Southeastern Magazine Spring 2022

SOUTHEASTERN SPRING 2022

That All May Know

Every nation, tribe, people, & tongue

Christ Above All p.24

Signs of New Life p.38

Teaching the Nations p.42

Alum David Nguyen bridges the generational gap in Asian American ministry

Two alumni serve for eleven years and counting among Central Asian Deaf

Three EdD alumni are discipling generations of teachers around the world

T OU R . M E E T. E X PE R I E NC E . L E A R N.

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SCAN B ELOW O R V IS IT SE BTS . E D U /P R E V I E W TO S IG N U P TO DAY !

Letter from the President

Daniel L. Akin, President

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God’s sovereignty and our responsibility among the nations s I observe the state of our world and the events that have occurred over the last few years, I increasingly take comfort in our Lord’s sovereignty over all the nations. When it seems like all news has become bad news, we can rest assured that the good news of the gospel triumphs over anything we may face in this life. King Jesus is on His throne!

I believe the Lord is using current events to make His name known among the nations in ways we may not expect.

Scripture tells us that God made all nations and has determined their allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place (Acts 17:26). In the last decade, we have seen unprecedented levels of migration. Around the world, people are moving away from their home countries for a variety of reasons — some for work or family, some because of war and political instability, some because of persecution and oppression. Think Ukraine. More than ten million people have been forced by war to leave their homes and country. This is almost a quarter of Ukraine’s total population. We must pray, and we must help. Many of these people are settling in the United States, coming from the hardest-to-reach

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nations in the world. And now they are our own neighbors! We now have the wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with people from countries we may never be able to access in person.

In our Center for Great Commission Studies, we have a sign that displays the degree of lostness in our world today. Over 150,000 people die each day without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This should greatly impact our sense of urgency to take the gospel to our neighborhoods, cities, nation, and world. At Southeastern, we are training students to do just that, and we will keep doing it until Jesus Christ returns.

In these pages, you’ll find stories about our graduates who are fulfilling the Great Commission in a variety of cultural contexts, from Texas to East Asia. Our alumni work with Deaf peoples, in Hispanic ministry leadership, on multi-cultural church staffs, in schools around the world, and more. Will you join me in praying for these students as you read their stories? The harvest is ripe! I pray you will be encouraged and challenged to join our students in gospel ministry wherever the Lord has placed you.

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That All May Know

Christ Above All

A Disciple Making Disciples

On Mission in the Metroplex

The gospel unites Asian Americans across generational lines

Training churches to engage Spanish subcultures

200 years of church planting among Hispanics and Latinos continues in Texas

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Headlines 8 Passing the Torch

10 A Holy Moment

13 Seminary of the Year

Dr. Benjamin Merkle Established as M.O. Owens, Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies

Ancient Torah Scroll Gifted from Nonprofit Ministry

9 Four Pastors to Join SEBTS Faculty

11 Cultivating Women's

The College Prison Program Receives Seminary of the Year Award

Southeastern's faculty is training students in theological formation for the purpose of ministry preparation

Leadership

650 Women Attend Southeastern's First Cultivate Women’s Leadership Conference

14 Southeastern Receives $500,000

SEBTS has Received a Grant of $500,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to Support Our Equip Network

16 Southeastern Remains Committed to the Great Commission

Board of Trustees and Southeastern Society Convene for Spring Biannual Meetings

18 New Degree Champions Marketplace Ministry

The College Announces its New Bachelor of Business Administration Program

Every nation, tribe, people, & tongue

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, NC Daniel Akin President Keith Whitfield Provost Ryan Hutchinson Executive Vice President for Operations Jonathan Six Acting Vice President for Institutional Advancement Marketing and Communications Rebecca Pate - Director Hannah Magan - Associate Director of Marketing Chad Burchett - News & Copy Writer Cameron Hayner - Administrative Assistant Patrick Shannon - Content Creator & Social Media Manager

Signs of New Life Among the Least Reached

Teaching The Nations

Francesca Smyly - Graphic Designer Ryan Thomas - Senior Graphic Designer Charles Underhill - Web Specialist

Financial and Alumni Development Drew Davis - Director George Harvey - General Counsel & Director of Planned Giving

Chris Allen - Denominational Relations & Ministry Teams Coordinator

Gospel ministry in Central Asian Deaf communities

Three EdD alumni are discipling generations of teachers

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Michelle Ard - Events & Alumni Relations Coordinator Meredith Cook - Grant Writer Caden Farr - Donor Relations & Data Management Coordinator

Chandler Donegan - Gift Accountant Jonathan Goforth - Development Officer Billy Vernon - Alumni & Church Relations Specialist

To inform us of address changes or if you would like to receive the magazine, please contact us at 919-761-2203 or email alumni@sebts.edu.

Also in this Issue 20 Jonathan Six

Promoted to Vice President of Institutional Advancement Effective June 1, 2022

48 For the Mission Update 50 Featured Student Lissy Sandoval 54 At the Office with Dr. Harry Carter 57 Alumni and Faculty Works 64 Letter from the Vice President Jonathan Six

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).

Southeastern is an institution of higher learning and a Cooperative Program ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention. Support comes through the gifts of the Cooperative Program and the individual friends of the seminary who provide assistance through wills, estates, and trusts.

Great Commission Magazine of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (ISSN 2327-154X) is published by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 1889, Wake Forest, NC 27588

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2. ANDREW PETERSON’S “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD” CONCERT 3. PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS ON A CAMPUS TOUR 4. DR. ANNA DAUB SPEAKING AT THE CULTIVATE CONFERENCE 5. CULTIVATE CONFERENCE ATTENDEES WALKING TO A BREAK-OUT SESSION

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6. A TIME IN PRAYER FOR REFUGEES, CO-HOSTED BY SEBTS, NAMB, SUMMIT, & WORLD RELIEF 7. STUDENTS RECEIVING NALGENE BOTTLES HIGHLIGHTING THE 10/40 WINDOW 8. KB CONCERT 9. DR. AUCOIN TEACHING CLASS ON THE STEPS OF BINKLEY CHAPEL

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Passing the Torch Dr. Benjamin Merkle Established as M.O. Owens, Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies n October 26, 2021, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) faculty, staff, and students celebrated the installation of Dr. Benjamin L. Merkle to the M.O. Owens, Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies.

Endowed chairs are a special opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate faculty contributions to academic scholarship. These endowments also honor the lives after whom the chair is named in their service and ministry to the Church. Generous donors of SEBTS make it possible to create endowed chairs that secure faculty funding and lower tuition costs for students as they seek to train for Great Commission work. Previously, Dr. David Alan Black, Senior Professor of New Testament and Greek at SEBTS, held this title until his retirement in spring 2021. Merkle follows in his footsteps in carrying on the great legacy that Owens has left with Southern Baptists, and more specifically, with SEBTS. “M.O. Owens, Jr. was a godly and faithful pastor who never wavered on the authority and inerrancy of God’s word,” said SEBTS President Danny Akin. “David Alan Black honored well Dr. Owens as the initial occupant of the New Testament chair that bears Owens’ name. Now, Ben Merkle will

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M.O. Owens, Jr. was a godly and faithful pastor who never wavered on the authority and inerrancy of God’s word.

Danny Akin, President

Dr. M.O. Owens, Jr.

hold this distinguished chair and is the perfect person to carry on and honor Owens’ legacy. I am so grateful that faithfulness to the Holy Scriptures characterizes the lives of all three of these wonderful men.”

Benjamin Merkle received his PhD with a focus in New Testament Studies from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). Merkle currently serves as Professor of New Testament and Greek at SEBTS, where he has taught since 2008. He is the author or editor of more than 40 books, including “40 Questions about Elders and Deacons," “Why Elders?," and more. Merkle is also the editor of the Southeastern Theological Review and the 40 Questions series. He and his family served as International Mission Board missionaries for seven years in Southeast Asia prior to teaching at SEBTS. He is married to Marian, and they have four children.

M.O. Owens, Jr. served in Southern Baptist ministry for over 70 years.

He wrote or co-wrote commentaries, including, Encouraging the Saints and The Word Made Flesh.

He also served as the published editor for The Watchman, a regular publication for Christian leaders.

Owens attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where he sensed God’s call to pastoral ministry. He later enrolled at SBTS in 1936, and after graduation in 1939, Owens became pastor of First Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach. He went on to serve at churches in Florida and Georgia. In September 1960, Owens moved his family to Gastonia, where he became pastor of East Baptist Church. In 1963 a new mission of East Baptist was established, which grew into Parkwood Baptist Church. Owens became pastor of Parkwood in March of 1964, and he served in that capacity until December 1980. During that time, he founded Gastonia Christian Schools, and even in his retirement, Owens served as an interim pastor at over 15 churches. On May 21, 2019, at 105 years old, Owens went

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home to be with the Lord yet has left a legacy of faithful, Great Commission service for Southern Baptists to follow.

Owens' daughters, Mary Lancaster and Linda Owens Russ were in attendance for the chair installation service. After chapel, a lunch was held for Merkle and his family in which Drs. Akin and Jonathan Six, now Vice President of Institutional Advancement, gave their reflections and remarks on the significance of the endowed chair of Dr. Owens.

Four Pastors to Join SEBTS Faculty Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) Faculty is Training Students in Theological Formation for the Purpose of Ministry Preparation EBTS is excited to announce that four prominent pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention will become visiting professors with SEBTS, starting this December. These men include Crawford W. Loritts Jr., J.D. Greear, Matt Carter, and Al Jackson.

“Southeastern Seminary has a premier doctoral program on both the PhD and DMin level,” said SEBTS President Danny Akin. “For years I have asked the Lord to bring more gifted and talented men to teach in these programs. Little did I know that God would answer my prayers beyond my wildest imagination with the additions of these four men. A great doctoral program just got better!”

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Crawford W. Loritts Jr. comes to SEBTS as a Visiting Professor of Preaching and Christian

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Leadership. He is a well-known pastor, author, and speaker with decades of ministry experience, including most recently serving as Senior Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia. Loritts has faithfully led and planted several churches, including Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and Canton Bible Church. Loritts also served as the Associate Director of Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru). Loritts holds a Doctor of Divinity from Biola University and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from Philadelphia Biblical University.

“For years I have been impressed by the impact SEBTS is making on helping to shape the hearts and minds of the next generation of leaders for the cause of Christ,” said Loritts. “Further, the school’s clear commitment to the authority of the Scriptures, the Great Commission, and the pursuit of Christlikeness is core to what I’ve given my life to and my approach to ministry. That’s why I consider it a privilege and honor to be a part of the team.”

J.D. Greear is joining the SEBTS faculty as a Visiting Professor of Christian Leadership and Disciple Making.

He is the pastor of The Summit Church in RaleighDurham, North Carolina, and he is the author of several books, most recently publishing “Just Ask,” “What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?,” and “Above All.” Greear is a two-time graduate of SEBTS, receiving both his MDiv and PhD from the seminary.

Greear also served as the sixtysecond President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2018-2021.

“When I was a seminary student, God used Southeastern to give me a heart for the nations,” said Greear.

“Under the leadership of Dr. Danny

Akin, that Great Commission focus has only expanded. Southeastern adopted the compelling vision of connecting every classroom to the Great Commission and accompanies it with a humble orthodoxy that shapes them for the kingdom. I can’t think of another institution I’d rather partner with to teach the next generation of ministers as they go!”

Matt Carter comes to SEBTS as a Visiting Professor of Preaching. He is the Lead Pastor of Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas.

Prior to pastoring at Sagemont, Carter planted and pastored The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas, which began in 2002 and grew to six campuses with over 8,000 in weekly attendance. Carter is a graduate of SEBTS, earning his Doctor of Ministry in Expositional Preaching in 2015. He also earned his MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2006.

“As an alum of SEBTS’s DMin program, I can say from first-hand experience that Southeastern is one of the finest theological institutions in the country,” said Carter. “Not only do they offer students an incredible theological education, but also they provide practical ministry training to help future leaders of the Church live it out. It’s such an incredible honor to be asked to be a part of the Southeastern team!”

Al Jackson comes to SEBTS as a Visiting Professor of Pastoral Ministry.

He has served as the pastor of Lakeview Baptist Church since 1979. He received his DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary and his

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MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jackson has a heart to share God’s word throughout the world, having traveled to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

“I am delighted to join Danny Akin and the outstanding Southeastern Seminary faculty in helping to equip the next generation of Great Commission pastors, missionaries, and church leaders,” said Jackson.

“The hope of the world is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I view Southeastern as one of God’s most strategic outposts for gospel advance.”

A Holy Moment Ancient Torah Scroll Gifted from Nonprofit Ministry outheastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) had a holy moment when the school received a donated Torah scroll dating back to 1760 from Ken and Barb Larson, founders of God’s Ancient Library.

“When you walk up to this Torah ... it is a holy moment when you stand in front of it,” said Barb Larson during her and Ken’s chapel presentation of the Torah. “It’s been meticulously written, it’s been meticulously preserved, and for thousands of years, God’s word has not changed; it’s without error. So, we’re convinced that bringing these Torah scrolls to schools brings new life not only to the Torah but also to the school.”

In just six years, God’s Ancient Library has donated 94 Torah scrolls to schools worldwide, and now SEBTS is the recipient of the ministry’s ninety-fifth Torah scroll.

This is one of the longest Torah scrolls donated to any school, spanning 134 feet in length, approximately 35 inches in width, and consisting of 35

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panels of parchment.

“To know that this unique Torah is now being gifted to Southeastern is a real gift for us,” said Ken Larson, who told the story behind the donated Torah scroll during chapel.

During World War II in Fürth, Germany, the Jewish people buried 18 scrolls inside a casket in the cemetery of a Jewish synagogue. The Jewish people hoped to preserve the sacred text of Scripture from its decimation by the Nazis. The Nazis never discovered where the scrolls had been buried, and it wasn’t until just 20 years ago that the scrolls were uncovered during construction. The Ben-David family, an Orthodox Jewish family from Israel, purchased these 18 scrolls, and God’s Ancient Library eventually purchased two of those scrolls.

The Torah was donated in honor of Dr. John Sailhamer, former SEBTS Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies, who passed away in 2017 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. The Torah will be held in the Sailhamer Room at The Library at Southeastern, which contains the personal library of Dr. Sailhamer and includes a collection of rare volumes documenting the history of Old Testament interpretation in post-Reformation Europe. Over the years, students have benefitted greatly from this library and will continue to do so with the addition of the Torah, which will serve to enhance Old Testament studies and bring to life the Scriptures in a unique way. Dr. Sailhamer was deeply influential in the area of Old Testament scholarship.

He taught at SEBTS from 1999-2006 and at Gateway Baptist Theological Seminary until his retirement in 2010. Dr. Sailhamer also served as the President of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2000 and is

Representatives of SEBTS accompanied by the wife, Patty, and son, David, of the late John Sailhamer as well as Ken and Barb Larson

the author of several books, including his final work, “The Meaning of the Pentateuch,” which can be purchased from IVP Academic.

Dr. Sailhamer’s widow, Patti, and son, David, were both joined by former students as well as friends from Providence Church in Raleigh, NC at a lunch immediately following chapel.

During the lunch, Ken Larson delivered a presentation on the Torah, including information about the unique way Torah scrolls are made, organization of the text, preservation methods, and more. The lunch concluded with the announcement of the John Sailhamer Old Testament Endowment.

SEBTS is establishing this endowment fund with the desire to raise $1.5 million for the John Sailhamer Chair of Old Testament Studies.

Along with founding God’s Ancient Library, Ken Larson is also the founder of Slumberland Furniture and 40WINKS, a nonprofit organization that provides new beds for children who would otherwise have nowhere to sleep. He is also on the board of several nonprofit organizations, including Health East; Trans World Radio; Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability; the Evangelical Free Church of America; and

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the Joshua Fund, where he and Barb both serve as board members; the University of Northwestern St. Paul; and CULP, a company serving the home furnishing industry. Ken has been named Retailer of the Year by the National Home Furnishing Association and Entrepreneur of the Year of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Cultivating Women's Leadership 650 Women Attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s (SEBTS) First Cultivate Women’s Leadership Conference on March 25–26 ur Cultivate Women’s Leadership Conference is an incredible opportunity for women to engage with and learn from Christian women from various spheres of leadership,” stated Missie Branch, Assistant Dean of Students to Women and Director of Graduate Life at SEBTS. “The conference seeks to equip women by teaching, training, and encouraging them to embrace the leadership roles and responsibilities that the Lord has given them to serve him in whatever context they are in, for his glory and for the hope and spread of the gospel.”

During the first plenary session on Friday, Karen Ellis addressed

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how Christ, the true and living Word, creates and animates the Christian woman’s unique identity and unique participation in his mission. Leading by the word, then, is a matter of identity, not merely a matter of method. Union with Christ means his mission is part of what it means to live as a woman of the word.

In the second plenary session, Melissa Kruger offered a theology of women in leadership. Kruger argued from Scripture that the church should understand women in leadership as (1) normative, (2) integrated into the church, (3) familial in nature, (4) servant-hearted, (5) costly, (6) worthy of honor, and (7) vital. As Kruger reminded attendees on Saturday morning, if half the church were not using its gifts, where would the body be?

For the third plenary session, Ruth Chou Simons encouraged women to lead with intentionality and contentment in their contexts, emphasizing that according to Ephesians 2:10 believers are created by God on purpose for a purpose. Simons urged women to find their voice by being faithful with what they already have.

Her counsel to Christian women included stewarding the home, intentionally sowing gospel seeds, investing in and multiplying disciples, and seeking the community’s good.

For the fourth plenary session, Rosaria Butterfield offered testimony and counsel about women’s submission and leadership in the home. In addition to four plenary sessions, attendees were encouraged to attend several breakout sessions led by gifted women with experience and insight on various topics. Friday night also included a networking event where attendees were able to meet and encourage other

women with similar ministry passions.

“In a season tossed around by constant cultural shifts, we were encouraged to discover together what it looks like to lead biblically in today’s age, considering the individual roles, gifts, and passions that God has given each of us,” noted Branch. With its emphasis on training women to love the truth and steward their gifts to fulfill the mission, the Cultivate Women’s Leadership Conference embodies the driving mission of SEBTS to equip believers to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.

The conference seeks to equip women by teaching, training, and encouraging them to embrace the leadership roles and responsibilities that the Lord has given them to serve him in whatever context they are in, for his glory and for the hope and spread of the gospel.

Missie Branch, Assistant Dean of Students to Women, Director of Graduate Life

Ruth Chou Simons addresses attendees of the conference during the third plenary session

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SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2022 AN OVERVIEW OF ALL 9 MARKS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH IN A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE OF TEACHING FROM TRUSTED CHURCH AND 9MARKS LEADERS

DANNY AKIN

H.B. CHARLES JR.

ANDY DAVIS

MARK DEVER

OMAR JOHNSON

JONATHAN LEEMAN

JUSTIN PERDUE

TRELL ROSS SEBTS.EDU/9MARKS /SEBTS /9MARKS

Seminary of the Year The College at Southeastern Prison Program Receives Seminary of the Year Award he College at Southeastern’s North Carolina Field Minister Program (NCFMP) is honored to have recently received the Seminary of the Year Award from the Prison Seminaries Foundation (PSF) during the 3rd Annual Partners in Moral Rehabilitation Conference.

“God’s hand has been a guiding force in the start and development of the program,” said Seth Bible, Director of Prison Programs at Southeastern.

This award came on the heels of a tumultuous time in higher education with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing schools to adapt quickly to change. In spite of this challenge, The College at Southeastern was only one of two schools to continue operating its prison programs during the 2020 shutdown. This effort to endure is now paying off as the program celebrated its first graduating class of 26 students this December. These men were divided into five teams and sent throughout prisons within the state, having the opportunity to change the culture of the prison system from the inside out through counseling, mentorship, and training of the incarcerated population.

Through a partnership that began in August 2016 with Game Plan for Life, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (DPS), and The College, the NCFMP trains and equips men of faith to be servants to the incarcerated population in their own faith tradition while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministry.

The program held its first classes in August 2017 with 30 students. That number has now risen to 90 students in its fourth year. Prison programs like that of New Orleans Baptist

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More than anything else, this award represents the strength of the partnership and that God has allowed us to flourish in this program for the last five years.

Seth Bible, Director of Prison Programs at Southeastern

President Danny Akin leading commencement exercises at the first graduation ceremony of the North Carolina Field Minister Program

Theological Seminary (NOBTS) at Angola State Penitentiary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary at Darrington Unit Prison have encouraged The College as they have learned from those who have gone before them.

Southeastern has been an active participant in PSF’s Partners in Moral Rehabilitation Conference, having hosted it in 2019. The focus of the conference is aimed at program development and research, and connections made at these conferences have proved to be an invaluable resource for The College’s prison program.

PSF was founded by Burl Cain, who served as a warden at Angola. The prison saw unprecedented transformation as it shifted from being known as the bloodiest prison in America to one of the safest in the country. NOBTS enabled this change through their moral rehabilitation method of providing theological education. This method is continuing to prove to be effective as schools like The College and others continue to train the incarcerated population to be the primary influencers for lasting change in the prison system. Through organizations like PSF, Southeastern and other seminaries are receiving training, development, and opportunities to learn about how moral rehabilitation and theological education are working together to create positive change within the prison system.

“More than anything else, this award represents the strength of the partnership and that God has allowed us to flourish in this program for the last five years,” said Bible. “In some sense it doesn’t surprise me at all because I’ve daily felt the strength of that partnership and the strength of God’s guidance and leading.”

Bible and his staff recognize that the success of Southeastern’s prison program is credited in large part to the logistical support of DPS, the financial support of Game Plan for Life, and the academic support of Southeastern staff and faculty.

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Southeastern Receives $500,000 Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) has received a grant of $500,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support our Equip Network he project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is a three-phase initiative designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

“This grant will expand our partnership with churches to equip students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission,” said Chris Thompson, Associate Vice President for Academic Administration.

Fewer than one-third of all ATSaccredited theological schools received funding in each of the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative’s first two phases. SEBTS is one of them, receiving $50,000 in Phase 1 and $500,000 in Phase 2.

The grant will help to fund the efforts of the Equip Network. Through the Equip Network, students have the opportunity to receive course credit while actively serving in their local church through mentored internships and practicum courses. Students can earn up to 36 hours of course credit through Equip. The Equip Network

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also seeks to train non-degree seeking laypeople and ministry leaders in order to more effectively fulfill the Great Commission in their current context.

SEBTS is one of 84 theological schools that are receiving a total of more than $82 million in grants through the second phase of the Pathways Initiative. Together, the schools represent evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Black church, and historic peace church traditions (e.g., Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, Quakers). Many schools also serve students and pastors from Black, Latino, Korean American, Chinese American, and recent immigrant Christian communities.

“Theological schools have long played a pivotal role in preparing pastoral leaders for churches,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion.

“Today, these schools find themselves in a period of rapid and profound change. Through the Pathways Initiative, theological schools will take deliberate steps to address the challenges they have identified in ways that make the most sense to them. We believe that their efforts are critical to ensuring that Christian congregations continue to have a steady stream of pastoral leaders who are well-prepared to lead the churches of tomorrow.”

Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways Initiative in January 2021 because of its longstanding interest in supporting efforts to enhance and sustain the vitality of Christian congregations by strengthening the leadership capacities of pastors and congregational lay leaders.

COMBINING THE SEMINARY EXPERIENCE WITH REAL- LIFE MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE MOST INTEGR ATIVE MINISTRY TR AINING AVAIL ABLE .

L E A R N M O R E AT S E B T S . E D U/ E Q U I P

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Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937

by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The primary aim of its grantmaking in religion, which is national in scope, focuses on strengthening the leadership and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate, and balanced ways the contributions that people of all faiths and religious communities make to our greater civic well-being.

L E A R N M O R E AT LI LLY E N D OW M E NT.O R G

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MAKE DISCIPLES

Equipping disciple makers for every context, for all people, for the glory of God.

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MASTER OF DIVINITY

LE A R N M O R E AT S E BT S . E D U/ M D I V

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Southeastern Remains Committed to the Great Commission Board of Trustees and Southeastern Society Convene for Spring Biannual Meetings n April 3–5, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) hosted the Board of Trustees and the Southeastern Society (SES) for their spring biannual meetings. During the visit, SES members heard stories of how SEBTS students and faculty are fulfilling the mission, and trustees voted on significant developments at SEBTS, including the launch of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).

“Southeastern remains committed to being a Great Commission Seminary,” shared Danny Akin, President of SEBTS. “Standing on the rock-solid foundation of the inerrant word of God, we are passionate to love God, love the truth, love the Church, and love the world. In a world of so much confusion and pain, we are more determined than ever to maintain our fidelity to the final marching orders of King Jesus.”

During their plenary session on April 5, trustees approved a $30.6 million budget for the 2022–2023 fiscal year,

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including a 3 percent salary increase for all full-time faculty and staff. The budget also accounts for the expansion of programs related to SEBTS churchbased training partnerships due to recent grants. Trustees also approved three new endowment accounts to provide student aid, funding for the faculty, and funding for campus maintenance. These new accounts include the Bigham-Ferguson Memorial Student Aid Fund, the John H. Sailhamer Old Testament Endowment, and the Mark and Shelly King Maintenance Fund. The Bigham-Ferguson Memorial Student Aid Fund will support students pursuing pastoral ministry with a preference given to students in the Hunt Scholars program, the 5-year Bachelor of Arts to Master of Divinity program.

As recommended by the executive and academic committees, trustees unanimously voted to elect Ross Inman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, to the faculty at SEBTS. Inman’s election to the faculty reflects the institution’s unwavering commitment to the truth of God’s word and to its reasoned proclamation and application. “Ross Inman has been a blessing to the Southeastern family since the day of his arrival,” commented Akin.

Standing on the rocksolid foundation of the inerrant word of God, we are passionate to love God, love the truth, love the Church, and love the world.

Danny Akin, President

“His collegiality and excellence in the classroom have quickly made him a favorite among faculty and students alike. I am delighted by his election to the faculty and what he will bring to our Great Commission school for many years to come.”

Trustees also approved several faculty rank promotions, including the promotion of Scott Hildreth and Kristin Kellen to the rank of associate professor and Danny Akin, Scott Kellum, Chuck Lawless, and Mark Liederbach to senior professor. These promotions recognize the long-term investment and distinguished contributions of faculty who have faithfully served the SEBTS community and students with humility and integrity.

Expanding the institution's academic offerings, trustees voted to approve several academic degree additions and revisions, including: • The launch of a new Bachelor of Business Administration for the 2022 fall semester, which will train students in business skills and procedures and equip them biblically and theologically to serve in the marketplace from a biblical worldview.

• The addition of three graduate certificates in preaching, global ministry, and Great Commission studies, which will allow local leaders to receive robust theological education around the world through the Global Theological Initiative at SEBTS. • The addition of a Doctor of Ministry specialization in biblical and theological studies.

• The addition of a free, zero-credit course on sexual abuse training that undergraduate, graduate, and advanced students will be required to complete during their program at SEBTS. This training course will overview practical strategies for preventing and responding to sexual abuse as well as biblical and theological foundations for caring well for victims of abuse.

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SEBTS celebrated trustees Charles Cranford and James Marston Jr. for their 10 years of faithful service as they rotated off the board of trustees.

The trustees also voted to approve Arthur Werry as chairman, Carlos Goodrich as vice chairman, Beth Wooten as secretary, and David White as treasurer for the upcoming 2022– 2023 cycle.

With an emphasis on the faculty and how they train students to be on mission, SES meetings on April 4–5 highlighted the ministry and teaching insights of SEBTS faculty. SES members faithfully support the faculty’s ministry of training students to fulfill the mission and give at least $1,000 to SEBTS each year. To learn more about SES, visit sebts.edu/ses.

During the SES meetings on April 4, Jonathan Six hosted a panel with Keelan Cook, Scott Hildreth, and John Ewart where they discussed the Great Commission culture at SEBTS and how the faculty equips students to understand their lives missionally. “Everything we do should be filtered through the grid of the Great Commission,” shared Hildreth, Assistant Professor of Missiology and George Liele Director of the Center for Great Commission Studies. “Jesus has called us to be on mission as a part of his mission.”

During the For the Mission Banquet on Monday night, SEBTS Provost Keith Whitfield reminded attendees that “the Great Commission animates everything we do at Southeastern.”

Noting the remarkable global mobilization of SEBTS students over the last two decades, Whitfield expressed the institution’s ongoing commitment to send students to the nations: “We want to continue a mobilization movement that is as impactful and expansive as we move into the future.”

SES members also celebrated nearly 2,400 donors who have funded over 80 percent of the For the Mission Campaign—a four-year ongoing capital campaign to fund academic and student aid endowments, the renovation and construction of

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campus facilities, and the Southeastern Fund. Learn more about this campaign at forthemission.com.

On Tuesday, SES members heard from faculty members Todd Borger, Tate Cockrell, and Ken Coley, about how loving the truth relates to suffering, helping one’s neighbors, and training Christian educators.

During chapel on April 5, Scott Pace, Dean of The College at Southeastern, closed the visit with a charge to live on mission from John 17. “We are the Great Commission seminary because Jesus was passionate about this mission,” shared Pace. “Jesus was the ultimate missionary. Because he came, we go.” Recognizing students and their families who have committed their lives to this mission, SEBTS commissioned students in chapel who will be serving this year with the International Mission Board or the North American Mission Board. Inviting church leaders and trustees to lay hands on their students, SEBTS students, faculty, and staff prayed for those being sent, including distance learning students who are going on mission.

Allan Moseley giving the morning devotional to the Board of Trustees

Chuck Quarles addressing attendees at the For the Mission Banquet

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New Degree Champions Marketplace Ministry The College at Southeastern Announces its New Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Program he BBA program is a natural fit for the focus of The College at Southeastern,” noted Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southeastern. “At The College, we are about preparing men and women for ministry to serve wherever God takes them towards the goal of fulfilling the Great Commission.”

The BBA program is designed to provide students with an integrated knowledge of the functional areas of business and organizations. Graduates will be able to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the program to approach various organizational settings from a biblical worldview.

“Our focus here is on spiritual formation so that students who go into business will go into business with a biblical worldview,” shared Dr. Harry Carter, Professor of Business and Director of the BBA program. “What we’re trying to do with this program is to prepare students to understand business and be able to compete well in the business world, but to do it from a biblical worldview ... according to biblical principles.”

Consisting of 127 credit hours, the curriculum for the program prepares students for business administration through the study of traditional business topics such as management, organizational behavior, organizational leadership, and human resource development. Major courses unique to The College’s BBA program include Business as Mission, The Doctrine of

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Vocation, and Ethics of Wealth and Poverty. Pending approval from SACS Commission on Colleges, Southeastern’s BBA program is scheduled to begin in the 2022 fall semester.

Providing biblical foundations for business, the BBA program prepares both business professionals and church and missions workers for organizational ministry. “The business administration track will help pastors lead the organizational functions of the church,” commented Akin. “It will help missionaries use business skills for platforms to support their missions endeavors, it will help bi-vocational pastors serve smaller churches by providing skills that can lead to

to live on mission in a variety of vocational capacities and contexts.

Graduates of this degree program, as with each of our areas of academic study, will be firmly grounded in the truth, thoroughly equipped in their field, and strategically prepared to fulfill God’s calling on their lives.”

As The College’s newest marketplace program, the BBA program uniquely embodies The College’s mission to equip students for ministry in whatever context God calls them. To find more information about the BBA program and to apply, visit collegeatsoutheastern.com/bba, or contact admissions@sebts.edu to find out more.

Dr. Harry Carter, Professor of Business

financial support while serving a church that cannot support him full-time; and it will help many other men and women be lights for the gospel wherever it is that God takes them in this world.”

“Our college exists to train students to give their lives for the cause of Christ in the Church, among the nations, and in every aspect of society,” remarked Scott Pace, Dean of The College. “The new BBA program will be a significant addition to our marketplace degrees that will provide a versatile and professional platform for our graduates

Spring 2022

BUSINESS FROM A GREAT COMMISSION PERSPECTIVE

Study business administration from a Great Commission perspective and get trained to serve biblically in the marketplace and in a variety of contexts. Apply today to learn from experienced business leaders and biblical scholars who are passionate about stewarding business missionally.

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*Pending accreditation

Jonathan Six Promoted to Vice President of Institutional Advancement Effective June 1, 2022 n Wednesday, April 27, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) announced Jonathan Six, former Director of Financial and Alumni Development, as the new Acting Vice President of Institutional Advancement, effective June 1, 2022. After 8 years of faithful service, Art Rainer, who currently holds the position, will be stepping away from the role on May 31 to launch a new financial training ministry.

A two-time graduate from SEBTS with his MDiv and PhD, Jonathan Six has served the Institutional Advancement division in a variety of roles. In 2007, he joined the Student Development Office (now the Admissions Office), helping to recruit students to SEBTS. Six was promoted to a leadership role in 2013 as the Director of the Alumni Development Office, and since 2015, he has served as the Director of the Financial and Alumni Development Office.

“Dr. Six loves our mission and has shown competence in the different roles he has served in over his tenure at Southeastern since 2007,” commented Danny Akin, President of SEBTS. “I, along with the rest of my executive leadership team, am excited to work with Dr. Six in this new role.”

The Institutional Advancement Office oversees three major efforts at SEBTS: fundraising, recruiting and admitting students, and maintaining brand awareness and public relations. Six will direct these efforts by overseeing the Financial and Alumni Development Office, the Admissions Office, and the Office of Marketing

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and Communications.

“I am humbled and honored to serve Southeastern as the Acting Vice President of Institutional Advancement,” shared Six. “I love this school, our faculty, and its mission. I count it a great joy to urge students to study under this Great Commission faculty and encourage donors and alumni to support the Lord’s work through Southeastern. I am thankful for Dr. Akin’s confidence and believe our brightest days are ahead.”

Because SEBTS bylaws require the Board of Trustees to vote and approve the conferral of a vice president’s title, Six’s title will be Acting Vice President of Institutional Advancement until the trustees' biannual meeting in October.

At that meeting, their agenda will include a vote concerning the new hire, and pending their approval, Six’s title will become Vice President of Institutional Advancement.

Six’s appointment to the position follows Art Rainer’s announcement in early April that he will be leaving his role as Vice President of Institutional Advancement to pursue his passion of helping others become faithful financial stewards who are able to support Great Commission efforts. In his new role, Rainer will be working to create resources that address Christian financial stewardship within a framework of discipleship.

“I am thankful for Dr. Rainer and the last 8 years that he has led our Institutional Advancement division at Southeastern,” remarked Akin. “I will miss having Dr. Rainer as a part of the executive leadership team at Southeastern, yet I am also thankful for the work he is pursuing since it is a topic that is vital to a faithful walk with Christ.”

Although Rainer will be stepping down from his current role, he and his family will remain in the Wake Forest area, and he will continue to teach business courses in The College at Southeastern and be a part of the Southeastern Society.

“God was gracious to allow me to serve at Southeastern for almost nine years,” noted Rainer. “Southeastern has been and always will be a special place for me. This next phase of ministry is motivated by a deep desire to see men and women get financially healthy so they can better leverage their resources for Christ’s kingdom.

My time here has left an indelible impact on my understanding of money as a kingdom resource. I can’t wait to see how God uses Dr. Six in this vice president role. God has gifted him with the skills and relationships necessary to make an immediate positive impact.

If Dr. Six’s first fifteen years of service here are indicative of his next fifteen years, Southeastern has much to be excited about.”

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BRAND NEW

GO Certificate in

Biblical Studies and Theology Cultivate a passionate love for God and others to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.

F U L LY O N L I N E / S E L F - P A C E D / A F F O R D A B L E

S C A N H E R E TO L E A R N M O R E O R V I S I T S E B T S . E D U/G O C E R T I F I C AT E S

That All May Know Last words are lasting words.

The Great Commission is the final marching orders of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why Southeastern equips students to go and give their lives to fulfill the Great Commission wherever the Lord calls them. Every Southeastern student is challenged and equipped to give their lives for Christ’s mission across North America and around the world.

As they graduate, Southeastern students carry this Great Commission DNA with them into rural towns, urban centers, and hard-to-reach places — that all may know life in Christ. The stories that follow offer a few glimpses into how Southeastern students and alumni are using their biblical and theological training and ministry preparation to disciple every nation, tribe, people, and tongue.

Every nation, tribe, people, & tongue

David Nguyen and a widow from VBCHP during one of Nguyen’s weekly Friday visits to bring her coffee and encourage her faith.

Christ Above All The gospel unites Asian Americans across generational lines

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Imagine leaving all that’s familiar to you and starting a new life.

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n 1992, that’s what David Nguyen’s parents did. Nguyen, a current student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS), faithfully served first- and second-generation Asian American populations during his time in seminary. His parents’ journey to the U.S. in 1992 set in motion a series of blessings that God used to solidify his call to ministry. By God’s providence, when Nguyen’s parents left Vietnam, they crossed paths with a missionary couple in the Philippines who encouraged them and financially supported their journey to the U.S. Nguyen was born one month after they had arrived in the states and had settled in Tampa, Florida.

Upon arriving in Florida, the family established themselves in a Vietnamese church. However, as David and

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his younger brother entered high school, they soon found that the church was theologically deficient and was not a place where they could grow spiritually. So, as they continued to look for churches in the area, they found South Tampa Fellowship, where Pastor Jeff Parish and Missions Pastor Kelly Green were leading at the time. Through this church family, Nguyen saw his faith begin to take root, and it was during his time in this local congregation that he first experienced the mentorship of older Christian men like Green and others.

Nguyen is among many others seeking to make disciples among Asian Americans. In 2019, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) noted 2,107 congregations who worshipped in an Asian context, 4.1 percent of all SBC churches. SBC messengers

Article by Lauren Pratt and Chad Burchett

Photos courtesy of David Nguyen

also established the Asian American Collective in 2018, a group of secondgeneration (millennial) Asian Americans who desire to network, develop friendships, and disciple Gen Z Asian Americans. The group, consisting of over 2,000 churches, held its first meeting at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Asian American involvement within the SBC has also grown by 20.7 percent between 2010-2020. As these numbers grow, there is also a need for greater representation within leadership in the SBC and for more people to reach Asian Americans in the United States. Nguyen is playing a role in this effort as he ministers to Vietnamese Americans.

At South Tampa Fellowship, Nguyen saw an emphasis on being a congregation of disciple-making

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disciples. As he was discipled and shaped through the ministries of his local church, leaders noticed his gift to teach and invest in the next generation. As a college student, Nguyen started teaching high school seniors. The more he taught and discipled the next generation, the more he desired to get equipped with further theological training. SEBTS was the first campus he visited. Even though he had considered a few other seminaries around the country, he heard from trusted mentors who had attended SEBTS and felt confident it would be a place where he could learn and grow.

While attending Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, Nguyen also had the opportunity to serve local Vietnamese churches. Pastor Paul Cao, a Vietnamese pastor at Vietnamese Baptist Church of High Point (VBCHP) in Greensboro, loves to connect SEBTS students to preaching opportunities in the area. A SEBTS graduate himself, he understands the importance of hands-on experience while gaining a theological education.

This posture of learning while leading has helped Nguyen serve Vietnamese brothers and sisters well.

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Students in the youth ministry at VBCHP during a recent Overcome Conference

Unique challenges exist between first- and second-generation Asian American Christians. The tendency for second-generation believers to elevate self-expression and deviate from their parents’ prescribed life plan is a primary tension Nguyen has noticed. While he doesn’t believe anything is wrong with self-expression, he instead believes the second generation needs to place their primary identity first in Christ. Second generation Asian American believers live in the tension of two cultures, and Nguyen desires for them to root themselves in Christ because only Christ will bring lasting joy and satisfaction.

However, Nguyen also sees the second generation’s creativity in the way they worship each week — a

blend of self-expression that points to the beauty of Christ. On the other hand, first-generation believers place a high view on traditional worship, believing that their formality symbolizes the sacredness of the God they worship. When Nguyen preaches to a congregation where first-generation members are present, he will begin with a formal greeting, acknowledging every prominent congregation member to honor them. To not do so would be culturally offensive. It’s cultural tensions like this that Nguyen keeps in his mind as he preaches in Vietnamese churches and seeks to bridge generational gaps. He believes that humility to learn from one another is the key to bridging this gap.

Nguyen feels like SEBTS has

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Children and their families gathered for Easter at VBCHP

Nguyen sharing a children’s message before the Sunday sermon at VBCHP

Nguyen leading senior adult volunteers from VBCHP at the Baptist Children's Home of North Carolina

prepared him for ministry in the Vietnamese church by realizing it’s not just about ministry itself but about reaching the nations. “Southeastern has equipped me to fulfill the Great Commission and to faithfully preach the gospel,” Nguyen said. “I am so thankful that Southeastern has cultivated a learning environment where seminary students do head work, heart work, and hand work together to fulfill our Master’s final marching orders.”

After graduating with his Master of Arts in Marital, Family, and Individual Counseling in December, he hopes to plant a multicultural church while working as a clinical counselor. He believes being able to bring Asian Americans of all generations and backgrounds together

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is a beautiful picture of how the gospel unites people under one common theme: Christ above all.

Nguyen, however, is not waiting until he graduates to use his counseling training. He currently counsels families in crisis through the Baptist Children’s Home of North Carolina.

For Nguyen, his goal in counseling is to walk alongside those who are suffering, to share the hope of Christ, and to remind them that nothing in this life is meaningless. Every third week of the month, Nguyen also takes the seniors from his church to volunteer at the Baptist Children’s Home, packing and sorting donations of food, toys, and other items. “We meet people where they are,” Nguyen says. “That has always been the heartbeat of the place.”

As Nguyen continues to be faithful to fulfilling the mission to preach the gospel and make disciples among Asian Americans, his deepest desire is to see more congregations that look like the group described in Revelation 7:9: every nation, tribe, people, and tongue worshipping Christ together.

After all, that’s what theological education is all meant to point to in the first place.

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Dr. Akin invites you to

MEET Southeastern

MEET SOUTHEASTERN

is a gathering for prospective donors to learn more about Southeastern. By coming to campus, they will learn more about how the Lord is working through our students to reach the nations with the gospel and what it looks like to partner together to accomplish this goal. This event includes an overview of the history of the school, a campus tour, a faculty panel, and dinner with President Danny Akin.

I want to personally invite you to join us for Meet Southeastern.

Come and see for yourself how God is using Southeastern to accomplish the Great Commission. I hope to meet you there.

- Danny Akin

FOR FUTURE DATES AND MORE INFORMATION

EMAIL MICHELLE ARD AT MARD@SEBTS.EDU

A Disciple Making Disciples

Training churches to engage Spanish subcultures

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Article by Chad Burchett

Photos by Rebecca Pate and Ricardo Sanchez

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he Lord blessed their surrender as Ricardo and Evelyn Sanchez pioneered video conferencing environments in the 1990s through their multi-platform construction and engineering company. They expanded their business and ministry to outfit and train Hispanic churches to stream content in the Americas. In the years to follow, Ricardo and Evelyn continued to work among Hispanic churches to train interpreters and stream rich theological teaching around the world in multiple languages.

While working with multi-lingual interpreters, Ricardo became burdened to train interpreters in biblical doctrine and communication skills. “We need to train multilingual and international believers to be effective interpreters,” Ricardo urged. “Because if they return to their native countries or serve in multilingual contexts, they will be the natural interpreters.” Ricardo began to pray about where he could be educated to develop a training program for interpreters and for minority leaders, especially Hispanic church leaders.

God led him to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS). “When I first visited Southeastern,” Ricardo narrated, “I looked up and saw the banner ‘Every classroom, a Great Commission classroom.’ I walked a little further and saw ‘Equipping students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.’ It was love at first sight.” SEBTS challenged Ricardo to surrender his life further to Great Commission ministry.

“Southeastern did not meet my expectations for a theological classroom. It rewrote my expectations for a theological classroom,” Ricardo recalled.

“They taught me to be in love with God’s word and summon people to my loves.”

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Ricardo has a passion for inviting people to love God’s word because God dramatically reordered his loves as a young businessman. Growing up in a devout Catholic family in the Dominican Republic, Ricardo became disenchanted by traditional Catholicism and disheartened by his feelings of spiritual emptiness. “When I was nineteen, I began my quest to fill the void in my heart that the Catholic church could not supply,” Ricardo recounted.

Sampling Buddhism, Hinduism, shamanism, acupuncture, New Age metaphysics, and Dianetics, Ricardo tried whatever promised lasting peace.

Ricardo first truly encountered the transforming gospel of Christ in an unlikely messenger. Ricardo remembers his trips to collect payment from a frequent customer, Gerardo, an older Christian businessman in town: “Gerardo believed he had a duty as a Christian businessman to spread the gospel. And so, every time I went to collect, he would give me a thirty-minute Bible talk.”

These Bible talks continued for months, and as their friendship grew, Gerardo would visit Ricardo and his wife, Evelyn, in their home every Tuesday.

Through Gerardo’s testimony, friendship, and business, God converted Ricardo and Evelyn in their living room during one of Gerardo’s Tuesday visits. “Having tried other paths to peace, I knew I had nothing to look for elsewhere,” Ricardo narrated. “My heart had a hole the size of God in the shape of the cross, and it was not until he came in and called for my death that I experienced peace — the peace of Christ.”

Gerardo became Ricardo’s model of godly entrepreneurship and intentional discipleship. “Gerardo was the one who took me to all my creditors and met with us; he cut my credit cards himself,” Ricardo recalled. “He was my

I had avoided the thought of being a pastor, but the Lord answered all my questions that day. The only thing I could do was cry in surrender.

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Ricardo, Evelyn, and their discipler Gerardo

discipler — my Paul — and I his Timothy.” Like Gerardo, Ricardo and Evelyn started Bible studies for their company and persevered even when officials antagonized them. Through their marketplace ministry, God drew employees, customers, and investors to faith in Christ.

Once Ricardo came to Southeastern, God reignited his passion for equipping the Church for Great Commission ministry. “I remember being asked to read Scripture in Spanish for chapel one fall,” Ricardo narrated. “The Lord sat me on the front row, and I listened to the preacher address the call to the office of overseer in 1 Timothy 3. I had avoided the thought of being a pastor, but the Lord answered all my questions that day. The only thing I could do was cry in surrender.” Responding to this moment of conviction and calling, Ricardo pursued a leadership role in the Hispanic ministry of their local church, Richland Creek Community Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Ricardo has now served for five years in Richland Creek's Hispanic ministry and for the last three years as the Hispanic Ministry Director. “God gave me a fire in my heart to reach my culture, which is healing from so many spiritual diseases,” Ricardo shared. “The prosperity gospel,

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Ricardo explained. “I desire to design curricula for interpreters and for local church leaders to grow in the knowledge of grace and to outfit and train local churches to receive biblical doctrine.”

“How aware is the American Church of the urgency and need of the gospel in Spanish for the people in their communities?” asked Ricardo. In the last decade, Hispanic population growth has accounted for more than half of the overall population growth in the United States.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census, the Hispanic population was 62.1 million in 2020, up 23 percent since 2010, while the non-Hispanic population was only up 4.3 percent during the same ten-year period.

23% 4.3% Ricardo and family: son, Samuel; wife, Evelyn; Ricardo; and daughter, Abigail

Non-Hispanic growth in US since 2010

Hispanic growth in US since 2010

The Hispanic or Latino population was 62.1 million in 2020. The Hispanic or Latino population grew 23%, while the population that was not of Hispanic or Latino origin grew 4.3% since 2010.*

animistic Catholicism, and works-based religion have long troubled many in the Hispanic community. My desire is to biblically disciple my brothers and sisters out “This means that first-generation immigrants need to be from under these influences.” Ricardo continues to discipled in their mother tongue,” Ricardo observed. witness God fulfill these desires through Ricardo’s “Churches cannot become a language institute that development of discipleship curriculum and ministry requires immigrants and minorities to adopt majority among Hispanic believers and church leaders. culture and language to hear the gospel and grow in their Ricardo centers his discipleship on intentional relafaith.” Engaging Hispanics with the gospel should not tionships that train others to read the Bible for intimacy mean that only Hispanics who know English can benefit with Christ. “Lasting faith consists of pursuing intimacy from American church ministries. At the same time, “the with Christ,” Ricardo emphasized. “That is what gives us solution is not to create some sort of separate entity of the capacity to not give up.” This Christ-centered focus Hispanic ministry 'over there,'” Ricardo noted. “Instead, on Bible-based relationships has been a constant joy. we should equip and train Hispanic leaders to not only “The opportunity of making disciples that are making serve in the Hispanic ministry but also in the main, active disciples is awesome,” Ricardo marveled. “One of my ministry of the Church.” disciples is now leading Bible study groups with people For Ricardo, the question is not whether to engage in Peru. He’s just doing the same thing I did with him: Hispanic subcultures in our communities, but rather handwriting the book of Ephesians and seeking to “how much are we training the hearts of the Church to understand it verse by verse.” love subcultures?” Whether by learning the languages or As an overflow of his passion for training Hispanic pastors, customs of subcultures in the community or by training Ricardo devoted his EdD dissertation at SEBTS to integratminority believers in positions of leadership within the ing discipleship and technology in Hispanic churches. “I’m Church, every church can participate. As Ricardo reminds writing on how Hispanic pastors use technology to develop the Church, “It is urgent for disciple-making churches to community and disciple people in their local churches,” be willing to get uncomfortable in loving other cultures.”

Spring 2022 *Information taken from www.census.gov

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¿Le interesa crecer más en su llamado al ministerio? ¡Ofrecemos tres programas completamente en español!

MAESTRÍA EN

ESTUDIOS CRISTIANOS

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A P R E N D E M Á S E N S E B T S . E D U / E S PA N O L

On Mission in the Metroplex 200 Years of church planting among Hispanics and Latinos continues in Texas

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Story by Lauren Pratt

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Photos by Rebecca Pate

oises Gomez doesn’t just see his time at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) as one of knowledge acquisition. Instead, he sees how each class shaped him holistically to live out the Great Commission in every aspect of his life. Before coming to SEBTS in 2015, Gomez started his ministry in the Dominican Republic and began to pray for the opportunity to be further equipped to serve the Church wherever God called him. He sees how God is answering that prayer through theological training and the call to help Hispanic families in the DallasFort Worth (DFW) metroplex.

“We are training people in the same way — using theology as an instrument of grace to shape, train, and equip people for their lives,” said Gomez, who now serves as the Spanish Pastor at First Irving Baptist Church in Irving, Texas.

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While Hispanic ministries in the DFW metroplex are growing, so are the prevalence of the prosperity gospel and the need for healthy churches in the area. God opened Gomez’s eyes to this need to plant healthy, gospel-centered Hispanic congregations and gave him the faith to say yes to that call.

Gomez joined First Irving’s staff in 2019 after receiving his MDiv in Christian Ministry in December 2018. Since moving to Irving four years ago, Gomez has seen tremendous growth in the lives of Hispanic families in the DFW metroplex.

When Gomez, his wife Betsy, and their three children (now four) moved to Texas, his goal was to plant a Hispanic congregation from First Irving. That congregation started with less than 10 people.

Despite a global pandemic, over 140 people are now attending services each week.

First Irving isn’t just discipling people through weekly services. The church offers a Bible training institute, small groups, monthly women’s gatherings, monthly couples’ gatherings, and men’s Bible studies.

Through these avenues, God is

them. Those who identify as Hispanic now account for 18.7 percent of the country’s population, which represents half of the nation’s population growth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census. With that growth comes the potential for increased Hispanic leadership and involvement within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), where there are 3,500 Hispanic and Latino SBC churches.

“I think we’re going to continue to see Hispanics rise in leadership in our Convention and our churches as the second generation and those who were born here ­— like myself — see the value of it,” said Pete Ramirez, associate executive director for the California Southern Baptist Convention, in a 2021 Baptist Press article, “Census Reveals Future for Hispanics, Latinos in the SBC.” The state in which Gomez serves is where Southern Baptist work to Hispanic populations began. In his

Southeastern prepared me to fulfill the mission by developing a Christ-centered, Scripture-driven, Spirit-filled, and mission-oriented pastoral ministry. training men and women across the DFW to know God and his word more deeply and share the gospel across the metroplex.

Gomez represents many other pastors seeking to reach the Hispanic population in the United States. The Hispanic population is growing, and so is the need for healthy churches that can reach 36

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1992 compilation “Ethnic Baptist History,” Joshua Grijalva writes that the first Baptist Bible study for Hispanics started in 1821 at First Baptist San Antonio, which expanded to First (Mexican) Baptist Church in 1861.

Gomez now finds himself continuing this ministry in Texas, where the highest number of SBC Hispanic congregations still exist.

When you listen to Gomez talk about all that God is doing at First Irving, he speaks with genuine passion and excitement for what has already happened and what God will continue to do in the years ahead. But as he now seeks to train others, Gomez is deeply grateful for how SEBTS professors equipped him in every area of life and ministry.

Gomez and his wife didn’t just talk about serving the Church while in school; they passionately pursued it.

Gomez preached in various cities, including New York City, Miami, Raleigh-Durham, and Orlando. Even while a student, he led the Hispanic Initiative at Imago Dei Church for a year and a half, which included about 40 Hispanic congregants and 20 kids

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We are training people in the same way — using theology as an instrument of grace to shape, train, and equip people for their lives.

coming together once a month for a time of teaching and fellowship.

“Southeastern prepared me to fulfill the mission by developing a Christcentered, Scripture-driven, Spirit-filled, and mission-oriented pastoral ministry,” said Gomez, who saw firsthand through working at SEBTS and studying there as an MDiv student that the school intentionally lives out its mission to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.

Gomez and his ministry fit into the larger narrative that God has been telling through faithful ministers of the gospel in Texas, the United States, and the world. He is simply devoted to fulfilling the mission in his context, so that more people can know Christ and make him known.

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In 2016, Gomez holds up a Go Sign. Now, six years later, he is pursuing that calling through his role at First Irving.

“We are training people in the same way—using theology as an instrument of grace to shape, train, and equip people for their lives.”

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Signs of New Life Among the Least Reached

Gospel ministry in Central Asian Deaf communities

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n 2020, the International Mission Board (IMB) estimated the global population of Deaf people to be 70 million with as many as 1,444 Deaf people dying each day without eternal life in Christ (imb.org/asr). Of the 182 known Deaf people groups in the world, 180 of them are considered unreached, meaning that the majority of the world’s Deaf population is less than 2 percent evangelical with little to no sustained gospel witness.

For Sam and Lydia, these statistics were intolerable.* Sam, a hearing man, and Lydia, a Deaf woman, met in 2003 and stayed in touch even while serving on different continents as Journeymen with the IMB. Although Lydia was serving in Central Europe from 2003–2005 and Sam was serving in South America from 2004–2006, God was working to knit their hearts 38

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Story by Chad Burchett

together. “We were both independently called to a life of missions,” Sam recounted, “but during our time as Journeymen we both realized we would do this a lot better with a partner we could trust.”

Before returning from the field, they began discussing how best to prepare for redeployment. “Southeastern was known to us as the sending seminary,” Sam recalled. So, Lydia returned in 2005 and enrolled in the MA in Intercultural Studies program at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS). Sam returned in 2006 and started an MDiv in International Church Planting. While students at SEBTS, Sam and Lydia married and continued praying about how God would use them for his mission.

It became increasingly clear that God was preparing them to reach underserved communities with the

Photos courtesy of IMB

*Names changed for security reasons

gospel. “My call was to the least reached peoples,” shared Sam. “It was offensive to me that we had an entire world of people with pockets who had never ever been touched by the gospel because they never had the opportunity. Seeing the need among geographically and culturally isolated people only further fueled this driving passion.”

When Sam and Lydia interviewed with the IMB, they were challenged to consider ministry among Deaf people in Central Asia since Lydia was Deaf and had experience with Deaf ministry. While Sam was processing this challenge, God quickly reminded him that Deaf communities were among the least reached to whom he had been called. They accepted the assignment, and later the next year they moved to Central Asia as gospel witnesses among the Deaf.

Spring 2022

For the last 11 years, Sam and Lydia have bridged gospel silence through church-planting efforts in a region of the world dominated by Islam and secularism. “We are first and foremost church planters — planting churches among the Deaf,” shared Sam. “We translate Scripture into sign languages in our region as a function of our church-planting ministry, bringing to bear scriptural authority in the Deaf community.”

“Our Southeastern education has aided us as we help Christians in our context wrestle with hard questions,” noted Sam. “How do you respond to your family that has threatened to kill you if you get baptized? Is baptism that important? Why do we baptize? What does that mean? We’re working on the ground level and working our way up, letting Scripture inform the way to live.”

told his father, his father was incensed and threatened, “If you get baptized, I will not just disown you; I will kill you.” After waiting a year to see if God would change his father’s heart, Elijah was baptized publicly in a lake near his hometown — along with four other converts to Christianity. Sam and Lydia are now discipling Elijah in the truth of God’s word, helping him follow Christ unashamedly without fear even in the face of a very real threat to his life.

Describing the difficulty of teaching biblical authority to Deaf people like Elijah, Sam noted that many of them associate the authority of the message with the one who is signing and not with God’s written word. “We work hard to teach them that we are not the authority but rather that we follow a book given to us by God, who is the authority and whose words are authoritative for our lives.”

These questions are far from theoretical for Christians in Sam and Lydia’s context. Sam narrated the story of Elijah, a local Deaf man whose family are devout Muslims. By God’s grace, Elijah began to consider the gospel through Sam and Lydia’s ministry, which aroused his family’s suspicion. Elijah was converted when the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the power of Jesus as the Son of God in the story of the feeding of the five thousand. When Elijah

“Scripture access is not as easy as handing a Bible to a Deaf person,” Sam shared. "Reading is not their first language. Ministering among Deaf people is not as simple as distributing print material — not if we intend to engage in their heart language. We need videos of Scripture being signed and we need a live person signing. We are working to create an accurate video codex of Scripture recordings for the Church.”

“In our context, truth and story are held at the group level, and believers

Spring 2022

Ministering among Deaf people is not as simple as distributing print material — not if we intend to engage in their heart language.

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work out theology in the community,” Sam noted. “This increases their ability to sign the story accurately and to hold each other accountable to make sure that the story remains stable.

One person will begin signing a passage and others will correct or continue the story as a group.”

“When we gather, we teach them how to pray, and we story through a passage of Scripture until they have memorized it," Same shared. “Then we sit down and discuss it, wrestling theologically with how the text relates to the issues they are facing like joblessness, abuse, marital roles, or parental honor in a culture where they are dishonoring their mother and father by following Christ.”

Recalling the relevance of his seminary courses for life on mission, Sam commented, “I have found that everything I learned at Southeastern could be used in some way in my context. Bruce

“There is an increasing awareness of Deaf cultures in America as stories and even films like 'CODA' (Children of Deaf Adults) inform broader audiences,” noted Sam. “Accessibility to the Deaf community is already here; the question is whether hearing Christians will choose to learn and engage.”

According to Sam, engaging Deaf people may require some behaviors that differ from engaging other people groups, but the basic disposition and strategy is the same: invest personally and value the other person enough to learn their heart language. “Don’t be afraid when somebody comes up and starts gesturing,” Sam urged. “Give them your attention and don’t be embarrassed to write back and forth. Then, to engage over time, meet them on their own turf — learn their heart language. One of the best ways to learn is to watch Deaf-to-Deaf signing.”

“Deaf people are not broken humans,” Sam remarked. “They are people that have a different language and culture.

Deaf people would not say that they are broken or handicapped; they simply communicate differently.”

“Find a way to get into the community,” Sam encouraged. “For instance, a lot of churches in the U.S. have ASL classes. Also, consider joining Deaf meetups. Because of the cultural isolation they experience, many Deaf people are part of broader Deaf communities that meet up regularly.”

“Ministry among Deaf people is really just a commitment to reaching people where they are and learning their language, learning their culture, and being humble,” noted Sam. If the lostness of the least-reached around the world is truly offensive to those who have been redeemed, how can such a commitment be too great a sacrifice?

In our context, truth and story are held at the group level, and believers work out theology in the community.

Ashford’s missionary study course continues to be so valuable. I learned what to expect religiously and culturally in our context. I still have my notes, and I refer to them often. Also, Ken Keathley’s and John Hammett’s theology courses as well as Bruce Little’s philosophy course prepared me to deal with the emotions of what I experience culturally and then to critically evaluate those experiences biblically, analyzing what is really at play in my context.”

With constant globalization and advancements in technology, accessibility to the Deaf community has never been easier.

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Spring 2022

! i n m u l A y e H

UT

HE AST

E RN

Your membership dues, $50 per year or $600 lifetime, help us equip students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission while keeping tuition affordable for students.

SO

STAY CO NNECT ED & MA K E A N I M PAC T!

A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N

You’ll also receive these great benefits:

• Audit courses for free • Retain access to the ATLA Religion Database • Retain access to the Share Shop • Join an intramural sports team • 50% Off transcripts • 40% Off on conference registrations at SEBTS • 10% Off items at the Locker • Use of Ledford Center Fitness Room

For more info or to join the Alumni Association, connect with us at sebts.edu/saa 919.761.2822 alumni@sebts.edu

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Spring 2022

Teaching the Nations

Three EdD alumni are discipling generations of teachers

Spring 2022

S

outheastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s (SEBTS) Doctor of Education (EdD) program offers advanced students a terminal degree that prepares them to teach and develop other ministry leaders, teachers, and counselors to serve in churches, schools, seminaries, universities, and para-church organizations. Southeastern’s EdD graduates are sent out as educators equipped to disciple the nations all around the world and in the United States. Learn how God is expanding Christ’s kingdom through the ministry of these EdD graduates — administrators and teachers like Alemseged Ketema in Ethiopia and Yiyoung Yuk in Iowa or pastor-teachers like Bryan Presson.

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Alemseged Ketema Dean of Graduate Studies at the Evangelical Theological College Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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ADDIS ABABA

ETHIOPIA

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am an administrator and teacher at the Evangelical Theological College (ETC), which was constituted thirty years ago to train leaders in the growing underground church of Ethiopia — many of whom were facing imprisonment, flogging, and death under the communist regime. Since its establishment as a ministry of the International Evangelical Church in 1983, it has trained leaders for all the denominations that serve in the country.

After completing my studies at Southeastern, I was selected as the Dean of Graduate Studies at ETC, overseeing its five graduate programs. Ethiopia has very few people who are trained at a doctoral level with the capacity to teach at the graduate level. Therefore, since I studied at Southeastern in the EdD program, I have been able to start the MA-EdL program and teach as well. The courses I took at Southeastern have enabled me to read broadly, enriching the content and delivery of the courses I am teaching. Dr. Ken Coley has modeled well how to steward one’s teaching and relationships with students.

Theological education is a relatively new development in Ethiopia, emerging in the last forty years.

Many of our pastors are not trained.

Many of the educators and leaders in our Bible schools and colleges have not received sufficient training. The theological resources for our context in Ethiopia are few. To address these issues, we are working to offer quality training at the grassroots level and at the graduate level. There is only one theological institution currently offering doctoral level training in the whole country, so we are planning to start a doctoral program at ETC where students will be encouraged to do research and be equipped to teach.

We believe that seminaries exist to stand alongside the Church as it strives to fulfill the Great Commission. I have had the privilege of seeing my students graduate and go to provide leadership in hundreds of local churches. Some of our graduates have started Bible schools at the diploma level for their churches throughout Ethiopia, and some of these schools are developing into colleges that offer undergraduate theology programs, which we believe is a strategic way to multiply faithful teachers in our context. To know that the Lord has allowed me to contribute to the ministry of these graduates is overwhelming.

Spring 2022

Yiyoung Yuk Education Director at Emmaus Bible College Dubuque, Iowa

I

serve as a K-12 ESL education director at Emmaus Bible College. The mission of our college is to educate and equip learners to impact the world for Christ, and one of the ways we do this is through our fouryear ESL Education program, which is designed to equip graduates with the professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions of effective K-12 ESL teachers with a heart for serving others. I teach and train teachers so they can make disciples of all nations and serve students from all over the world.

Emmaus graduates are missionary educators in public schools and Christian schools in the U.S. and all over the world, such that every classroom is a Great Commission classroom just as Southeastern taught me.

Through my studies in the EdD program at Southeastern, I clearly discovered my vision as an educator. God used the program to equip me with the skillset, knowledge, and experience to teach and engage students’ hearts. As a Korean woman in higher education, sometimes I struggled with insecurity, and there were times I questioned God’s calling in my life. However, the Kingdom Diversity Initiative at Southeastern encouraged students like me to become more involved in Great Commission work around the world. Every semester, I felt empowered and encouraged by other female students and faculty who genuinely encouraged me to pursue God’s calling and use academic gifts to advance his kingdom.

In service of the Great Commission, my EdD research attempted to bridge the scholarship on ESL and on missiology by studying the results of Bible storying among ESL par-

Spring 2022

ticipants. I conducted my research in the U.S., France, and China and tried to examine the participants’ change through a missional grid, discover growth in their linguistic strengths through Bible storying, and measure the strength of active learning skills used in Bible storying.

The EdD cohort model helped me to finish the race strong. I was trying to finish my dissertation in a second language as a full-time mom and full-time faculty member. There were times I thought this was an impossible task, but God provided a cohort and a team of educators who decided to go the extra mile to make it possible. We would text each other, talk about dissertations, and push each other to keep going so we could graduate together. Dr. Coley’s visionary leadership and creative pedagogy inspired me to be more creative and challenged me to be a life-long learner. His words of encouragement stayed in my heart and bloomed.

He modeled the kind of teacher I wanted to be. The EdD program at Southeastern prepared my heart and mind for ministry and gave me a practical toolbox to train teachers, empowering them to follow the footsteps of our master teacher, Jesus.

DUBUQUE

IOWA, U.S.

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GREENSBORO

NORTH CAROLINA

I

Bryan Presson Pastor of Friendly Avenue Karen Church Greensboro, North Carolina

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n 2009, after almost twenty years of cross-cultural ministry in Southeast Asia, my family and I relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina, to work in church planting among the Karen — a Burmese people group who had been resettled through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. We quickly realized the need to train pastors and leaders.

So, we opened a local teaching center at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro. We taught and continue to teach the program in both English and their native language, providing students a 24-credit-hour Diploma of Christian Studies upon completion of the program. Feeling called to church plant or become missionaries to their homelands, current students and graduates are serving as pastors, assistant pastors, church leaders, youth leaders, and music ministers at churches in North Carolina.

To be better equipped as an educator in the Christian context, I entered the EdD program at Southeastern.

Because Southeastern is a Great Commission seminary dedicated not only to sound biblical instruction but also to theological integration, spiritual formation, and critical thinking, I knew Southeastern would be a good place to pursue an advanced degree. Little did I know how much the pedagogical insights I received in the EdD program

would impact my role as a crosscultural instructor and communicator.

As a missionary immersed in the language and culture of my host people group, I knew the importance of contextualization. I found that many of the concepts I learned through the EdD program regarding the teaching-learning process — concepts such as change being the goal for the teaching-learning process rather than content delivery, learner-focused teaching through engagement, differentiated instruction to improve learning outcomes, active learning techniques, and formative assessment — while being sound pedagogical practices in any context, take on particular relevance in the effort to contextualize teaching cross-culturally.

Even the cohort model used in the EdD program has been modified for our context. The students go through the program as a group, taking the same courses — which supports the collective nature of Southeast Asian culture — and investing in each other by working together, praying for one another, and planning future ministry together.

So, through the providence of God to bring refugees to North Carolina; to have a church planted to reach them; to have a training center to equip future pastors, church planters, and missionaries who use insights learned through the EdD program at Southeastern, the Great Commission is being fulfilled on a small scale to impact the nations by the grace of God.

Spring 2022

EdD

D O C TO R O F E D U C AT I O N

L E A R N M O R E AT S E B T S . E D U / E D D

Develop your teaching skills.

Help the hurting.

Train the next generation.

C O N C E N T R AT I O N S I N C H R I S T I A N E D U C AT I O N , CHRISTIAN COUNSELING, AND DISCIPLESHIP AND MENTORING

Spring 2022

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Southeastern is a Great Commission school. From our undergraduate program through our doctoral degrees, our students and graduates are pursuing the nations for the glory of King Jesus.

Last words are meant to be lasting words, and that means that Jesus’ final command is our first priority: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Southeastern graduates are making an impact in all 50 states and in over 40 countries. Yet, the task is not complete, because there still remain over three billion people who have never heard the name of Jesus.

Our goal is to advance the kingdom of God and combat global lostness by sending 1,000 gospel-prepared warriors every year to join over 16,000 graduates who are on mission for Christ.

FOR THE STUDENTS

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To achieve this goal, we launched For the Mission, a fouryear campaign that addresses four strategic initiatives that allow us to be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission.

This is for the students by providing more scholarships and financial aid.

This is for the faculty by establishing faculty chairs, professorships, and other academic initiatives.

This is for the campus through the construction and renovation of needed facilities.

And this is for the cause by giving mission-critical support for our immediate financial needs.

We are doing this for the mission. It’s four years. Four strategic initiatives. For the glory of God. Will you join us?

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%

FOR THE FACULTY

FOR THE C AMPUS

FOR THE C AUSE

114%

85%

TOTAL RAISED

TOTAL RAISED

AMOUNT

PERCENT

$16,597,904

81% Amounts as of 4/30/22

4 YEARS | 4 STRATEGIC INITIATIVES | FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

BECAUSE YOU GIVE, WE

FOR THE MISSION. WAYS TO GIVE

SCAN HERE OR GO TO SEBTS.EDU/GIVE

Cash or Check Please make checks payable to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and send to the address below: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Attn: Financial and Alumni Development P.O. Box 1889, Wake Forest, NC 27588

Matching Gifts

Donor Advised Funds

Many companies offer their employees a gift-matching program. The percentages and amounts may vary, but you can inquire with your respective Human Resources Office to see if this is available to you. This is a great way to maximize your giving to Southeastern!

IRA

Donor-advised funds are tremendous giving vehicles that allow donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants from their fund over time. These funds are established at a public charity, and there are numerous organizations (including faith-based organizations) that provide this service across the country for donors to choose from when opening a fund.

Stock

Give a tax-free gift to Southeastern directly from your IRA. IRA distributions to Southeastern qualify for the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). You must be age 70 1/2 or older and the annual maximum donation is $100,000.

When you donate appreciated securities, both the gift amount and charitable deduction are the fair market value of the stock and there is no capital gains tax.

Learn more at FORTHEMISSION.COM

F E AT U R E D S T U D E N T:

Lissy Sandoval MDiv in Ministry to Women or Lissy Sandoval, the idea of going to seminary was only a dream. As a mom of two girls and wife to her husband Oscar, Sandoval was busy raising a family and working in the corporate world. That is, until two years ago when her church in Lowell, Massachusetts, Mill City Church, offered her a staff position as a College Minister and Outreach Coordinator. It was through this opportunity and the encouragement of her pastor that Sandoval started to consider theological education.

In 2019, Sandoval’s dream became a reality when she began her MDiv in Ministry to Women at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Sandoval also travels to campus for hybrid weekends, giving her an opportunity to be on campus while still applying what she’s learning as she serves in New England. She has seen a number of ways in which her education is actively equipping her while serving at Mill City Church. Through Bible exposition classes, she is helping women to see the breadth and depth of God’s word while applying it to their lives. Through counseling classes, she is learning the importance of not just looking at the symptoms of a problem but asking good questions that help women dig down to the root of the issue — to see what is going on at the heart level.

Thirteen years ago, Mill City Church was birthed out of a campus ministry at UMass Lowell. The church still sees the reverberations of that beginning today, with 30 percent of attenders being college-aged or having come out of that campus ministry.

Lowell, Massachusetts, is situated in the fifth most post-Christian area in the United States, according to a 2019 Barna Group study. And that is where believers like Sandoval are seeking to make disciples among college students, helping them to see their place in the Great Commission from Lowell to the ends of the earth.

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Spring 2022

Top Photo: A woman at Lissy’s church in Lowell, Massachusetts, Mill City Church, worships on Sunday morning.

Center Photo: Dr. Julia Higgins teaches in a weekend hybrid class on ministry to women.

Bottom Photo: The building in Lowell where Mill City Church meets.

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“Pam and I believe wholeheartedly in the mission of Southeastern.

It genuinely is a Great Commission seminary, and the Lord is using our graduates all over the world. Playing a role in that work through our giving is incredibly exciting.”

Dr. Chuck Lawless Professor of Evangelism and Missions Dean of Doctoral Studies Vice President for Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers Richard & Gina Headrick Chair of World Missions

Leave A Legacy of Faith The Southeastern Legacy Society exists for supporters of Southeastern Seminary to make an impact though legacy giving dedicated to equip students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.

To join or for more information, visit sebts.edu/give, or email jgoforth@sebts.edu

Training gospel-ready champions requires the support of Christians who believe in this mission. When the time comes that you are home with Christ, your support can continue to make a Great Commission impact for those in need of the gospel.

Become a part of the Southeastern Legacy Society by including Southeastern in your estate planning.

Joi n

al nu

u

r the 16th a o f n s

SEPTEMBER 12th 2022

OVER THE L AST 15 YEARS, THE SOUTHEASTERN CLASSIC HAS R AISED

$1,040,000

THAT IS EQUAL TO PROVIDING FULL ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS FOR

130

STUDENTS FOR

To learn more, play, or become a sponsor, please visit sebts.edu/classic or email Drew Davis at ddavis@sebts.edu Hosted at North Ridge Country Club

1

YEAR

AT THE

OFFICE with Dr. Carter

With decades of experience in business administration, Harry Carter is passionate about engaging students and inspiring them to approach business from a biblical worldview. Carter would be quick to tell you that a proper biblical foundation is invaluable for navigating the legal and ethical tensions in business, which is why he works to instill biblical principles of business in each of his students.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy and Georgia Air National Guard; a life-long tennis player; and a former president, provost, and professor at several academic institutions, Carter models a life of discipline and humble leadership. As a Professor of Business for The College at Southeastern, Carter is training students to serve Christ in society through business.

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Q

How did you get to Southeastern?

I retired from the Citadel in 2019 as the provost and a faculty member. We then moved up to Raleigh, to be near our son, daughter, and grandchildren.

Once we got here, we joined Bayleaf Baptist Church, and Marty Jacumin, the pastor at that time, introduced me to Dr. Whitfield.

That started a conversation about Southeastern’s interest in creating an undergraduate business program. I had experience in that area, having taught in business all my career. We talked some more, and Dr. Whitfield eventually asked me to serve part time to direct the program and help get it started.

A

Q

A

What is the Bachelor of Business Administration, and how will it equip students for the Great Commission?

It’s a traditional 127-hour undergraduate degree. The degree includes a general education

core coupled with a spiritual formation core and a business core of ten traditional business courses like accounting, marketing, management, finance — the basic functions of business. We added on top of that nine major courses, which are a little more unique to Southeastern, including Business as Mission and The Doctrine of Vocation. The program includes a course on biblical leadership, and we have courses on the legal and ethical environment of business. In these courses, students will be looking at real world issues, but we’ll ask them to evaluate these issues through the biblical lens.

Right now, a very important issue worldwide is supply chain management. So, we have a course in the operations of business and supply chain. We’ll also be helping them in terms of biblical exposition and application of the word, which is part of their spiritual formation. So, we will consider some difficult tensions that will help students wrestle with the application of a biblical worldview in real-world situations.

Spring 2022

1. Carter and a well-worn copy of Charles Manz’s "The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus: Practical Lessons for Today" // 2. A few books Carter uses to teach on principles of leadership and the character of a leader // 3. A gavel given in appreciation for Carter’s service on the Bulloch County Board of Education and a framed quotation that reminds Carter to be humble and honest with himself // 4. A few of Carter’s theological resources for thinking biblically about life and business // 5. A picture of Carter’s wife holding their first grandchild

1

2

4

3

Q

5

What books have been most influential for your spiritual life and business?

A

I teach leadership based on the Bible. I also have four or five copies on my shelf of a book called "The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus," which has been very significant for me. John Maxwell’s books on leadership and the "Maxwell Leadership Bible" are books that I use quite a bit. Maxwell will pull out leadership examples from the Bible, and then he will build his leadership principles around those examples.

I’ve often used the "NIV Leadership Bible" as well. Simon Sinek has a great book entitled "Start with Why" which explains the importance of telling folks why you do what you do rather than just doing it. J. C. Ryle’s book, "Holiness," is another significant book for me; I have an old copy of it in my office.

Q

What do you hope your students come away with during their time at Southeastern?

Our focus here is on spiritual formation so that students who go into business will go into business

A

Spring 2022

with a biblical worldview. There are too many folks in business with alternative worldviews. So, what we’re trying to do with this program is prepare students to understand business and be able to compete well in the business world from a biblical worldview.

That’s the unique aspect of this program. We hope to instill in students the importance of doing business according to biblical principles.

Q

How do you see business and the Great Commission intersecting?

I think they work together very well because some countries are closed to missionaries, yet they’re open to people who have a business, trade, or vocation. So, if we can prepare folks with a vocation and with a passion for the Great Commission, they can get into closed countries and share the gospel in the marketplace in a way that traditional missionaries might not be able to do.

That’s the design and hope of what

A

we’re trying to accomplish by building the Great Commission into the program. Hopefully, students can gain valuable business skills that they can leverage to make disciples.

Q

What do you do when you’re not working?

What do you do for fun?

A

I have one big hobby, and it’s tennis. I played at Georgia Southern, which is where I studied for my undergraduate degree. So, I’m often in the gym or on the tennis court. My wife and I are members of Raleigh Racket Club. My wife is a really good tennis player. She’s an international champion and national champion, and she travels all over the country and world. I have to work hard to keep up with her.

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BOOKS HATS SHIRTS STICKERS GIFTS MUGS & MORE

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F E AT U R E D A L U M N I W O R K S PhD The Pastoral Epistles and the New Perspective on Paul August 2021 Daniel Wayne Roberts (PhD in Biblical Studies with New Testament, 2020)

DMin No Ordinary Work: Church Planting in the Shadow of the Church Growth Movement June 2021 Larry Snyder (DMin in Pastoral Ministry, 2020)

Equipping Fathers to Lead Family Worship November 2021 Ken Coley and Blair Robinson (DMin in Pastoral Ministry, 2019)

Equipping Fathers to Lead Family Worship is a historical, theological, and biblical account of fathers’ responsibility to lead their families to worship God as well as a practical guide to personal and family worship practices. With this resource for pastors to train fathers in their local church, readers will be equipped for ministry in the home through Robinson’s godly counsel and practical recommendations.

EdD It Takes More Than Love: A Christian Guide to Navigating the Complexities of Cross-Cultural Adoption April 2022

“The practical methods provided focus on the individual practices of the father, both personally and in family settings, as well as suggestions and encouragements for the pastor on ways to oversee, shepherd, and lead the whole congregation toward a culture that has men leading and serving their families for the glory of God.”

Brittany Salmon (EdD in Christian Education, Anticipated Graduation 2022)

—Blair Robinson, author

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N E W LY R E L E A S E D Generational Disciple-Making

How Ordinary Followers of Jesus are Transformed into Extraordinary Fishers of Men George G. Robinson, Editor, with Matthew Hirt, Assistant Editor

Christ, the Way: Augustine’s Theology of Wisdom Benjamin T. Quinn March 2022

January 2022 “Jesus Christ” by

Steven A. McKinion and

“Salvation” by Stephen B. Eccher in

Historical Theology for the Church

Jason G. Duesing and Nathan A. Finn, Editors February 2021

Exalting Jesus in Psalm 119 Christ-Centered Exposition Daniel L. Akin January 2021

Start Here: Why Jesus Came and How His Message Gives You Life

Walking in God’s Wisdom: The Book of Proverbs Benjamin T. Quinn June 2021

The Whole Woman: Ministering to Her Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength Kristin L. Kellen and Julia B. Higgins October 2021

Ethics as Worship: The Pursuit of Moral Discipleship

Jeff Struecker

Mark D. Liederbach and Evan Lenow

May 2021

August 2021

The Gospel for Disordered Lives: An Introduction to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling Robert B. Jones, Kristin L. Kellen, and Rob Green October 2021

TO P U R C H A S E T H E S E O R OT H E R S E B T S FAC U LT Y W O R K S , V I S I T S E B T S . E D U/ B O O K S

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F A C U LT Y W O R K S Exalting Jesus in Colossians and Philemon Christ-Centered Exposition

R. Scott Pace and Daniel L. Akin November 2021

Last Hunt

SOUTHEASTERN THEOLOGIC A L RE V IEW

Academic Excellence for Thoughtful Ministry Leaders

Chuck Quarles November 2021

Equipping Fathers to Lead Family Worship Ken Coley and Blair Robinson November 2021

Counseling Women: Biblical Wisdom for Life’s Battles Kristin L. Kellen

The Southeastern Theological Review is full of top-notch evangelical scholarship on Scripture and theology, as well as book reviews of significant current titles.

April 2022 R E A D O R D O W N LOA D YO U R C O P Y AT S O UTH E A S TE R N R E V I E W.C O M

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W H E N YO U F I N I S H R E A D I N G , S TA R T LI S T E N I N G .

Check out these great podcasts from the centers at Southeastern.

The Sent Life is the podcast of the

Pastor Matters, the podcast of the

Christ & Culture is the podcast of

Center for Great Commission

Center for Preaching and Pastoral

the Center for Faith and Culture,

Studies, discussing how we as a

Leadership, fosters conversations

exploring how the Christian faith

missionary people are called to

that will both equip and encourage

intersects all avenues of today's

serve a missionary God from our

you to lead healthy churches that

culture through conversations

hometown to the ends of the earth.

make disciples for the glory of God.

with leading thinkers.

SCAN HERE TO LISTEN OR VISIT SEBTS.EDU/PODCASTS

Thank You for Giving to the

so that alumni like Matthew can serve the Southern Baptist Convention

Southeastern received $7.3 million last year because of Southern Baptist churches like yours committed to bringing good news to the whole world. www.sbc.net/cp

Matthew Daniel MDiv, Preaching & Pastoral Ministry Pastor, FBC Whitwell, TN

Southeastern Society Featured Members

Jack & Toni Davis

I graduated from Southeastern with a master’s in Christian education, but more recently we became involved as financial supporters when we heard about Southeastern’s solid theological training and missions focus. We were astounded at the number of Southeastern students going out to spread the gospel among the nations.

The Davises have been members of the Southeastern Society since 2016 Toni graduated with an MA in Christian Education in 1981

We hope our support encourages others, supports pressing needs, and enables the growth of the school and the fulfillment of its mission.

- Toni Davis

Who We Are The Southeastern Society is a group of generous men and women from all walks of life, who share a desire to assist Southeastern as we seek to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.

Why We Give Due to the faithful giving of SES members, Southeastern is able to keep tuition affordable.

As a result, graduates have more financial freedom as they heed God’s call to serve him wherever he leads.

How To Join Join by giving $1,000 or more annually to fund the work of training gospel-ready champions for Christ. For more information or to become a member, contact Drew Davis at ddavis@sebts.edu.

Letter from the Vice President

Jonathan Six, Acting Vice President of Institutional Advancement

64

Spring 2022

From North Carolina to the ends of the earth he apostle John provides a beautiful picture of worshippers gathered around the throne of God, declaring that “salvation belongs to our God” (Rev 7:10).

The beauty of Revelation 7 is that these worshipers are from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Rev 7:9). By the grace of God, he provides a stunning picture of the Great Commission fulfilled.

At Southeastern, we believe that the last words of Jesus are lasting words that shape our life and ministry. The Great Commission is the motivation and emphasis that underlies how and to what end we pursue theological education and ministry preparation. We believe that Jesus’ marching orders in Acts 1:8 clarify the scope of gospel proclamation as local, regional, and global.

Recently, I was reminded of the supremacy of the Great Commission for Southeastern. A long-

T

time supporter of Southeastern recounted that he always loves being on campus because it motivates him to return home and share the gospel with his neighbors. A trustee also recently shared that our Great Commission emphasis challenged him to go on international mission trips and join the work God is doing around the world.

As students graduate and take to their ministry fields, the reality of the Great Commission and the pervasiveness of global lostness drive them to gospel proclamation. This edition of the Southeastern magazine highlights a few of our students and graduates engaging in gospel ministry in North Carolina, throughout the United States, and around the world.

I am grateful for Southeastern’s Great Commission focus; it shapes our graduates and encourages our friends to be on mission so that all people may know Jesus as Lord.

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W E ARE TO B E A B O UT F UL F I LL ING T HE GRE AT C O MMIS S IO N , FO R IT IS T HE H EARTB E AT O F O U R LO RD. DA N N Y A K I N

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