 900 people. Spirited, civil, and often humorous, the debate highlighted not only their positions, but the full range of possibilities. In this volume, the content of that debate is reprinted and supplemented by a range of reflections by other conference presenters. The purpose of the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum is to provide a venue for fair-minded dialogue on subjects of importance in religion and culture. The goal is a respectful exchange of ideas, without compromise. Dr. Robert Stewart is Professor of Philosophy and Theology and the Greer-Heard Chair of Faith and Culture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned the Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
A CITY SET ON A HILL: Essays in Honor of James F. Strange Dr. Daniel A Warner (Co-Editor) Borderstone Press, 2015 For more than four decades, James F. Strange has been one of the leading figures in biblical archaeology, especially in his role as the director of the University of South Florida’s excavations at Sepphoris, a position he held for 27 years. During that time, he not only advanced our understanding of civilization in Galilee within the formative years of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism, but he also trained a new generation of scholars in the rigorous methodologies of archaeological fieldwork – methodologies that he helped pioneer. In this volume, nearly two dozen of his colleagues, former students, and other fellow scholars honor Strange with a series of essays on biblical archaeology and its related, interdisciplinary fields, often building upon his own considerable scholarly contributions. Collectively, they offer the reader the latest insights and discoveries in field excavations, ancient textual studies, and social scientific analyses, forming a fitting tribute to Strange’s legacy. Dr. Daniel A. Warner is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Archaeology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, occupying the Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament and Archaeology. Dan has been excavating in Israel for close to 30 years, including such sites as: Ashkelon, Gerar, Megiddo, Kabri, Tel el-Farah South, and Gezer.
ACTS: A New Vision of the People of God Dr. Gerald L. Stevens Wipf & Stock, 2016 This analysis of Luke’s post-ascension story of Jesus offers a fresh look at the interpretation of Acts and Paul. Carefully constructed narrative arguments from within the story in Acts use the themes of Pentecost, the Hellenists, and the character development of Saul-Paul to reveal Luke’s insight that the future of the Jesus story is in the Hellenist movement realizing the promise of Pentecost in Israel. These Hellenists are at odds with the Jerusalem church on the implications of the outpoured Spirit of Pentecost. Further, the SaulPaul of Acts is not what most readers presume from Paul’s letters. For Luke, Paul finds his narrative significance in Acts only within the Hellenist movement and Pentecost fulfillment. Paul himself becomes Luke’s premier example of the God active, God resisted theme of the speech of Stephen that drives the plot of Acts. This plot mechanism provides illuminating exegesis of Paul’s insistence on going to Jerusalem from Ephesus with its dramatic conclusion in the shipwreck of Paul. Stevens concludes by integrating the ending of Acts into Luke’s three major themes and overall narrative strategy – an impressive, compelling, and thoroughly fresh reading of Acts. Dr. Gerald L. Stevens is Professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned the Master of Divinity degree and the Doctor of Theology degree from NOBTS.
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POST-KATRINA MINISTRY IN NEW ORLEANS PREPARES ALUMNUS FOR SERVICE IN MALI By GARY D. MYERS
M
ost Americans would be hard pressed to locate Mali on a world map, much less Mali’s capital city of Bamako. Yet with a rapid urbanization and modernization movement taking hold in the West African nation, Bamako is becoming a strategic location for Gospel witness. The road that took American missionary Wayne Wallace* to Bamako, Mali, began in Louisiana where he and his wife were raised. Wayne experienced a call to missions as a young believer. Later during his undergraduate studies at Louisiana College, he met his wife, Susan*, who had also experienced a call to missions. After college, the Wallaces married and followed their calling to seminary at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where Wayne studied people group strategies. Susan went on to earn an MBA from the University of New Orleans. The plan was simple: study in New Orleans, graduate as soon as possible, and go to the mission field. The plan worked except for one key
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factor – there was no quick exit from New Orleans. Just about a year before graduation, God began to impress on Wayne’s heart that he needed to stay in New Orleans after seminary. Ultimately, God opened a door for him to serve at the North American Mission Board’s Brantley Center in downtown New Orleans – a facility which offered a substance addiction program and ministry to the homeless. For Wayne, the Brantley Center was a hands-on introduction to urban ministry. Things were going well until Hurricane Katrina hit the city in August 2005. The Brantley Center never reopened after the storm. “I really think Katrina was probably the biggest reason why God had us stay in the city,” Wayne said. “I think He wanted us to go through that experience … to get us spiritually, mentally and emotionally ready for what He had for us down the road.” The storm brought on a transition in ministry, but not a move from New
Orleans. NAMB utilized Wayne to facilitate volunteer recovery teams ministering in the hurting city. After helping set up and launch the volunteer village for NAMB, Wayne served alongside the local Baptist association helping churches re-engage their neighborhoods and fostering new church plants. Helping with the renewal of New Orleans helped Wayne sort through and apply the principles he learned in seminary. “Exegeting” the new realities facing the city provided an opportunity to practice the skills he would later use in Africa. Most of all, Wayne said that he learned to be obedient to God and approach Gospel ministry with a new sense of urgency in post-Katrina New Orleans. Soon the Wallaces began sensing God’s call to go overseas. After their experience in New Orleans, they sought an urban opportunity. “We wanted to be in urban work, we wanted to be in an unreached urban place,” he said. “We wanted to use other skill sets, particularly my wife’s business skills.” *Name changed due to security concerns.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
One of the ways the Wallaces serve their community is through an NGO which provides development and compassion ministries. Medical clinics offer a variety of services to the people of Bamako, opening the door for Gospel conversations.
When the Wallaces first learned about the International Mission Board ministry in Bamako, Mali, they were skeptical. It seemed like a “rough” place, Wayne remembers. But when they began to pray, it was clear that God wanted them to go to Mali, a Muslim country where less than 1 percent of the population identifies as evangelical Christian. “Sign us up,” Wayne told the IMB candidate consultant. “We’ll be the crazy people who go to Bamako.” The Wallaces left New Orleans for IMB training in 2012. After training time in Richmond, Va., they participated in intensive urban training in Vancouver, Canada. About the time the Wallaces left for Vancouver, the government of Mali was overthrown by a coup. As they waited for things to settle in Mali, the Wallaces served in Ivory Coast, a neighboring African nation. After about a year and a half in Ivory Coast, the Wallaces were finally able to move to Mali. Bamako is undergoing dramatic change. Currently the population of the city stands at 2.5 million, but with the rapid growth and modernization efforts, the population could swell to 4 million in the next 10 years. While people have lived in the city for many years, in many ways, Bamako is becoming a new city. “It’s a rapidly growing city and it’s a city that is early in its modern development,” Wayne said. “That’s one of the things that makes the city exciting to me. It’s a new work in a relatively new city.” Dealing with rapid change and urban
growth are not new for the The NGO opens many doors into the Wallaces. Though the impetus society and serves as a bridge between the for the change was different, local churches and people in need of the the Wallaces believe their time Gospel. The Wallaces have partnered with in post-Katrina New Orleans uniquely churches to sponsor medical clinics and prepared them for the work in Bamako. seminars and small business development The Wallaces made a strategic decision classes. As they develop relationships, the to work in conjunction with existing local Wallaces look for natural ways to share the churches in all they Gospel. do. There are only five “Everything we do Baptist churches in the IT’S A CITY through our NGO we are area, with a total of only THAT IS EARLY very unapologetic about how 300 baptized believers. IN ITS MODERN much Bible and Gospel we Working with the DEVELOPMENT. weave into it,” Wayne said. local, existing believers THAT’S ONE OF “We try to develop programs provides added stability meet needs, but also THE THINGS THATthat and sustainability if give us a clear avenue for the the political situation MAKES THE CITY Gospel.” changes and the EXCITING TO ME. The NGO is also having an IT’S A NEW WORK impact on the sustainability of Wallaces have to leave. The Wallaces are IN A RELATIVELY the local churches. The pastors working directly with NEW CITY. in the area receive little pay the local church for from their churches so outside discipleship, church planting, leadership employment is a must. Many pastors have training and partnership mobilization. long secular work hours and little time Theological and doctrinal training is a for ministry. Recently, the Wallaces made high priority for Wayne. The teachings a micro loan to help a pastor start a small he has encountered in the churches business. The money came from a VBS is solid, but Wayne wants to provide offering at a Louisiana church. additional training against new, heretical The pastor’s start-up has been movements which are sweeping across successful. The pastor is faithfully Africa. Wallace found initial success repaying his loan and making enough using an oral theological training model money to support his family. Most pioneered by an IMB colleague in West importantly, the pastor is meeting many Africa, rather than Western, literature- people who are in need of the Gospel as based model. Wayne hopes to include he operates his shop. more church leaders in this initiative Because of the delay in reaching when he returns Mali. Bamako, many of Wallace’s initiatives were The Wallaces also established an just getting started when it came time for urban component to an existing non- stateside assignment. As they return to governmental organization (NGO) which Bamako recharged, the Wallaces have a offers a wide range of compassion ministries clear focus and great excitement about and community development activities. what God will accomplish in the city.
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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 1960S
CARLSON, NEAL (ThM ’73) recently published The Marriage Knot: A Slip Knot or a Hard Knot. The book is in paperbook and in Kindle format at Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Carlson served as a pastor for 61 years.
NUTT, KENNETH (BRE ’61) recently retired as pastor of Hebron Baptist Church of Summerfield, La., for 58 years, and Summerfield Baptist Church, Colfax, La., serving concurrently for 44 years. TAYLOR, CECIL R. (THMH ’69) was named Emeritus Professor of Christian Studies recently by the University of Mobile, Ala., where he served 24 years as Dean and Professor of Christian Studies. He and his wife Reeda retired to Marshall, Texas. He continues to teach at Liberty University Seminary and Wiley College, Marshall, and to serve interim pastorates.
1970S
BASS, JERRY (MDiv ’73) published the book Katrina and the Need for Revival in the American Church. BRACKIN, JOHN (MDiv ’74, MRE ’ 83), Director of Missions for the Hill Country Baptist Association in Kerrville, Texas, was awarded a third Dan (level) black belt in Tae Kwon Do from the Kukkiwon in Seoul, Korea and the World Tae Kwon Do Federation May 7, 2015. ROBERTS, M. WESLEY (MCM ’76) is coauthor with Maurice Hinson of Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, 4th ed. (Indiana University Press, 2014). Roberts received the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award from Campbellsville University. SHAW, MIKE (MTh ’73, DMin ’76) is retired as pastor from First Baptist Church of Pelham, Ala. 1980S KING, BILL (MDiv ’80, DMin ’95) recently published the Christian novel You Shall Receive Power and the Christian book of humor Clean Up the House Boys, Mama has Hired a Maid with Oak Tara Publishers. King is the director of missions in Opelika, Ala., and ministers as a Christian humorist and musician through his stage creation, Bro. Billy Bob Bohannon. SMITH, TOMMY W. (MDiv ’80, MAMF ’98) published The War of the Lords, with Tate Publishers. This book for young teen readers explores from
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ALUMNI NEWS a Christian worldview the history of creation, the fall, Satan and his work on earth, the Gospel and the final judgment of evil.
1990S
BUCKLEY, SETH (MRE ’ 90) recently completed a second term as chairman of the board of trustees at the Baptist Courier in South Carolina, the Baptist newspaper for South Carolina Baptists. Buckley was elected in November of 2015 to serve on the Board of Trustees at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C. BROWN, DAVID (MRE ’90) received a PhD in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Language and Literacy from Georgia State University in March 2015. GLASGOW, JAY (MDiv ’96) is now serving as a chaplain with the Roper St. Francis Healthcare System in Charleston, S.C. GRAVES, MICHAEL KIRK (MDiv ’95) serves as a bi-vocational and bilingual pastor of Smith Point Community Church in Anahuac, Texas, and teaches English, Sociology, and History at Robert E. Lee High School, Baytown, Texas.
2000S
AUSBUN, DANIEL (MDiv ’03, ThM ’05) and wife, Sherri, adopted Esther Ausbun from Dongguan, China. Daniel serves as pastor of First Baptist Church of Moreland, Ga. FRANZ, STEVE (BACMIN ’08, MDiv ’12) is an adjunct professor at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., in the Christian Studies department. He is the founder of Steve Franz Evangelistic Ministries and works as an evangelist with the Georgia Baptist Convention. SMITH, CHANDLER (BACMIN ’05), Plaquemine High School principal was presented with the prestigious Milken Educator Award, with its notable cash prize of $25,000, in October 2015. Often dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching,” the award was presented to Smith in front of the student body and faculty by
the Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder, Lowell Milken. During Smith’s three-year tenure as principal, the school experienced increased attendance and graduation rates and was counted among the top 20 percent among Louisiana schools for growth in student proficiency, rising the next year to the top 15 percent.
BARLOW, JAMES E. (ThM ’67) of Oxford, Miss., passed away May 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ruby Sutherland Barlow.
WRIGHT, AARON (BACMin ’ 06) was ordained in June 2015 as pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church, Spring, Texas. He and his wife Janice (BACMin ’04) reside in Houston, Texas, with their four children.
BEATTY, DAVID B. (ADPM ’93, MX ’97), of Acworth, Ga., passed away Jan. 28, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Claudia Gail Beatty.
DEATHS
ADAIR, BLANTON L. (BX ’66), of Hartselle, Ala., passed away March 17, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Helen Adair. ADAMS, JAMES P. (DPCH ’58) or Athens, Ala., passed away Feb. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Adams. ALLISON, ALTA MAE (MX ’54), of Memphis, Tenn., passed away Oct. 3, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dr. John Philip Allison. ASHLEY, WARD M. (BDiv ’56), of New Market, Tenn., passed away Sept. 19, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Ruby Ashley. BAKER, FRANK J. (MDiv ’76) of Hendersonville, N.C., passed away Sept. 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Margaret R. Baker. BANKSTON, TROY G. (AX ’78) of McComb, Miss., passed away Oct.14, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Geraldine Wascom Bankston. BARBEE, CHRISTOPHER (MDiv ’78), passed away Oct. 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Brenda Barbee.
BATARSEH, TOWFIG (THMH ’74), passed away July 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Patricia Batarseh.
BELL, RAY E. (MX ’63) of Columbia, Miss., passed away May 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Joanne Dunn Bell. BLACK, SANDRA “SANDY,” of Jackson, Miss., passed away Feb. 26, 2016. She is survived by her husband, Larry Black (MCM ’62). BLANGE, PAULUS, L., III (ADPM ’84, MDiv ’94), of New Orleans, La., passed away Sept. 30, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Josie Contreras Blange. BORING, DORIS CULBERTSON (DPRE ’66) Passed away March 10, 2015. She is survived by her husband, James Milton Boring (MRE ’68), and daughter, Brenna Boring (MACE ’94). BRASELL, TRAVIS C., JR. (AX ’78), of Gadsen, Ala., passed away Nov. 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Candy Brasell. BROWN, BOBBY (DPCH ’59) of West Monroe, La., passed away June 13, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Mildred Foy Brown. He is survived by his wife, Faye S. Brown. BROWN, R. MICHAEL (AX ’83) of Greenville, Ala., passed away May 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Anita Brown. BUCKLEY, JIMMY G. (MRE ’54) of Brookhaven, Miss., passed away April 22, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ruby Buckley.
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ALUMNI NEWS BURKS, GLEN W. (MDiv ’99) of Jonesboro, Ark., passed away Aug. 5, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Shelvie Burks.
CROWE, RICHARD R. (THMH ’68) of Okeechobee, Fla., passed away Aug. 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Etola Sylvia Felton-Crowe.
ESKRIDGE, ROBERT L. (ThM ’68), of Painted Post, N.Y., passed away Jan. 7, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Barbara Eskridge.
BURTTRAM, FITZHUGH A. (MX ’91) of Ashville, Ala., passed away March 27, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Anna Louise Williams Burttram.
DANNER, HORACE G. (BCM ’61) passed away Jan. 14, 2015.
EUBANKS, BARBARA P. (“Bobbie”) (AX ’67), passed away July 15, 2015. She is survived by her husband, N. Brannan Eubanks.
CAMPBELL, ROBERT W. (MRE ’65), of Collierville, Tenn., passed away Jan. 9, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Ann Campbell. CARTER, JAMES R. (BDiv ’59), passed away July 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Delores Carter.
DILL, CHARLES B. (THMH ’68), of Des Moines, Iowa, passed away Feb. 11, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Shirley Pepper Dill.
CASTILLO, RENE F. (BX ’54) of Groves, Texas, passed away Dec. 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife of almost 64 years, Joan Castillo.
DIXON, JOHN P. (BDiv ’57) of Tucker, Ga., passed away Sept. 4, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Karin Dixon.
CATHY, JEANNETTE M. (MX ’48), passed away July 22, 2015.
DOHERTY, OTIS L. (THMH ’67) of Elkton, Md., passed away June 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn Doherty.
CHATHAM, PHARES E. (AX ’92) of Sumter, S.C., passed away Oct. 3, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Linda Evans Chatham. CLARK, JAMES L. (BDiv ’63) of Prairieville, La., passed away June 16, 2015. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 38 years, Pat, and survived by his present wife of 25 years, Janet. CLARK, LESLIE R. (BX ’60), of Memphis, Tenn., passed away Jan. 23, 2016. COOK, WILLIAM T. (MDiv ’86), of Salisbury, Md., passed away Aug. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Alice L. Cook.
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DAVIS, J. THOMAS (DMin ’79) of Jackson, Miss., passed away June 16, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Johnie Stephenson Davis. He is survived by his wife, Betty Davis.
DOUGLAS, JERRY K. (MRE ’64), of Huntsville, Ala., passed away Feb. 8, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Ernest Douglas. DOYLE, WALTER T. (MX ’83) of Walterboro, S.C., passed away April 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Billie Bass Doyle. DUKE, T A. (BDiv ’57) of Tuscumbia, Ala., passed away April 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Alice Underwood Duke.
CORDE, CLARISA A. (MRE ’55), of Tyler, Texas, passed away Sept. 30, 2015.
DUNCAN, AUBRIE L. (BX ’66) of Lancaster, Ky., passed away April 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Linda Ann Petrilli Duncan.
CRAWFORD, RENOLDA (BA ’96), of Bogalusa, La., passed away Sept. 18, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ernest Elbert Crawford.
DUNN, JERALD H., SR. (AX ’58) of Bowling Green, Fla., passed away July 3, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, JoAnn C. Dunn.
CREWS, BRADLEY H. (MRE ’78), of Warner Robins, Ga., passed away Jan. 13, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Jackie Crews.
ENSOR, ROBERT E. (ADRE ’81, ADMU ’81), of Elizabethton, Tenn., passed away March 8, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Frank Ensor.
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EULER, RONALD F. (BDiv ’65) of Pleasant Grove, Ala., passed away June 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jeanine Myers Euler. EVANS, CARL E. (MDiv ’77) of Leesville, La., passed away April 9, 2015. EVERETT, GROVER L. (BDiv ’59), passed away July 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Little Everett. FAAS, RUDY O. (MCM ’62), of Naples, Fla., passed away Jan. 8, 2016. He is survived by his wife Linda Faas. FORD, MARY E. (MRE ’51) of Nashville, Tenn., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. J.L. “Pete” Ford. FORMBY, DAVID E. (MX ’75) of Picayune, Miss., passed away Sept. 2, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Ella Quinn Formby. FOX, JOYCE B. (DPRE ’59), of Gardendale, Ala., passed away March 2, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Walter M. Fox. FOY, SLATER A. (MSM ’60) of Hilton Head Island, S.C., passed away Jan. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Imogene Dearman Foy. FREES, RICHARD L. (MRE ’81, MDiv ’79), passed away July 2, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sara Shockley Frees. GANDY, JAMES U. (BX ’62), passed away Dec. 8, 2015. He is preceded in death by two wives, Esther Kelley Gandy and Faye Faulk Gandy.
GANDY, R. LARRY (ThM ’71, DX ’83), of Cody, Wyo., passed away Sept. 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Linda Wilkinson Gandy.
INGRAM, JEFFREY W. (MDiv ’05) of Fairhope, Ala., passed away Aug. 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Jean Ingram.
LEWIS, ANNA D. (BX ’49) of Gallatin, Tenn., passed away Nov. 14, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, J. C. Lewis.
GIBSON, JOHN F. (MDiv ’85, PhD ’02) of New Orleans, La., passed away Aug. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife Christina Rogers Gibson.
IRBY, DAVID J. (BDiv ’56; ThD ’63) of Johnson City, Tenn., passed away June 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marilyn Irby.
LINDSEY, VERDIE NEWTON (BRE ’48) of Jackson, Miss., passed away Nov. 4, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Clifton “C.O.” Lindsey.
GOODMAN, BAERBEL S. (ThM ’70) of Rocky Mount, N.C., passed away Sept. 11, 2015. Susi is survived by her husband, Dr. David W. Goodman.
JOHNSON, J.D. (ThM ’68) of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Aug. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Bonnie Young Johnson.
LITTLE, JOYCE C. (AX ’79), of Jay, Fla., passed away May 30, 2015.
GRAHAM, CAROLYN M. (NX ’89), of Fairhope, Ala., passed away Jan. 30, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Dr. Charles Graham.
JONES, MARY N. of Canfield, Ohio, passed away Jan. 13, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Melvin R. Jones (BDiv ’58).
HAMLIN, BILLIE, (DPCH ’62), passed away Oct. 22, 2015. He is survived by his wife or 68 years, Betty Ingram Hamlin.
JUSTICE, WILLIAM G. (BDiv ’61) of Knoxville, Tenn., passed away Aug. 27, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ann Fowler Justice.
HARDIE, CHARLES C. (MDiv ’80), passed away June 29, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis G. Hardie.
KENDRICK, DAVID A. (MDiv ’89) of Amory, Miss., passed away June 10, 2015.
HEARD, CAROLYN GREER (Seminary Donor) of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 14, 2016. She is survived by her husband, William Lee Heard, Jr.
KNIGHT, FRANCES C. (MX ’52), of Trussville, Ala., passed away Sept. 24, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Thurman Knight.
HENRY, PATRICK L. (MRE ’70), passed away Dec. 8, 2015. HICKS, STEVEN P., SR. (ThD ’73), passed away July 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Minnie Greer Hicks. HOBBS, WANDA B. (MX ’55) of Lone Star, Texas, passed away March 29, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Robbie L. Hobbs. HOLMES, CHARLES R. (MDiv ’76, DMin ’80), passed away July 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Lois Holmes. HONTAS, DAVID (DMin ’05), passed away June 17, 2015. HUNT, ASA, III (BDiv ’55) of League City, Texas, passed away March 19, 2015. He is survived by his wife Annette Hunt.
LASSETT, GEORGE W. (MDiv ’74) of Fairhope, Ala. passed away May 8, 2015. LASSETT, JOSEPHINE SCHUTZ, of Columbia, Tenn., passed away Feb. 24, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. George W. Lassett (MDiv ’74) in 2015. LEE, KENNETH R. (MDiv ’98) of Black Mountain, N.C., passed away Sept. 5, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Sheryl D. Green. LEGACY, JOSEPH E. (MX ’88) passed away Jan. 7, 2015. LESTER, GERALDINE A. (ACM ’07), passed away June 26, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Adolphus Lester Jr.
LITTLE, THOMAS, JR. (MDiv ’79), of Jay, Fla., passed away Jan. 23, 2016. He is preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Joyce Carnley Little. LIVENGOOD, NORMAN L. (MRE ’64) of Bonita Springs, Fla., passed away May 9, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Maxine Livengood. LODATTO, DONNIE J. (DPPM ’72) of Bossier City, La., passed away Aug. 5, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Joyce Lodatto. LOPEZ, RICHARD M. (MX ’06), passed away July 9, 2015. LUEBBERT, RICHARD W. (BDiv ’55) passed away March 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Dorothy Embree Luebbert. LUNDY, CHARLES W. (MRE ’81) of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., passed away Sept. 1, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Lundy. MARLER, L. PARKES (BDiv ’53) of Kosciusko, Miss., passed away Nov. 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Martha Ellen Townsend Marler. MARTING, HUGH A. (THMH ’67) of Oxford, Miss., passed away May 11, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Jean Holder Marting. MASSEY, VICTOR C. (BDiv ’56, THD ’62) of Cleveland, Ga., passed away Nov. 11, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sue Massey.
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ALUMNI NEWS MAZZAGATE, ROY J. (MX ’02), of Orange, Texas, passed away Oct. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Darlene Mazzagate.
MINSHEW, PAT E. (MRE ’64) of Montevallo, Ala., passed away Dec. 12, 2015. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Eberhart Minshew.
POLSON, RUSSELL A., JR. (PhD ’98), of Jasper, Texas, passed away Aug. 6, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia Polson.
MCCLENDON, WILLIAM C., JR. (AX ’92), of Atlanta, Ga., passed away Feb. 25, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Brenda McClendon.
MORRISON, CLINTON I. (MDiv ’75; EdD ’78) of Harrison, Ark., passed away April 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Laura Dubuisson Morrison.
POWERS, JOE C. (BDiv ’54), of Oklahoma City, Okla., passed away Jan. 21, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Irma Powers.
MCGEE, VIRGIL W. (CCM ’99) passed away Jan. 13, 2015. MCGOUGAN, RALEIGH E. (MCM ’71), passed away June 26, 2015.
MORSE, JIMMY D. (ADPM ’83) of Bowling Green, Fla., passed away Aug. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Gayle Morse.
MCGREGOR, KERMIT D., SR. (BDiv ’63), passed away Dec. 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis McCoy McGregor.
MULLEN, E. L. (MDiv ’92) of Robertsdale, Ala., passed away Oct. 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Hughes Mullen.
MCGRIFF, GLEN D. (AX ’64) of Huntsville, Ala., passed away Aug. 15, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Helen Perry McGriff, and survived by his second wife, Cecilia McGriff.
MURPHY, LINDSEY (CX ’98), of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Feb. 9, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Lisa Murphy.
MCINTYRE, ARCHIE P., JR. (BDiv ’58), passed away July 20, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen Johnson McIntyre. MCMILLIAN, ALBERT E., JR (AX ’92) of Hattiesburg, Miss., passed away May 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Kaul McMillian. MCQUERY, JAMES P., JR. (MDiv ’82) of Wichita, Kan., passed away July 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Angela McQuery. MCWILLIAMS, CARRIE B. (MRE ’63), of Weatherford, Texas, passed away Jan. 24, 2016. She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Roy McWilliams. MESSER, MARY WHEELER GRAY (MRE ’45), of Hattiesburg, Miss., passed away Oct. 14, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Thomas S. Messer Sr. MILLER, CLINTON R. (DPRE ’60) of Dalton, Ga., passed away June 8, 2015. He is survived by Evalena Gladden Miller.
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VISION Spring 2016
MURPHY, MILTON E., JR. (ADPM ’84) of Jackson, Miss., passed away April 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Karen Howard Murphy. NICHOLS, CALEY R. (BDiv ’63) of Vicksburg, Miss., passed away Oct. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marie Nichols. OWEN, HERBERT M. (ThM ’73) of Rainbow City, Ala., passed away Oct. 28, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Kay Strozier Owen. PARVIN, JEANNIE N. of Birmingham, Ala., passed away May 27, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Rev. Ernest B. Parvin (ThM ’73).
PROFIT, JOSEPH C. (MX ’60) of Gretna, La., passed away Sept. 4, 2015. PRUITT, STANLEY W. (MDiv ’00), passed away Feb. 24, 2015. RAMSAY, ROBERT S. (BX ’51) of Redondo Beach, Calif., passed away Oct. 4, 2015. RINAS, RITA J. (MRE ’84), of Curryville, Mo., passed away March 15, 2016. ROBERTS, KENNETH W. (BDiv ’62) of Humboldt, Tenn., passed away April 30, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marlene Wilson Roberts. ROBINSON, JERRY W., JR. (BDiv ’60, MRE ’60) of Cleveland, Miss., passed away Aug. 31, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Jean Byrd Robinson. ROGERS, STAFFORD J. (BDiv ’57), of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 9, 2016. ROOKS, MARGARET “PEGGY,” passed away July 22, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Bob Rooks (BDiv ’59).
PERCY, WILLIAM E. III (MDiv ’78), passed away July 6, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Judy Percy.
ROOTE, THOMAS STAFFORD, JR. (MRE ’59, EdD ’67), passed away July 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Lorraine Stoudenmier Roote.
PERRY, HUEY D. (DMin ’79) of Clarksville, Ga., passed away Oct. 20, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Donna McLean Perry.
ROSS, ELNORA COOPER of New Orleans, La., passed away Jan. 1, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, James D. Ross (MRE ’95).
PILGRIM, JAMES M., JR. (BDiv ’58), of West Columbia, S.C., passed away Feb. 12, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Gladys Geneva Pilgrim.
RUDDICK, EDDIE L. (BDiv ’54, ThM ’68, ThD ’77) of Montevallo, Ala., passed away Nov. 13, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Fay Ruddick. RUNYAN, ELIZABETH B. (AX ’54) of Greer, S.C., passed away Oct. 24, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Farrell E. Runyan (ThM ’44, PhD ’04). RUSSELL, OSCAR L. (MX ’66) of Biloxi, Miss., passed away May 9, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Helen J. Russell. RYALS, ROSALOU D. (AX ’60), of Tampa, Fla., passed away Oct. 6, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, John Claude Ryals. SANSON, SUSAN (ADPM ’92; BGS ’94) of Zomba, Malawi, passed away May 18, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Billy Sanson. SCHELL, DAVID W. (EdS ’71; EdD ’73) of Selma, Ala., passed away May 15, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Zela Schell. SELF, RALPH T. (BDiv ’56) of Alexandria, La., passed away July 8, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Louis Cox Self. SHORTER, TANYA E. (CBT ’01) of Houston, Texas, passed away Nov. 9, 2015. SHUFFLIN, CHARLES (DPCH ’68) of Shreveport, La., passed away May 9, 2015. SKINNER, JERRY L. (MDiv ’87), of Ridgeland, Miss., passed away Feb. 13, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Skinner. SLONAKER, E. JERRY (BDiv ’58) of Prentiss, Miss., passed away Aug. 19, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Katherine Robbins Slonaker.
SMITH, CLEMEN T. (BX ’57) of Monroe, La., passed away March 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Enid H. Smith.
WATSON, ROBBIE N. (MRE ’82) of Olive Branch, Miss., passed away June 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Judy Watson.
SMITH, JAMES K. (MDiv ’86, DMin ’94) of Meridian, Miss., passed away Jan. 19, 2015.
WATSON, THOMAS H. (MCM ’72), passed away. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Watson.
SMITH, TRUETT S. (MX ’53) of Sacramento, Calif., passed away July 29, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sarah C. Smith.
WATTERSON, JAMES R., SR. (BDiv ’64, MRE ’74), passed away Nov. 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Sarah Campbell Watterson.
STEWART, DONNIE L. (BX ’66) of Oxford, Miss., passed away June 11, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Anona Stewart.
WAYNE, WILLIAM C. (BDiv ’64), of Lafayette, La., passed away Jan. 20, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carolyn Ann Wayne.
STEWART. RON A. (BDiv ’63), of Jackson, Miss., passed away Dec. 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Shelby Jean Pigott Stewart.
WEST, RON (MACE ’91, DX ’14) of Summit, Miss., passed away Nov. 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Paula Daymond West.
STOCKSTILL, ERNEST R. (BDiv ’55), of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 9, 2016. He is preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Ruth Stockstill.
WHITE, ARCHIE W. (DPCH ’64) of Spring, Texas, passed away Nov. 25, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Francis Jeanette Mims White.
STREET, JAMES W. (BDiv ’66, DMin ’74) of Jackson, Miss., passed away Nov. 8, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Jimmie Carol Street.
WILLHAM, WILLIAM O. (MX ’74) of Titusville, Fla., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Gene Willham.
TOLER, DESMOND B. (MRE ’82) of Mobile, Ala., passed away Nov. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Betty Toler.
WILLIAMS, RUBY ANN (MRE ’56) of Gainesville, Ga., passed away July 25, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Willis Williams.
WALLACE, RAY E. (MDiv ’73), of Shreveport, La., passed away Feb. 29, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Bobbye Gwin Wallace.
WOOD, WILLIAM D. (BDiv ’64, DMin ’79), of Lake City, Fla., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Eleanor Everson Wood.
WAMBLE, DOROTHY M. (MSM ’60), passed away July 29, 2015.
WYNN, RICKY J. (MX ’92), of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Jan. 28, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Vickie Wynn.
WARE, JAMES C. (BDiv ’55) of Monroe, La., passed away May 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Susan G. Ware. WATSON, JOHN H. (MDiv ’76, MRE ’77), of Richardson, Texas, passed away March 1, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Jory Rust Watson.
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