ALUMNI
Longtime Minister
Bob Hutto Named Beeson Divinity School Alumnus of the Year by Kristen Padilla
Bob Hutto, M.Div. ’95, ended up at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School “by accident.” In 1990, Hutto was preaching at Fairfield Highlands Church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama, when he wanted to go deeper in his knowledge of New Testament Greek. The day he began researching course options, he happened to meet then-New Testament professor, Jerry Batson, who told him about Beeson. Shortly thereafter, Hutto applied and was accepted. During his second year as a Master of Divinity student, Hutto accepted the call to serve as minister of Oak Mountain Church of Christ in Pelham, where he served while he finished his degree. Thirty years later, Hutto is still serving Oak Mountain Church of Christ and is still using lessons he learned at Beeson in his ministry. “I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” he said.
28 • Beeson Magazine • 2022
An ‘Awakening’
“As I look back over my life, it seems that God was shaping me to be a minister of the gospel from early on,” Hutto said. The son of a minister, Hutto learned about preaching and longevity in ministry from his father, who served churches for more than 50 years. He said that the local church was the focal point of their home. But as a teenager and young adult, Hutto didn’t think a preaching ministry was the vocational path for him—until one day when he had an “awakening.” “I began to see what opportunities the Lord had set before me and to evaluate the abilities he had given me,” Hutto said. “I realized that I needed to use them to advance the cause of Christ as best I could.” Now more than 40 years later, Hutto is still faithfully preaching the Word of God.
Pillar of the Church
At Beeson, Hutto found great value in the interdenominational character of the school, in which theological differences and differences in the interpretation of Scripture were to be expected. “If we were to agree in everything, we would likely not be thinking for ourselves,” Hutto said. “I was always treated with great respect.” Four professors in particular had the greatest impact on him: Gerald Bray, Ken Mathews, Frank Thielman and Richard Wells. “They stimulated in me the desire to do my best,” Hutto said. “The tools I acquired at Beeson have made me a better student of God’s Word and as a result a better teacher of it.” Bray praised Hutto’s faithfulness to one place for 30 years. “He is an excellent preacher and
