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vision NEW ORLEANS SPRING 2016 BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 16 PRAY NOLA: Join us in praying for local churches & plants 22 RACE RELATIONS: Luter sees church as unifier Evangelism Across the Street and Around the World Ordinary People AMAZING SAVIOR

Vision Spring 2016

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Page 1: Vision Spring 2016

visionNEW ORLEANS

SPRING 2016

BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

16 PRAY NOLA: Join us in praying for local churches & plants 22 RACE RELATIONS: Luter sees church as unifier

Evangelism Across the Streetand Around the World

Ordinary PeopleAMAZINGSAVIOR

Page 2: Vision Spring 2016

1 VISION Spring 2016

THE GREAT COMMISSION IS MATTHEW 28:18-20. Based on His authority as the Risen Lord, Jesus gives a very clear command. It is not a recommendation, a

request or a suggestion. He commands us to make disciples among all nations, noting that He will always be present with us as we go about the task.

Note how Jesus explained “make disciples.” The mark of Great Commission progress is not how many hear the Gospel, nor is it simply making the Gospel known to an ever growing number of people. According to the text, new disciples who are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who know and obey the commandments of Jesus, and who are themselves engaged in making disciples are the truest measure of progress.

I call your attention now to a provocative chart on the Great Commission progress of SBC Churches (see next page). The chart begins on the left in 1881 and concludes on the right with the most recent year for which data is available, 2014.

The gold line, which indicates the total number of SBC churches, is generally positive with a sustained, clearly upward trend over a very long period of time. Next, note the blue line which indicates total SBC baptisms. An explosive growth in baptisms, outstripping the growth in number of churches began around 1930. As you move through the years, the two lines crossed about the year 2000. An ever-widening gap between the number of churches and the number of baptisms began

and continues to this day. WOW! We are about 15 years into the longest decline in baptisms in SBC history. We have more and more churches, but they are reaching fewer and fewer people.

CONCLUSION 1

Lostness in North America is having a bigger impact on Southern Baptists than Southern Baptists are having on lostness. Put another way: The world is having a bigger impact on the behavior of Southern Baptists than we are having on the behavior of the world. In addition to the decline in baptisms, we are down in membership, down in worship attendance and down in Bible Study attendance. We have more churches, but fewer people, and the people we have are drifting away.

CONCLUSION 2

Southern Baptists are becoming a shrinking presence with a diminishing voice in our nation.

CONCLUSION 3

Southern Baptists are closer to losing the South than we are to reaching North America. Consider this graph of our baptisms per 10,000 people in the population.

Clearly we are losing ground relative to the population. The

THE GREAT COMMISSIONWHERE ARE WE NOW?

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2VISION Spring 2016

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

DR. CHUCK KELLEYN O B T S P R E S I D E N T

millenials (age 16-36) are the largest generation in the history of the United States, but their lives are unfolding during our longest decline in baptisms.

CONCLUSION 4

Consider the economic implications for financial support for Great Commission activities. Because time takes all away, if we stop adding new disciples from our communities to our congregations, we stop adding new dollars to Great Commission budgets in the future. To have enough dollars to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, SBC churches must make disciples of the lost in their communities.

CONCLUSION 5

The steadily growing gulf between the number of our churches and the number of our baptisms reveals a true life and death question for our future: What can we do to improve the Great Commission health of our churches?

Here are some brief suggestions on the way forward in our present situation. First, we must own the problem and acknowledge the need for our churches to reach their communities for Christ. Second, we must live distinctively in the culture. The foundation for every fruitful evangelism strategy is the presence of living illustrations of lives transformed by the Gospel. If we fail in discipleship, we will inevitably fail

in evangelism. Third, we must provide and promote strategies, resources, and training to engage SBC churches in reaching the lost in their communities. To send out church planters and missionaries without mobilizing existing churches to reach their communities is like putting flowers in a vase without water. They cannot survive long.

However, all is vain if God does not move. We must seek spiritual awakening, a great movement of the Spirit of God in our churches and across our land. Whether we know it or not, we are at the point of desperation for God to move. Our survival is at risk.

There is a very particular wall in the ancient city of Jerusalem. The stones in that wall are all that remains of the glorious temple that once stood during the time of Jesus. It is often called the Wailing Wall, because seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, Jews and others gather at that wall to weep and remember the glory that once was as they pray for the day the glory will be restored.

If we do not improve the Great Commission health of our churches, only one question remains: To what wall will our grandchildren go to weep and remember who Southern Baptists were and what Southern Baptists once did to fulfill the Great Commission?

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

Number of SBC Churches vs. Baptisms Per Year (1881-2014)

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,0001880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Churches Baptisms Per Year

Page 4: Vision Spring 2016

DeMENT SOCIETY yron Hoover DeMent, the seminary’s first president, raised money for the newly formed Baptist Bible Institute in the early 1900s. As DeMent raised money, he simply told the story of the enterprise, lifted up its ideals, gave a vision of its needs and possibilities, and let the message work its way into the hearts of people. He is the inspiration behind the DeMent Society, formed to honor those who have included NOBTS in their estate plans. Would you like to be counted among these members who have a passion to see God’s kingdom grow and to see His causes advanced through theological education? Contact the Office for Institutional Advancement at (504) 282-4455, ext. 8002.

B

et us know that you have New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in your estate plan and we will send a free copy of Dave Keesling’s devotional book, A Journey: Life in Real Time. Keesling, Executive Vice President of PhilanthroCorp, spent his career as consultant to a wide range of Christian organizations. The book includes 365 challenging devotionals designed to guide the reader to greater intimacy with God.

L

ontact Randy Driggers, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at NOBTS, to reserve your copy of A Journey: Life in Real Time.C

The

Email | [email protected]

Phone | 800-662-8701 ext. 8002

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4VISION Spring 2016

SBC Churches

Send NAMBChurch Plants

New Orleans Ministries • Evangelism • Foster Care • Community Development • Drug Rehabilitation • Women’s Shelter • Homeless

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CONTENTS

ORDINARY PEOPLE | AMAZING SAVIOREVANGELISM ACROSS THE STREET AND AROUND THE WORLD

Our students and alumni faithfully answer God’s call to share the Gospel, both at home and abroad

PRAY NOLAJoin us in praying for local churches and church plants.

ADVANCEMENT NEWS Reminiscing about God’s provision

FACULTY NEWS Phelps leads Evangelical Preaching Society Kevin Brown named Outstanding UNO Grad student in Planning & Urban Studies dept.

Innovative technology brings twist to classroom approach

New faculty books

ALUMNI NEWS Post-Katrina ministry in New Orleans prepares alumnus for service in Mali

Distinguished Alumni Class Notes

SEMINARY NEWS NOBTS Trustee ministers during Flint water crisis

The Writing Center: Good writing has academic and Gospel implications

NOBTS writer receives BCA award Defend the Faith Upholds the ‘Matchless Gospel’

Greer-Heard 2016: Bird argues against heretical view of Jesus’ divinity

Luter on race relations: sees church as unifier TEL GEZER: More Canaanite evidence found by NOBTS dig team

6

16

18

26

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FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

SPRING 2016Volume 72, Number 1

DR. CHUCK KELLEYPresident

MR. RANDY DRIGGERSVice President for

Institutional Advancement

DR. DENNIS PHELPSDirector of

Alumni Relations

GARY D. MYERSEditor

MARILYN STEWARTManaging Editor

BOYD GUYArt Director and Photographer

TRAVIS MILNERGraphic Designer

JORDAN STEWART Writing Intern

VISION is published two times a year by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary3939 Gentilly Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70126 (800) 662-8701 (504) 282-4455 www.nobts.edu www.nobtsfoundation.com

All contents ©2016 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. All rights reserved.Please send address changes and Alumni Updates to the office of Alumni Relations at the above address. NOTE: Alumni Updates will be used for the publication of the VISION magazine and on the Alumni website.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a Cooperative Program ministry, supported by the gifts of Southern Baptists.

Page 6: Vision Spring 2016

VISION Fall 20156

AMAZING SAVIOR

ORDINARY PEOPLE

AMAZING SAVIOR

Evangelism Across the Street and Around the World

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7VISION Spring 2016

WHILE THE GOSPEL IS SIMPLE, its message can change the human heart in ways that are transformative and sure. It is a message that any

believer can deliver. Every believer can be an evangelist.NOBTS President Chuck Kelley has called the Great

Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, one of the most important passages of Scripture for Southern Baptists and for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Though evangelism has been an undergirding principle of NOBTS from the beginning, Kelley noted the lagging numbers in baptisms convention-wide and issued an urgent call for personal evangelism and intentional discipleship when he spoke to the student body at the start of the Spring semester.

“How do we go forward? We have to engage in Gospel conversations outside the walls of the church as we are living our lives ... as we are going about this city,” Kelley said. “If you cannot plant the seeds of the Gospel in the lives of people, there will be no harvest.”

While Gospel conversations can take place anywhere and in everyday places, the effort to evangelize must be intentional. For these NOBTS students, answering God’s call meant stepping into an Ohio apartment complex off-limits to evangelism, speaking to a prisoner in a deserted park, and going into a Voodoo-controlled Haitian village. For one group of students, faculty and staff traveling in Southeast Asia over Spring Break, answering God’s call meant breaking through closely-held cultural taboos. For one alumnus, a bridge “to the world”

was built on simple acts of kindness.While courage might seem to be a requirement in each

situation, willingness to obey was the only real prerequisite. God took care of the rest.

Crossing bridges for the Gospel often comes down to a believer simply being available. In God’s hands, an “ordinary” Christian can be used to

open hearts to an amazing Savior.

IF YOU CANNOT PLANT THE

SEEDS OF THE GOSPEL IN

THE LIVES OF PEOPLE, THERE

WILL BE NO HARVEST.

by Marilyn Stewart

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8 VISION Spring 2016

CARLOSRODRIGUEZ STEPPING THROUGH OPEN DOORS

THE MANAGER ON DUTY at the apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio, the site of the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention, had already asked two Crossover evangelism teams to leave when he met NOBTS Miami extension center student Carlos Rodriguez and his team at the back of the complex.

Crossover, an evangelism initiative that precedes the annual convention, mobilizes Southern Baptists to share the Gospel in the host city. Dr. Preston Nix, professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching, led Rodriguez and other NOBTS students into the apartment complex going door-to-door.

A Cuban national who once lived under the Castro regime and now a church planter in Miami, Rodriguez knows that God can use any situation. He also knows that simply asking questions can put people at ease and open doors for the Gospel. As the manager asked the team to leave, he admitted he believed the students were doing “something good.” Rodriguez

asked, “Why do you say what we’re doing is good?”

As they talked, the manager identified himself as a Christian “by name,” but one who “wasn’t in.” When Rodriguez asked what he meant, the manager began to verbalize his beliefs, bringing his own spiritual condition into clear focus and acknowledging that he didn’t want to be “out” when it comes to salvation. Rodriguez saw the open door and led him to faith in Christ.

Being “in” when it comes to commitment to the Lord is something Rodriguez understands well. Baptism in Cuba meant registering with the government and turning over important personal information. Property confiscation threatened any house church that grew too large. Life in Cuba demanded commitment, Rodriguez explained. “We had to make decisions for Jesus.”

Escaping Cuba meant starting his theological education over, a price Rodriguez was willing to pay. Coming to New Orleans campus for a workshop and seeing for the first time the Leavell Chapel steeple light against the night sky was a moment he’ll never forget. NOBTS is a place he loves.

As Rodriguez works toward a master of divinity, he leads Palabra de Vida

Baptist Church, a congregation of 120 where more than half are new believers Rodriguez has led to the Lord. His members, ordinary people like him who put their lives in God’s hands, are seeing their community come to faith in Christ.

One member, Leo, escaped Cuba as a political dissident and arrived in Miami on a raft, leaving behind his wife and children. After Rodriguez led him to faith in Christ, Leo asked Rodriguez to return to Cuba in his stead and take the Gospel to his family.

Though returning was a risk, Rodriguez kept his promise and arrived in Cuba to find God already at work. Befriended by other believers who ministered to her, Leo’s wife was ready to give her life to Christ. Reunited, the family recently moved to Orlando and opened their home there to host a church plant.

While Rodriguez’s congregation has faced ups and downs, a group of 50 meet faithfully each week for two hours of prayer. Where God will lead next, they don’t know, but they are content to trust and follow, taking to heart Rodriguez’s reminder that “We surrender our lives to him.”

DR. BO RICE ASSOCIATE DEAN OF SUPERVISED MINISTRY AND MENTORING PROGRAMSASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EVANGELISM AND PREACHING

Dr. Bo Rice leads teams of students to evangelize. An unexpected joy, he said, is seeing students come to embrace that door-to-door evangelism still is an effective tool.

“There are a lot of people who are hurting and who need to be touched with the Gospel. All we have to do is just go and do it. Just be faithful, and it’s amazing to see how God continuously opens doors.”

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MICHAELPOGUE SIMPLY FAITHFUL

TOO FAR OUT TO HAVE AN ADDRESS OF ITS OWN, Liberty Baptist Church, on the Mississippi/Alabama line, has its mail delivered to a church member’s home. When it rains, muddy roads make it impossible for members to get to services. With a congregation and community that small, finding opportunities to share the Gospel can be hard. For Michael Pogue, pastor and NOBTS master’s student, waiting for someone in need of Christ to cross his path was something he couldn’t do. He hungered to share the Gospel.

After enrolling at NOBTS on the main campus, Pogue sat in Dr. Preston Nix’s classroom and listened as Nix told stories of sharing the Gospel weekly in the Gentilly neighborhood near the campus. Pogue knew he’d found what he was looking for. “I want to go out to witness with him,” Pogue told himself.

Pogue and Nix went door-to-door sharing the Gospel on behalf of Edgewater Baptist Church, a congregation whose help to neighbors following Hurricane Katrina has softened hearts to the Gospel. In a community heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism, “everyone thinks he’s saved,” Pogue said. “Most think receiving Christ as Savior is taking communion.”

But helping people see that knowing Christ is different from identifying with a denomination strikes a chord, Pogue says. The last five people his team have led to the Lord in New Orleans are “a Greek Orthodox, a Baptist, a Roman Catholic, an Episcopalian, and a Lutheran.”

Not content to let a weekend go by without sharing the Gospel, Pogue drove around the nearby town of Meridian, Miss., one rainy Saturday. He was alone because a colleague had a last-minute scheduling conflict. He prayed, “Lord, show me where to go.” God directed Pogue to a man in an orange jumpsuit, a county prisoner, who was taking a cigarette break from his assigned work at a local park. Soon, the man gave his life to Christ.

“God laid it on my heart that there was one person who needed to hear about Jesus,” Pogue said. “He led me to that man.”

A quiet young man with an all-American demeanor, Pogue’s speech is true to his Mississippi upbringing. Pogue does not let his unassuming manner hinder him from talking about Jesus with the people he encounters. With Muslims in Southeast Asia or tourists on the streets of the French Quarter, Pogue is driven by the understanding that all people need the Gospel and that God saves people, not him. For Pogue, sharing the Gospel, simply put, is about being faithful.

“I’m not good at speaking,” Pogue insists. “I’m introverted myself, but God blesses if we’re faithful.”

Pogue depends on God’s leading and expects divine appointments. Recently, Pogue met a woman in a hurtful situation and led her to the Lord. She said afterwards, “I’m here at the park every Saturday and you’ve never come before. How did you know I was here?”

Every believer can share the Gospel, Pogue insists. “If you know John 3:16,

you can share the Gospel.”At home or around the globe, Pogue

has found that all people face the same problems of broken families, children in trouble, or depression and that the Gospel speaks to all. For those who are anxious about talking to others, Pogue suggests beginning by going out with someone who is experienced. Being a silent prayer partner while someone else shares the Gospel can have a powerful impact, Pogue says.

And like anything else, practice improves performance, Pogue tells others. “The more you’re faithful, the more God will grow you.”

NOBTS students Boyd Guy and Michael Pogue with two people they shared with in southeast Asia while on a seminary trip.

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10 VISION Spring 2016

FERTILDIEUJUSTE A MODERN-DAY JONAH

THE SMALL BUILDING AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, a place no car can reach, fills with people from the small Haitian village in time for the worship service to begin. Though few can fit inside the tiny building, the portable sound system makes hearing the service as easy outside as in. Some sit on chairs they carried from home. Most are standing. Chairs, like electricity, are a luxury the congregation can’t afford.

Fertil Dieujuste, a master of divinity student studying church planting at NOBTS, started the church two

years ago after running from God’s call to take the Gospel to his native country of Haiti. Dieujuste, he admits, was a modern-day Jonah.

As a teenager, Dieujuste and his family moved to the United States from Haiti. Life in South Florida

was comfortable and gave Dieujuste the opportunity for school and a chance for advancement. When a career and

a family of his own came along, so did money … and security. No one in Dieujuste’s family had ever made the kind of money he was making, and with each passing year, Haiti faded further into the background.

“That’s when God started working on me,” Dieujuste said.

God was convicting him to leave his job and depend on Him, but Dieujuste ran. As he finished college and considered seminary, all he could think of was what other people would say. His job as produce manager at the franchised supermarket netted a six-figure salary and a nice retirement plan. “Who would give that up?” Dieujuste thought. No one would understand.

“It was a crazy call,” Dieujuste said. “I fought it for three months and never mentioned it to my wife. I just saw the money.”

When he finally told his wife, Marie, she gave her complete support. But as time went by, Dieujuste convinced himself he needed to stay at his job and forget about God’s call to Haiti.

An unhappy turn of events brought the job he loved to an end. When a worker with whom Dieujuste had shared the Gospel confronted his stubborn attitude, Dieujuste’s heart was

broken. That moment, Dieujuste says, “was like I was sleeping and I woke up.”

Following God’s call to seminary, Dieujuste settled in New Orleans but once again, seldom thought about Haiti. After a personal trip to Haiti three months before the devastating earthquake of 2010, Dieujuste vowed never to return. With Haiti’s extreme poverty, what husband and father would dare think of moving back? But it was a call he couldn’t run from. Two years after beginning his seminary classes, Dieujuste was forced to admit that God had “put Haiti in my face.”

In the summer of 2014, Dieujuste arrived in Haiti with a “mission team of three” — his wife Marie who stayed home and prayed; himself; and God, who led the way. For a full week, Dieujuste observed the Creole village of Lacroix St. Joseph, where most of the 1,500 residents are illiterate and where Voodoo and Catholicism blur together.

One year later, Dieujuste returned to Haiti bringing with him a group of Haitians now living in Georgia. Their door-to-door evangelism efforts saw 40 people come to faith in Christ. Months later, the team returned again, this time distributing vouchers promising 15 pounds of rice, 10 pounds of beans,

Fertil Dieujuste, left, baptizes a new believer during a recent trip to Haiti. Dieujuste has seen many villagers turn away from Voodoo to embrace the Gospel.

NO ONE IN DIEUJUSTE’S FAMILY HAD EVER MADE

THE KIND OF MONEY

HE WAS MAKING.

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11VISION Spring 2016

and a gallon of cooking oil to every family. Three hundred vouchers were distributed. Six hundred showed up for the service. Dozens came to faith in Christ.

“They see you confront the Voodoo priest. So when months go by and nothing happens, that’s when they realize that if this guy says this about Satan and nothing happens, then ‘I don’t need to be afraid.’” Dieujuste said. “That’s when they start wanting what you have.”

Between trips, Dieujuste mentors by Skype the men he left behind to lead the congregation of all new converts from Voodooism. The portable sound system Dieujuste ordered arrived by cargo ship. A later shipment of metal chairs sits at the bottom of the Caribbean, cargo on a ship sunk in Hurricane Joaquin.

As Dieujuste looks toward graduation, Haiti is on his heart and mind. He sees himself as an ordinary man, a modern day Jonah, following an extraordinary Savior. Until the day Dieujuste and his family can return to Haiti, he waits for God’s guidance and direction.

AMAZING SAVIOR

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

THAT’S WHEN THEY START WANTING WHAT YOU HAVE.

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12 VISION Spring 2016

KIMBERLYMYERS CUTTING A PATHWAY TO THE WORLD

WHETHER IT’S A TRIP TO WALMART to help a Syrian Ph.D. student pick out bedsheets or driving Chinese students to the airport, Kimberly Myers, international student ministry coordinator for the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the University of New Orleans (UNO), knows the impact that ordinary acts of service can make.

As Myers (MA ’07), a North American Mission Board Mission Service Corp missionary, and her team of NOBTS student helpers and other volunteers minister to UNO students representing 75 countries—some that are closed to the Gospel—they live out the Gospel through relationships that become as close “as family.”

Many hear the Gospel for the first time as a result. Some are coming to faith in Christ.

At student orientation, Myers listens as university personnel encourage internationals to make friends while in New Orleans. When Myers takes her

turn at the microphone, she invites them to a “Welcome to America” progressive dinner the very next day.

“We try to be their friend,” Myers says. “I tell them we are a Christian organization, but anyone is invited. You don’t have to be a Christian or a Baptist to come.”

Though Myers’ daily tasks may be as small as helping a student move into the dorm or driving them to the store, she knows her real job description is doing whatever it takes to open doors for the Gospel.

“We do practical acts of service in

love for the opportunity to share Jesus with them,” Myers said. “That door is thrown open wide more often than not. I usually don’t even have to bring up the conversation; they bring it up for me.”

A COMPELLING POWERThe young Iranian couple’s first

real contact with Christians was their growing friendship with Myers and her husband, Gary. Highly educated but self-conscious about her English, the young wife asked Myers to help her with language proficiency. As they met together using the New Testament as the textbook, the woman was struck by the beauty of Scripture.

“Reading the Bible with a student who has never read it before is the most rewarding aspect of this ministry,” Myers said. “I’ve seen students moved to tears as they read Scripture, and I get to witness the active work of the Holy Spirit in the moment.”

The twice-a-week English lessons gave Myers multiple opportunities to share what knowing Christ meant in her life. The couple confided to Myers that they identified as Muslims back home in their own country, but in reality had no faith in Islam.

After a job opening in another state took the Iranian couple away from New Orleans, an unexpected opportunity to show the power of prayer came up. Though the young couple were not believers, the husband contacted the Myers family asking for prayer when his situation at work became unbearable. Their prayer was answered within two weeks’ time when a new position, a job back in Louisiana, was offered.

“It struck us how he reached out to us, believing we would pray and believing that prayer would make a difference,” Myers said.

Doors for the Gospel open as Myers teaches English using the Gospel of John, supplemented with the online “Visual Bible” to make Scripture come alive.

An English professor from China, in town as a visiting scholar, told Myers she teaches the Bible as literature back home and asked Myers to help her understand it better. Though the woman was not a Christian, Myers saw the moment as divinely orchestrated and recognized that God was at work. “Whatever she learned,” Myers said, “she took it back with her to her students in China.”

As Myers gives away Bibles in English or in a student’s heart language, she sees Scripture’s compelling power to move hearts and fuel a hunger to know more.

OPEN HOMES, OPEN HEARTSClaire became a Christian at home

in China through her contact with a Korean missionary serving there. Soon afterwards, Claire stepped off the plane in New Orleans to begin college life, greeted by BCM volunteers bearing a welcome gift of a pillow, a blanket, and information about the BCM.

For the next four years, Claire was a part of the Myers family, spending each Christmas with them, including one holiday with extended family in Oklahoma, where Claire adopted the family’s “Grandma” as her own. After graduation, Claire settled into a well-paying job in New Orleans, but the burden of her own lost family members weighed heavy on her heart. Soon,

WHEN YOU GET THEM INTO A HOME AND THEY SEE WHAT REAL CHRISTIANITY LOOKS LIKE, IT OPENS UP THEIR EYES. AND, IT’S ATTRACTIVE TO THEM. THEY WANT TO LEARN MORE.

WE DO PRACTICAL

ACTS OF SERVICE IN

LOVE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY

TO SHARE JESUS.

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13VISION Spring 2016

Claire returned home to China to share Jesus with her family.

“My goal with Christian international students is to disciple them so they can one day go back and teach other people,” Myers said. For Myers, it is a pathway to the world.

A pathway paved with small acts of service takes time, but time isn’t always on Myers’ side. The university’s exchange program with Austria typically brings students to New Orleans for one semester only, and with students on the move, Myers is forced to prioritize what she does. Still, the outreach to Austrian students is making an impact. A young co-ed told Myers she first heard of the BCM back home in Austria when someone advised her to seek out the BCM for support.

For others, the process takes longer. Iranian women students are reserved at first but as they open up to Myers she finds them to be welcoming and open. “They have all been the most gentle, sweet, kind people,” Myers said. “Every one of them.”

Often, internationals arrive believing America to be a Christian nation and are put off by what they see on television and in movies. Changing that poor perception of Christianity happens quickly when Christians open their homes to students. Around the dinner table, Myers points out, Gospel conversations come naturally.

“Hospitality advances the Gospel,” Myers said. “When you get them into a home and they see what real Christianity looks like, it opens up their eyes. And,

it’s attractive to them. They want to learn more.”

LEAVING IT UP TO GODSaying goodbye to people Myers

has come to love is as much a part of her job as any other aspect. Each goodbye is a reminder of the constraints of time.

“That’s the nature of my job. I say goodbye all the time,” Myers said. “It puts urgency at the forefront.”

Many stay in contact with Myers after they leave, even asking for help in finding a church in their new surroundings. Some who once said “not yet” to the Gospel, email later to

say they have committed to following Christ.

Loving others is a risk, Myers admits, and rejection is always a possibility. But for those who leave without coming to faith, Myers finds the goodbye is easier if she feels she has been faithful with her time and resources. Obedience is what matters, Myers knows. She leaves them in God’s hands.

“He’s the one who put them in my path in the first place, so, He was working before me,” Myers said. “They’re not mine, so I have to release these dear people whom I’ve grown to love and treasure to Him, and pray, that one day, I will see them in heaven.”

TOP: Kimberly Myers uses Soularium cards (developed by Campus Crusade for Christ) to initiate Gospel conversations with two visiting scholars from China. BOTTOM: Christmas Day offers a unique opportunity to share the Gospel as the Myers family opens their home to internationals from around the world.

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14 VISION Spring 2016

HOW DO YOU SHARE the Gospel in a place where starting conversations about the Gospel is taboo? How can you tell the good news when doing evangelism in traditional ways isn’t even an option?

The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary mission team of 10 that traveled to Southeast Asia over spring break left New Orleans without fully knowing the answers to those questions. Six days later, the team had engaged 95 people from 14 different countries in Gospel conversations, sharing with half of them a full Gospel presentation with an invitation to respond.

How did they do it? Team member Evan Anderson said the team’s partner on the field had instructed them to “come prepared to be tourists.”

“He told us to, ‘Go out and meet people,’” Anderson explained. “Talk to them. Engage them in conversation. Ask them about their faith and their beliefs, and then tell them about yours. And, brag on Jesus.”

In the densely populated city where Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims far outnumber Christians, the team utilized the Any-3: Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime approach, formulated by church planting movements trainer Mike Shipman, that

connects a person’s sense of needing forgiveness to the Gospel.

Drake Nosco, a master’s student, asked a Muslim man at the national mosque how his religion provided forgiveness for sin. “We pray five times a day to receive forgiveness,’” Nosco said, recounting the man’s answer. “He said, ‘We do our best to please Allah. We cannot know whether or not Allah will accept us into heaven. We know Allah is merciful, but we do not know if he will bring us into heaven.’”

Nosco used the open door to show that through Christ forgiveness has been won once and for all for those who follow Him.

For Dr. Ken Taylor, missions professor, a fruitless afternoon of ministry turned more frustrating when he missed the train back to the group’s meet-up place. As he settled in for a long wait in the heat, Taylor struck up a Gospel conversation with the man seated next to him at the train station.

When the conversation hit a roadblock over the meaning of “sin,” Taylor pulled up a translation of the book of Romans on his cell phone, in the man’s heart language. Grabbing the phone out of Taylor’s hands, the man proceeded to read a full chapter, out loud.

“After the encounter, I knew the heat and missed train was not wasted,” Taylor said. “It was awesome

to see and hear him witnessing to himself by reading Scripture.”

While the city has a rich diversity of ethnicities and religions, some are there as refugees, driven from home by war.

Jamie and Lizzy McElrath, adjunct faculty members, shared a meal at a local restaurant with three generations of one family. They discovered that the youngest daughter, a medical doctor, is a “secret believer in the One True God” who came to know Christ through the kindness of Christians while studying abroad. Grateful for the listening ear, the grandmother told of their struggles and was moved to tears.

“The grandmother has seen the kindness of Christians, the hands, feet and voice of Christ as they reach out to her and her family,” Lizzy McElrath said.

Conversations on the street, at the train station, a meal at a restaurant—ordinary events of life that are making an impact for God’s Kingdom.

“It is hard to express how thankful I am for the effort the New Orleans team gave this past week,” the partner on the field said in an email. “My heart is full and refreshed by this group and I look forward to seeing the fruit that results from it. To God be the glory.”

IT WAS AWESOME

TO SEE AND HEAR HIM

WITNESSING TO HIMSELF BY READING SCRIPTURE.

SOUTHEASTASIA TEAM S M A L L S T E P S TO A

G LO B A L I M PACT

Page 15: Vision Spring 2016

TOP RIGHT: Dr. Ken Taylor, professor of urban missions at NOBTS, saw the power of sharing God’s Word in a person’s heart language during a witnessing encounter at a train station. BOTTOM: Drake Nosco talks about Christ with a Muslim man during the group’s trip to a mosque.

15VISION Spring 2016

Page 16: Vision Spring 2016

SBC Churches

Send NAMBChurch Plants

New Orleans Ministries • Evangelism • Foster Care • Community Development • Drug Rehabilitation • Women’s Shelter • Homeless

KENN

ER

METAIRIE

ELMWOOD

HARAHAN

RIVER RIDGE

JEFFERSON HOLLYGROVE

AUDUBON

WEST RIVERSIDE

UPTOWN

FRERET

DIXON

B.W. COOPERFONTAINEBLEAU

GARDEN

DISTRICTMILAN

TOURO

EAST RIVERSIDE

IRISHCHANNEL

CENTRALCITY

TULANE

MID-CITY

NAVARRE

LAKEVIEWCITY PARK

FAIR GROUNDS

BAYOUST. JOHN

ST. BERNARD

DILLARD

FILMORE

MILNEBURG

GENTILLYWOODS

GENTILLYTERRACE

PINESVILLAGE PLUM ORCHARD

VENETIAN ISLES

VENETIAN ISLES

LITTLE WOODS READ BLVD. EAST

VILLAGEDE L’EST

READ BLVD.WEST

WEST LAKE FOREST

PONT

CHAR

TRAI

NPA

RK

ST. A

NTHO

NY

LAKESHORE

LAKE TERRACE & OAKS

7TH WARD

ST. ROCH

ST. CLAUDE

BYWATER

DESIRE

FLORIDA

LOWER9TH WARD

CHALMETTE

HOLY CROSSARABI

ALGIERS

GRETNA

TERRYTOWN

BELL

E CHA

SSE

HARVEYMARRERO

WESTWEGO

BRIDGE CITY

AVONDALE

WAGGAMAN

TIMBERLANE

NEW AURORA

TREME

FRENCHQUARTER

MARIGNY

WES

T EN

DLA

KEW

OOD

CENTRALBUSINESSDISTRICT

BROA

DMOO

RLEONIDAS/

PIGEON TOWN

CARROLLTON

LOWERGARDENDISTRICT

GERT TOWN

16 VISION Spring 2016

Join us in praying for the Southern Baptist churches and recent NAMB church plants as they make Christ known in the Greater New Orleans

area. Ministry opportunities abound in this great city, from community development to foster care to evangelism.

Pray to the Lord of the Harvest, that He might send out more laborers.

JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR LOCAL CHURCHES AND CHURCH PLANTS

Information found at joinnoba.com and namb.net

Page 17: Vision Spring 2016

SBC Churches

Send NAMBChurch Plants

New Orleans Ministries • Evangelism • Foster Care • Community Development • Drug Rehabilitation • Women’s Shelter • Homeless

KENN

ER

METAIRIE

ELMWOOD

HARAHAN

RIVER RIDGE

JEFFERSON HOLLYGROVE

AUDUBON

WEST RIVERSIDE

UPTOWN

FRERET

DIXON

B.W. COOPERFONTAINEBLEAU

GARDEN

DISTRICTMILAN

TOURO

EAST RIVERSIDE

IRISHCHANNEL

CENTRALCITY

TULANE

MID-CITY

NAVARRE

LAKEVIEWCITY PARK

FAIR GROUNDS

BAYOUST. JOHN

ST. BERNARD

DILLARD

FILMORE

MILNEBURG

GENTILLYWOODS

GENTILLYTERRACE

PINESVILLAGE PLUM ORCHARD

VENETIAN ISLES

VENETIAN ISLES

LITTLE WOODS READ BLVD. EAST

VILLAGEDE L’EST

READ BLVD.WEST

WEST LAKE FORESTPO

NTCH

ARTR

AIN

PARK

ST. A

NTHO

NY

LAKESHORE

LAKE TERRACE & OAKS

7TH WARD

ST. ROCH

ST. CLAUDE

BYWATER

DESIRE

FLORIDA

LOWER9TH WARD

CHALMETTE

HOLY CROSSARABI

ALGIERS

GRETNA

TERRYTOWN

BELL

E CHA

SSE

HARVEYMARRERO

WESTWEGO

BRIDGE CITY

AVONDALE

WAGGAMAN

TIMBERLANE

NEW AURORA

TREME

FRENCHQUARTER

MARIGNY

WES

T EN

DLA

KEW

OOD

CENTRALBUSINESSDISTRICT

BROA

DMOO

RLEONIDAS/

PIGEON TOWN

CARROLLTON

LOWERGARDENDISTRICT

GERT TOWN

17VISION Spring 2016

#PrayNOLA

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18 VISION Spring 2016

ADVANCEMENT NEWS

Reminiscing A B O U T G O D’SProvision

By RANDY DRIGGERS

I GREW UP IN A FAMILY OF SIX KIDS IN SELMA, Alabama. To help make ends meet, the oldest child would give his old jeans to the next in line, and he would

wear them after mama patched the knees and sewed up any tears or holes. The same went for shirts. In those day you could go barefoot to school, and we did so until I was in the seventh grade. We went to school without shoes even in the middle of winter.

My dad had a small farm about five miles from town, and there he would plant a gigantic garden with everything from tomatoes to watermelons. We boys had the chore of keeping the rows hoed and clean from weeds and grass. About sundown, Daddy and my older brothers stood watch over the garden taking care of the rabbits who managed to get through the fence. Mama spent her time canning for the winter and those vegetables on cold winter nights were as good as it got.

My dad and his two brothers returned from WWII and opened an automobile dealership which they ran for 47 years. Though times were lean with so many mouths to feed, I always saw my Daddy write a check to the church for his tithe and offerings. He was unwavering in his belief that the first 10 percent belonged to God.

He contributed in other ways as well. As we grew older, we began to sing together with some other young people in the church. There were 21 of us in the group at our largest point. We needed sound equipment, and my dad bought a top of the line Peavey sound system with speakers bigger than a curbside mailbox.

It took many years before I began following his example with my giving. It was like Dad told me many years ago – I should give a tithe and offering because I really would not miss what I had given. Dad said God would provide for our

every need, and He has. It has not been easy but we have always had enough. Going to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., at age 32 with two pre-teens was scary. Going to seminary at age 37 was even scarier. Yet, God provided for all our needs.

I count it a blessing to be able to give back to my alma mater, NOBTS. I am so grateful for those who provided scholarship funds, emergency funds, etc. I wish I could tell each of you what God has done, but this article space will not allow it. Perhaps that is for another article.

I want to encourage every alumnus and Friend of the Seminary to give to NOBTS. If every alumus would give something, anything, we could do great things. If you are not giving to NOBTS, will you do so today? Write a check or make a gift online. And to the many Friends of the Seminary who are giving, God bless you for allowing God to use you as His vessel. Your gifts help NOBTS to fulfill its mission of equipping leaders for the local church and its ministries. Your giving is so important.

CONSIDER A GIFT TO THE PROVIDENCE FUNDBy partnering with NOBTS through the Providence Fund, you are participating in Kingdom work. You are paving the way for the next generation of pastors, teachers, ministers and missionaries to answer God’s call and take the Gospel to the far reaches of the world. To date, the seminary has raised $1.5 million through the Providence Fund, and we need to raise an additional $500,000 by July 31, 2016. Every dollar given to the Providence Fund is a dollar we do not have to charge our students.

The Providence Fund keeps costs as low as possible to help students answer God’s call to ministry.

WAYS TO GIVE

Gifts of real estate or securities. Life Income Gifts that pay you a lifetime income. Give your home and continue to live in it. For information about these and other giving options, call (504) 816-8002 or (800) 662-8701, ext. 8002 or email [email protected].

Page 19: Vision Spring 2016

Call Susan at PhilanthroCorp at 1-800-876-7958 or visit www.nobtsfoundation.com/wills

NOBTS has partnered with PhilanthroCorp, a Christ-centered estate planning firm, to offer our alumni and friends the opportunity to receive free and personalized estate and will planning. These are private consultations between you and one of the estate specialists at PhilanthroCorp. Even if you have yet to begin preparing for the future of your assets, today is a great time to let us help you create or update your legacy plan.

A no cost planned giving solution for NOBTS alumni and Friends of the Seminary.

Free estate planning from NOBTS.

Hard to beat that.

19VISION Spring 2016

Page 20: Vision Spring 2016

20 VISION Spring 2016

SEMINARY NEWS

NOBTS TRUSTEE MINISTERS DURING FLINT WATER CRISIS

The discovery of lead in the Flint, Mich., water system created a monumental, ongoing health crisis, but the needs go far beyond clean water. The citizens of Flint are hurt, fearful and have lost trust in their elected officials.

NOBTS Trustee Tom Clore of Eldorado, Ill., led a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team to help the city’s beleaguered residents March 13-20. Their goal was to provide water filters and bottled water, but most of all, they sought opportunities to share the hope of Jesus with hurting people.

“I felt like we were able to minister to many people’s needs,” Clore said. “Not just their water needs, but their spiritual needs as well. Water needs were on their minds, but most of them had many problems beyond water needs. We had a chance to pray with the people who lived in almost every home we went to.”

The team divided into groups of three to respond to water needs obtained through the City of Flint’s call center. The group members included a driver, someone to install new filters and someone to ask each resident about his or her specific needs. They delivered two cases of bottled water to each home they visited. In addition to these items designed to help with the water crisis, Clore and his team left Bibles and tracts at many of the homes.

“We handed them bottled water, but I pray that what we were really giving them was the water of life that never stops flowing,” Clore said.

THE WRITING CENTER: GOOD WRITING HAS ACADEMIC AND GOSPEL IMPLICATIONS

This spring New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary community launched The Write Stuff — the seminary’s quality enhancement plan designed to improve academic writing. The plan calls for a host of writing helps, resources and services for students.

One of the most visible aspects of The Write Stuff initiative is the new NOBTS writing center which opened Feb. 16. While the writing center focuses on helping students improve their class papers, the center’s director, Dr. Jeff Griffin, sees a much greater purpose.

“The Great Commission has to be communicated,” Griffin said. “Even though the writing center is helping students hone their skills to meet the course requirements, at the end of the day, we are helping students learn to communicate the greatest message ever told.”

The writing center, located in Hardin Student Center Room 290B next to ITC, is open from noon until 5 p.m. on weekdays. Staffed by student writing coaches, the center’s services are available to all NOBTS and Leavell College students regardless of location.

Writing coaches will read the first five pages and the conclusion of a student’s paper before a follow-up consultation. Each paper will be evaluated on the following five criteria: 1. Logical Development; 2. Grammar; 3. Citation Style; 4. Quality of Sources; and 5. Writing Style.

NOBTS PR STAFFERS PRODUCE CREATIVE VIDEO ON SUCCEEDINGIN SEMINARY

Know someone who is considering Seminary? The 36 Tips to Succeed in Seminary video, produced by the Office of Public Relations shows prospective students many ways to succeed in their education at NOBTS. These helpful tips vary from ways to thrive in the classroom, tips on what to do during Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, and how to avoid giving a “know-it-all” impression at church. Check out this clever video, produced by Boyd Guy, an NOBTS graduate, and current student Travis Milner, on the NOBTS YouTube channel (youtube.com/nobtspublications).

NEW BAPTIST CENTER JOURNAL ISSUE FOCUSES ON THEOLOGY OF YOUTH MINISTRY

The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at NOBTS recently announced the release of the Spring 2016 issue of the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (JBTM). The issue is available free at www.baptistcenter.net.

Baptist Center director Dr. Adam Harwood co-edited the issue with youth ministry specialist Dr. Allen Jackson. The issues includes seven articles on “Theology of Youth Ministry” followed by book reviews in the fields of biblical studies, historical theology, Christian ethics, biblical theology, evangelism, apologetics, and systematic theology.

NOBTS WRITER RECEIVES BCA AWARD FOR FEATURE

Marilyn Stewart, Vision magazine managing editor and assistant director of public relations at NOBTS, received a writing award during the 2016 Baptist Communicators Association Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition and Communications Audit. The article, “Strength to endure runs deep,” garnered second place in the Feature Writing Division, Single Article (Less than 750 words) category.

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21VISION Spring 2016

GREER-HEARD 2016:Bird argues against heretical view of Jesus’ divinity

A noted evangelical-turned-agnostic and a well-known agnostic-turned-evangelical were the featured speakers at the 12th annual Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Feb. 12-13.

Bart D. Ehrman, an agnostic and author of numerous best-selling books including How Jesus Became God, dialoged with Michael F. Bird, a lecturer in theology at Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia, and the editor of How God Became Jesus and author of the award-winning The Gospel of the Lord.

The Greer-Heard forum hosts respected scholars of differing opinions to dialog on critical issues in religion, science, philosophy and culture for the purpose of helping students and ministers think critically and learn to engage a secular society.

With a focus on when and how the early church came to believe that Jesus was the divine Son of God, Ehrman, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and noted New Testament scholar, argued for an “adoptionistic Christology” that sees Jesus’ divinity as a later invention of the early church.

Bird disputed Ehrman’s claims using examples from history, early debates, and Scripture to show that while the early believers struggled with language to properly describe who Jesus was, they were not adoptionistic. Bird also pointed to adoptionism’s failure theologically saying that adoptionism implies self-justification and is at odds with the Gospel of grace as understood by the early church.

More than 600 attended the event that included presentations the following day by noted biblical scholars Simon Gathercole, Cambridge University, and Larry W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh.

The forum is made possible through the gifts of William Heard, a Louisiana Baptist layperson, and his wife Carolyn Greer Heard. Carolyn Greer Heard passed away Feb. 14, the day after the conference.

For information on conference materials and for upcoming events, visit www.greerheard.com.

DEFEND THE FAITH UPHOLDS THE ‘MATCHLESS GOSPEL’

Defend the Faith, a conference held Jan. 4-8, 2016 and sponsored by the NOBTS Institute for Christian Apologetics, brought together two-dozen noted scholars and speakers to equip believers in clearing a path for the Gospel by answering objections to the faith.

“Every age presents unique challenges to the Christian faith,” said Rhyne Putman, assistant professor of theology

and culture and Defend the Faith director. “We face moral shifts in our culture, religious pluralism, other competing worldviews, and assaults on religious liberty.”

Held on the New Orleans campus, the conference was attended by more than 200, including collegiates from various campuses.

Speakers included noted resurrection scholar Gary Habermas; Paul Copan, philosopher and author of leading apologetic works;

quantum chemist Neil Shenvi; Tom Gilson, editor of The Stream; Doug Groothuis, of Denver Seminary, and others.

Pointing to 1 Peter 3:15, Groothuis said defending the faith is a “privilege and responsibility” that every believer can be prepared to do.

“We ought to be in public and interpersonally engaging people with the matchless Gospel of our Lord,” Groothuis told conference attendees. “God can accommodate our mistakes. You don’t have to be a master of apologetic method to do apologetics.”

Visit www.nobtsapologetics.com for resources and information about next year’s conference, Jan. 2-6, 2017.

JOSH PEELER WINS TOP HONORS

Josh Peeler, Ph.D. student in preaching, won top honors at the inaugural Young Scholars Competition presented by the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for his paper, “The Pastoral Theology of Thomas Chalmers as a Model of Christian Cultural Engagement.”

Seven papers were chosen to be presented at the July 2015 competition from submissions made before an April deadline. Scoring was based on writing evaluation, presentation, and peer evaluations. First place prize was $1,000. Prizes of $750 and $500 were also awarded.

In addition to the master of divinity in expository preaching from NOBTS, Peeler holds the master of arts in interdisciplinary studies with a specialization in cross-cultural communication from the University of Oklahoma.

PUTMAN

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22 VISION Spring 2016

RACE RELATIONS ISSUES HAVE NOT IMPROVED since the election of the first African American U.S. president, but the church can lead in

modeling reconciliation, said Fred Luter Jr., immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the first African American to hold the position.

Luter addressed the issue in a video produced by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and said, “I really thought this nation was ready to move forward” with the historic election of Barack Obama that garnered votes from Anglos as well as diverse ethnic groups.

Luter serves as a national alumni officer for NOBTS. The video was posted on the seminary’s Facebook page and garnered 36,000 views in the first ten days of its release.

“As much as we needed racial reconciliation in America, I really thought that was the opportunity for our nation to come together and make us one as a nation,” Luter said. “But unfortunately ... that’s not the case.”

Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, expressed optimism for the future as the body of Christ leads the way as an agent for social change.

In analyzing today’s situation, Luter quoted a pastor-friend who states it this way: “America doesn’t have a skin problem, we have a sin problem.”

When the sin problem is resolved through faith in Christ, racial reconciliation follows, Luter said, noting that the church has both the responsibility and capability to model what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ.

“We can be one,” Luter said. “Regardless of your race, regardless of what side of the track you were born on, regardless

of all the things the media and society have tried to do to divide us, we can be one.”

As the SBC’s first African American president, race isn’t an issue he can avoid, Luter said, citing one question that consistently comes up when he is interviewed by journalists.

“Every last one of them asked this question: Why would a black man want to be president of a convention that started because of slavery?”

Luter said his answer was always the same. “Racism, segregation is a part of our past, but that’s the thing: it’s our past.”

The Southern Baptist Convention has addressed the past and has taken deliberative action to demonstrate its desire to be diverse, he said.

“We regret the past of this convention,” Luter said. “This convention has publicly apologized for our past ... We’ve made it known through resolutions that we want this convention to be diverse, and it is. I believe the Southern Baptist Convention is the most diverse

convention of any in America ... There is no other convention that comes close to our diversity in the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Luter said he longs for the day when the topic of conversation will be inroads Southern Baptists have made in evangelism, discipleship and in changing the world – “where I can go to a church ... and be introduced not as the first African American president, but as, ‘This is our brother, Fred Luter.’ That’s my prayer for this convention and for America.”

A WIN-WIN SITUATIONLuter pointed to the close relationship between the church

he leads and New Orleans Seminary, a friendship benefitting both, modeling what Christians can learn from one another.

As a young pastor with a background as a National Baptist, Luter said he was at first unaware of what NOBTS offered in terms of theological education, continuing education and resources. With his church located two miles from the campus, “a great partnership” developed.

“I began to appreciate all that this seminary had to offer us, a small mission church in the inner city,” Luter said.

As regular chapel speaker at NOBTS, Luter invites students to visit and join with Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. For some, it is their first experience worshipping in a predominantly African American church, Luter said.

“I think it’s a win-win situation,” Luter said. “What New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has meant to Franklin Avenue, but also what Franklin Avenue Baptist Church has meant to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.”

LUTER ON RACE RELATIONS: SEES CHURCH AS UNIFIER

By MARILYN STEWART

Page 23: Vision Spring 2016

Steven Armstrong shares about his church’s community ministry during the “No Restraints” Conference.

23VISION Spring 2016

SEMINARY NEWS

MUSIC STUDENT TYLER BRINSON WINS DOVE AWARD

WHEN IT COMES TO TOP-OF-THE-CHART Christian music, the coveted Dove Award is the prize that sets off the best. For NOBTS doctor of

music arts student Tyler Brinson, it’s an honor he now counts among his achievements.

Brinson, with noted Gospel songwriter and producer Geron Davis, received the 2015 Dove Award for Choral Collection of the Year for the recording project, “Splendor of Heaven.” Davis is noted for such hits as “We’re Standing on Holy Ground” and “In the Presence of Jehovah,” and others.

Produced with the 150-member choir of First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Tenn., where Brinson serves as minister of music and worship, the collection’s title song “Splendor of Heaven,” is a contemporary praise and worship melody based on Ephesians 2:6-7.

“Many of the songs evoke a strong imagery of the beauty of God, the eternal promise for believers,” Brinson said. “That title song encompassed well the message throughout the project.”

The Dove Awards, presented annually by the Gospel Music Association, honor musicians and music productions in 41 categories including Gospel, Southern Gospel, contemporary Christian, Hip-hop, Pop, Bluegrass, and others.

Intended to reach an audience with a wide demographic, the album “speaks to everyone,” Brinson said. Two songs on the

album are anthemic ballads; one is folksy with acoustic guitar, bass, and fiddle; and one song, “Great God, Great Praise,” is Black Gospel, Brinson said.

“There’s music for every generation on this project. It speaks to everyone,” Brinson said.

One song, “Glorious Savior,” was written by his father, Terrell Brinson. Brinson said, “One line says, ‘When I kneel before Amazing Grace.’ God doesn’t just offer amazing grace. He is amazing grace.”

Brinson’s choir has performed in Washington D.C. outside the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument where they closed with an invitation to listeners to learn more about Christ. The choir has also performed at New York City’s Brooklyn Tabernacle and sings the national anthem each year at an Atlanta Braves’ game.

Since the album’s release, choir membership has expanded, but so has members’ understanding of calling.

“The project has helped develop a greater sense of calling and purpose among the choir members and a clear and broader vision of the choir’s role as worship leaders,” Brinson said. “Through this project and its circulation, I believe the choir’s gained an even greater sense of their part in the church’s ultimate calling, not to just grow in the worship of God at home, but also to move the message of the Gospel of Christ beyond our church’s four walls.”

Brinson, who is in the dissertation phase of his degree, married his wife, Diana, the same month as receiving the award.

By MARILYN STEWART

LOUISIANA PASTOR STEVEN ARMSTRONG RECEIVES CASKEY PATHFINDER AWARD

THE CASKEY CENTER FOR CHURCH EXCELLENCE and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary presented this year’s Caskey Pathfinder Award to Steven Armstrong,

a bivocational pastor from Addis, La., during the “No Restraints” Conference April 23.

The award recognizes new pathways in ministry and advances in church excellence. Armstrong has pastored Westside Community Church, a newer church plant, for three years. Under Armstrong’s leadership, the church started going into mobile home parks two nights a week to provide after-school tutoring, a meal for children in the area, and to teach Bible stories. A refurbished bus is used to facilitate the ministry.

Armstrong said he launched the ministry with the intent to “quit trying to find creative and strategic ways to get the children and families to the church but maybe bring the church to the community.”

Page 24: Vision Spring 2016

24 VISION Spring 2016

ADDED EVIDENCE THAT AN ANCIENT WATER SYSTEMat Tel Gezer in Israel could

be the product of Middle Bronze Age Canaanites living between the time of Abraham and the Israelite conquest was uncovered by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s archaeology team during a 2015 dig season.

The Bible provides a tantalizing parallel to the Gezer system in the accounts of King David. In 2 Samuel 5:6-9, David’s men utilized a “water shaft” to invade and conquer the fortress of Zion/Jerusalem. This rock-hewn system has been located in Jerusalem’s “City of David” area.

Based on all the available data, Dan Warner, co-director of the NOBTS Gezer dig, believes the City of David tunnel and the Gezer system are both products of the Middle Bronze Age.

The Gezer water system excavation is a joint project of the Moskau Institute for Archaeology at NOBTS and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). The dig is co-directed by Dan Warner, an NOBTS professor, and INPA chief archaeologist Tsvika Tsuk. Jim Parker, NOBTS professor and executive director of the Moskau Institute, and Dennis Cole, professor and chairman

of the division of biblical studies, also provide leadership for the excavation. This summer’s dig at Gezer will run from May 22 to June 10.

Warner estimates that the Canaanites likely built the water system during the height of Gezer’s prominence as a Canaanite city-state. Though this would place construction approximately 600-700 years before the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the water system can shed light on the Canaanite people and their culture – a culture which plays a formidable role in the Old Testament.

Canaanite Gezer is mentioned multiple times in the Israelite conquest narrative recorded in the Old Testament book of Joshua. The most notable mention occurs in Joshua 10:33. When Joshua and his men attacked Lachish, the army of Gezer came to that city’s aid. The Israelites defeated Lachish and the army of Gezer, killing King Horam of Gezer.

Gezer is connected to the Israelite failure to take the entire land that God had given them. In Joshua 16:10, the biblical author notes that the Israelites “did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer.” And though the Israelites set aside Gezer as a “city of refuge,” the Bible indicates that the Canaanites controlled Gezer until the time of Solomon when

they were finally defeated by an Egyptian pharaoh (1 Kings 9:15-17).

The Canaanites experienced a time of cultural decline in the years before the conquest but were still a frightening foe with heavily fortified cities. The water system, along with the massive defensive walls and gate, illustrate an advanced society with great technical know-how, significant engineering skills and a desire to build things on a large scale, Warner said.

EVIDENCE FOR A MIDDLE BRONZE AGE DATE

“The pottery retrieved from the system this past season appears to date either from the end of the Middle Bronze Age or the beginning of the Late Bronze Age,” Warner said. “Either way, the system had to be dug before the pottery was deposited, giving the earliest possible date in the Middle Bronze Age.”

The massive rock-hewn water system was created with flint and bronze tools as early as 2000 B.C, Warner noted. Already the largest known of its type, evidence suggests the Gezer system may be one of the oldest.

The ancient water system, which provided a water source inside the walls

TEL GEZERMORE CANAANITE EVIDENCE FOUND BY NOBTS DIG TEAM

Members of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary archaeology team clear dirt and debris from storage rooms near the Bronze Age wall at Gezer.

By GARY D. MYERS

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of Gezer, consists of at least three parts: a keyhole-shaped entrance, a long diagonal shaft and a basin to collect water which may extend into a cavern located just beyond the basin. The massive water system measures 12 feet wide and 24 feet high at its opening, stretching 130 feet into the ground at a 38-degree slope. For the past six years, a team of archaeologists and volunteers has been investigating the site in an effort to determine who constructed the ancient water system and when it was constructed.

In previous years, the team encountered a highly concentrated area of Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 B.C.) pottery sherds. This discovery led the dig leaders and Eli Yanni, who serves as the dig’s pottery expert, to speculate that the tunnel may have been used as a pottery dump after it was no longer used as a water source. Why it ceased use as a water system remains a point of speculation. This year Yanni

noticed a clear transition from Late Bronze Age pottery to Middle Bronze Age pottery dating between 1800 and

1500 B.C. under the “pottery dump.” The pottery finds make a 2000 B.C. construction date more likely, Warner said.

When Irish archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister excavated the system from 1906-08, he attributed it to Middle Bronze Age Canaanites. However, his primitive archaeology methods along with persistent theories about the systems in Hazor and Megiddo led many to dismiss his claims about the Gezer system. Recent

evidence suggests that the Megiddo system also is a product of Middle Bronze Age Canaanites, providing additional evidence for an early dating of the Gezer system.

Shortly after Macalister’s excavation at

Gezer, a retaining wall collapsed and refilled the water system with dirt rocks and debris. It remained untouched for 102 years.

During his dig, Macalister laid a “causeway” of stones across the muddy basin to reach the cavern. While the causeway helped Macalister’s team reach the cavern, it also protected materials resting in the basin from contamination following the retaining wall’s 1908 collapse. The NOBTS/INPA team discovered Macalister’s causeway during the 2012 dig season. For the past four seasons, the team has been removing datable pottery samples from the area Macalister left untouched.

How the Canaanites could build such a system remains a mystery. Many have attributed the system to outside influences such as the Minoans, Egyptians or Mesopotamians. But the Middle Bronze Age dating removes that option. Warner maintains the possibility that the Canaanites developed the technology.

TOP LEFT: The NOBTS archaeology team places sand bags over the ancient steps of the Gezer water system. The massive water system measures 12 feet wide by 24 feet high at the opening.

TOP RIGHT: Light streams into the Gezer water system as volunteers take measurements of the tunnel.

BOTTOM: Team members wash pottery sherds at the end of a long day of excavation.

THE WATER SYSTEM CAN SHED LIGHT ON THE CANAANITE PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTURE – A CULTURE WHICH PLAYS A FORMIDABLE ROLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

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Kevin Brown was named the Outstanding Graduate Student for 2016 by the University of New Orleans (UNO) Department of Planning and Urban Studies. Brown, associate professor of social work, was recognized for his research regarding one troubled New Orleans neighborhood. Brown, who completed his Ph.D. in urban studies at UNO this spring, used his dissertation as an opportunity to study the high crime rate in Hollygrove, the neighborhood where he lived and ministered for many years.

In his dissertation, Brown expresses the challenges that the residents face and looks for ways to decrease crime in this area. “My research suggests that the way to reduce neighborhood homicide is to empower residents to improve their neighborhood,” Brown said in a recent Louisiana Weekly article. “We spend a lot of time thinking about the individuals who commit the murders and too little thinking about the conditions that incubate them.”

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY BRINGS TWIST TO CLASSROOM APPROACH

All the way from the other side of the globe, a New Testament archaeological scholar and researcher “stepped into” Dr. Gerald Stevens’ Romans Exegesis class this semester to bring a fresh look to a familiar word in Scripture.

Dr. Mark Wilson, founder and director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Antalya, Turkey, spoke to students through the online delivery system BlueJeans regarding the Greek word hilasterion translated in English as “propitiation” or “expiation” in Romans 3:25.

The experience was a “technological twist to the visiting professor” scenario, Stevens said.

Stevens, who developed a friendship with Wilson through his many journeys to biblical sites in Turkey, enlisted the help of his friend to inform students of the impact

of a discovery made in recent years. A Roman inscription to Caesar Augustus on an altar at Metropolis, near Ephesus, calls Augustus hilasterion, or “reconciler.”

Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, brought warring factions together at a time when division threatened to destroy the empire built by Julius Caesar. Augustus’ reign ushered in an unprecedented period of

peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana.

Stevens said Paul’s use of the word hilasterion signals what might be called a “countersubversive Gospel” by shining a light on the Roman understanding of reconciliation and showing its inadequacy.

“Rome has its gospel, the Pax Romana,” Stevens said.

“But here is the real Gospel. The real good news is the Reconciler who brings real peace.”

A question and answer period followed Wilson’s presentation. Steven said the successful class session inspired him to write “Teaching with Technology,” a paper he will present at the annual Society of Biblical Literature meeting when it convenes this year in San Antonio, Nov. 19-22.

FACULTY NEWS

PHELPS LEADS EVANGELICAL PREACHING SOCIETY

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary preaching professor Dennis Phelps is serving as the 2015-2016 president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society.

EHS promotes the exchange of ideas related to instruction in biblical preaching, academic publication in homiletics and the effective communication of the Gospel from a biblical-theological standpoint.

Phelps joined the NOBTS faculty in 2006 and occupies the J.D. Grey Chair of Preaching. He has 19 years in theological education, including 10 at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and more than 21 years in pastoral ministry. In addition to his teaching duties, Phelps also leads the alumni relations office at NOBTS.

Phelps is a frequent guest presenter at preaching conferences, including a pastors’ preaching and evangelism

conference in Belarus, and has appeared regularly at the E-4 Preaching Conference, a collaborative expository preaching conference hosted by the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Seminary and Louisiana College.

EHS will mark its 20-year anniversary when it convenes in October at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Phelps assumed EHS’ presidency at last fall’s annual meeting in Fort Worth, having served the previous year as vice president.

Phelps was among the society’s founders. “Almost 20 years ago many of us gathered at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary outside of Boston to organize a professional scholarly society specifically for evangelical homileticians with a high view of Scripture and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone,” he recounted.

“It has been fascinating to watch the group grow, to see the respected contributions made to national and international scholarship, and to encourage

the next generation across several evangelical cultures,” Phelps said. “To serve as the current president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society is quite humbling and exhilarating.”

Phelps holds a Ph.D. in preaching from Southwestern Seminary, a master of divinity focused on pastoral ministries, theology and biblical studies from New Orleans Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana College.

EHS produces the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. Membership is open to homiletics professors and instructors, pastors, evangelists and others committed to the organization’s goals.

KEVIN BROWN NAMED OUTSANDING UNO GRAD STUDENT

STEVENS

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GOD AND COSMOLOGY: William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll in Dialogue

Dr. Robert Stewart Fortress Press, 2016

The question of God and cosmology is far from abstract. In fact, the subject raises the deepest questions of human existence: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Or, to put it more personally, “Why am I here?”

Structured as a debate, the 2014 Greer-Heard Forum focused on the issue of God and cosmology and its impact on life and self-understanding. Christian

philosopher William Lane Craig and atheist cosmologist Sean Carroll presented their views before a packed crowd of more than 900 people. Spirited, civil, and often humorous, the debate highlighted not only their positions, but the full range of possibilities.

In this volume, the content of that debate is reprinted and supplemented by a range of reflections by other conference presenters.

The purpose of the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum is to provide a venue for fair-minded dialogue on subjects of importance in religion and culture. The goal is a respectful exchange of ideas, without compromise.

Dr. Robert Stewart is Professor of Philosophy and Theology and the Greer-Heard Chair of Faith and Culture at New Orleans Bap-tist Theological Seminary. He earned the Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

A CITY SET ON A HILL: Essays in Honor of James F. StrangeDr. Daniel A Warner (Co-Editor)Borderstone Press, 2015

For more than four decades, James F. Strange has been one of the leading figures in biblical archaeology, especially in his role as the director of the University of South Florida’s excavations at Sepphoris, a position he held for 27 years. During that time, he not only advanced our understanding of civilization in Galilee within the formative years of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism, but he also trained a new generation of scholars in the rigorous methodologies of archaeological fieldwork – methodologies that he helped pioneer.

In this volume, nearly two dozen of his colleagues, former students, and other fellow scholars honor Strange with a series of essays on biblical archaeology and its related, interdisciplinary fields, often building upon his own considerable scholarly contributions. Collectively, they offer the reader the latest insights and discoveries in field excavations, ancient textual studies, and social scientific analyses, forming a fitting tribute to Strange’s legacy.

Dr. Daniel A. Warner is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Archaeology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, occupying the Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Old Testament and Archaeology. Dan has been excavating in Israel for close to 30 years, including such sites as: Ashkelon, Gerar, Megiddo, Kabri, Tel el-Farah South, and Gezer.

ACTS: A New Vision of the People of GodDr. Gerald L. StevensWipf & Stock, 2016

This analysis of Luke’s post-ascension story of Jesus offers a fresh look at the interpretation of Acts and Paul. Carefully constructed narrative arguments from within the story in Acts use the themes of Pentecost, the Hellenists, and the character development of Saul-Paul to reveal Luke’s insight that the future of the Jesus story is in the Hellenist movement realizing the promise of Pentecost in Israel. These Hellenists are at odds with the Jerusalem church on the implications of the outpoured Spirit of Pentecost. Further, the Saul-Paul of Acts is not what most readers presume from Paul’s letters.

For Luke, Paul finds his narrative significance in Acts only within the Hellenist movement and Pentecost fulfillment. Paul himself becomes Luke’s premier example of the God active, God resisted theme of the speech of Stephen that drives the plot of Acts. This plot mechanism provides illuminating exegesis of Paul’s insistence on going to Jerusalem from Ephesus with its dramatic conclusion in the shipwreck of

Paul. Stevens concludes by integrating the ending of Acts into Luke’s three major themes and overall narrative strategy – an impressive, compelling, and thoroughly fresh reading of Acts.

Dr. Gerald L. Stevens is Professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned the Master of Divinity degree and the Doctor of Theology degree from NOBTS.

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Most Americans would be hard pressed to locate Mali on a world map, much less

Mali’s capital city of Bamako. Yet with a rapid urbanization and modernization movement taking hold in the West African nation, Bamako is becoming a strategic location for Gospel witness.

The road that took American missionary Wayne Wallace* to Bamako, Mali, began in Louisiana where he and his wife were raised. Wayne experienced a call to missions as a young believer. Later during his undergraduate studies at Louisiana College, he met his wife, Susan*, who had also experienced a call to missions.

After college, the Wallaces married and followed their calling to seminary at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where Wayne studied people group strategies. Susan went on to earn an MBA from the University of New Orleans. The plan was simple: study in New Orleans, graduate as soon as possible, and go to the mission field. The plan worked except for one key

factor – there was no quick exit from New Orleans.

Just about a year before graduation, God began to impress on Wayne’s heart that he needed to stay in New Orleans after seminary. Ultimately, God opened a door for him to serve at the North American Mission Board’s Brantley Center in downtown New Orleans – a facility which offered a substance addiction program and ministry to the homeless. For Wayne, the Brantley Center was a hands-on introduction to urban ministry.

Things were going well until Hurricane Katrina hit the city in August 2005. The Brantley Center never reopened after the storm.

“I really think Katrina was probably the biggest reason why God had us stay in the city,” Wayne said. “I think He wanted us to go through that experience … to get us spiritually, mentally and emotionally ready for what He had for us down the road.”

The storm brought on a transition in ministry, but not a move from New

Orleans. NAMB utilized Wayne to facilitate volunteer recovery teams ministering in the hurting city. After helping set up and launch the volunteer village for NAMB, Wayne served alongside the local Baptist association helping churches re-engage their neighborhoods and fostering new church plants.

Helping with the renewal of New Orleans helped Wayne sort through and apply the principles he learned in seminary. “Exegeting” the new realities facing the city provided an opportunity to practice the skills he would later use in Africa. Most of all, Wayne said that he learned to be obedient to God and approach Gospel ministry with a new sense of urgency in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Soon the Wallaces began sensing God’s call to go overseas. After their experience in New Orleans, they sought an urban opportunity.

“We wanted to be in urban work, we wanted to be in an unreached urban place,” he said. “We wanted to use other skill sets, particularly my wife’s business skills.”

POST-KATRINA MINISTRY IN NEW ORLEANS PREPARES ALUMNUS FOR SERVICE IN MALI

By GARY D. MYERS

*Name changed due to security concerns.

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When the Wallaces first learned about the International Mission Board ministry in Bamako, Mali, they were skeptical. It seemed like a “rough” place, Wayne remembers. But when they began to pray, it was clear that God wanted them to go to Mali, a Muslim country where less than 1 percent of the population identifies as evangelical Christian.

“Sign us up,” Wayne told the IMB candidate consultant. “We’ll be the crazy people who go to Bamako.”

The Wallaces left New Orleans for IMB training in 2012. After training time in Richmond, Va., they participated in intensive urban training in Vancouver, Canada.

About the time the Wallaces left for Vancouver, the government of Mali was overthrown by a coup. As they waited for things to settle in Mali, the Wallaces served in Ivory Coast, a neighboring African nation. After about a year and a half in Ivory Coast, the Wallaces were finally able to move to Mali.

Bamako is undergoing dramatic change. Currently the population of the city stands at 2.5 million, but with the rapid growth and modernization efforts, the population could swell to 4 million in the next 10 years. While people have lived in the city for many years, in many ways, Bamako is becoming a new city.

“It’s a rapidly growing city and it’s a city that is early in its modern development,” Wayne said. “That’s one of the things that makes the city exciting to me. It’s a new work in a relatively new city.”

Dealing with rapid change and urban

growth are not new for the Wallaces. Though the impetus for the change was different, the Wallaces believe their time

in post-Katrina New Orleans uniquely prepared them for the work in Bamako.

The Wallaces made a strategic decision to work in conjunction with existing local churches in all they do. There are only five Baptist churches in the area, with a total of only 300 baptized believers. Working with the local, existing believers provides added stability and sustainability if the political situation changes and the Wallaces have to leave.

The Wallaces are working directly with the local church for discipleship, church planting, leadership training and partnership mobilization. Theological and doctrinal training is a high priority for Wayne. The teachings he has encountered in the churches is solid, but Wayne wants to provide additional training against new, heretical movements which are sweeping across Africa. Wallace found initial success using an oral theological training model pioneered by an IMB colleague in West Africa, rather than Western, literature-based model. Wayne hopes to include more church leaders in this initiative when he returns Mali.

The Wallaces also established an urban component to an existing non-governmental organization (NGO) which offers a wide range of compassion ministries and community development activities.

The NGO opens many doors into the society and serves as a bridge between the local churches and people in need of the Gospel. The Wallaces have partnered with churches to sponsor medical clinics and seminars and small business development classes. As they develop relationships, the Wallaces look for natural ways to share the

Gospel.“Everything we do

through our NGO we are very unapologetic about how much Bible and Gospel we weave into it,” Wayne said. “We try to develop programs that meet needs, but also give us a clear avenue for the Gospel.”

The NGO is also having an impact on the sustainability of the local churches. The pastors in the area receive little pay from their churches so outside

employment is a must. Many pastors have long secular work hours and little time for ministry. Recently, the Wallaces made a micro loan to help a pastor start a small business. The money came from a VBS offering at a Louisiana church.

The pastor’s start-up has been successful. The pastor is faithfully repaying his loan and making enough money to support his family. Most importantly, the pastor is meeting many people who are in need of the Gospel as he operates his shop.

Because of the delay in reaching Bamako, many of Wallace’s initiatives were just getting started when it came time for stateside assignment. As they return to Bamako recharged, the Wallaces have a clear focus and great excitement about what God will accomplish in the city.

IT’S A CITY THAT IS EARLY IN ITS MODERN DEVELOPMENT. THAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES THE CITY EXCITING TO ME. IT’S A NEW WORK IN A RELATIVELY NEW CITY.

One of the ways the Wallaces serve their community is through an NGO which provides development and compassion ministries. Medical clinics offer a variety of services to the people of Bamako, opening the door for Gospel conversations.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

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CLASS NOTES

1960SCARLSON, NEAL (ThM ’73) recently published The Marriage Knot: A Slip Knot or a Hard Knot. The book is in paperbook and in Kindle format at Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Carlson served as a pastor for 61 years. NUTT, KENNETH (BRE ’61) recently retired as pastor of Hebron Baptist Church of Summerfield, La., for 58 years, and Summerfield Baptist Church, Colfax, La., serving concurrently for 44 years. TAYLOR, CECIL R. (THMH ’69) was named Emeritus Professor of Christian Studies recently by the University of Mobile, Ala., where he served 24 years as Dean and Professor of Christian Studies. He and his wife Reeda retired to Marshall, Texas. He continues to teach at Liberty University Seminary and Wiley College, Marshall, and to serve interim pastorates.

1970S BASS, JERRY (MDiv ’73) published the book Katrina and the Need for Revival in the American Church.

BRACKIN, JOHN (MDiv ’74, MRE ’ 83), Director of Missions for the Hill Country Baptist Association in Kerrville, Texas, was awarded a third Dan (level) black belt in Tae Kwon Do from the Kukkiwon in Seoul, Korea and the World Tae Kwon Do Federation May 7, 2015. ROBERTS, M. WESLEY (MCM ’76) is co-author with Maurice Hinson of Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, 4th ed. (Indiana University Press, 2014). Roberts received the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Award from Campbellsville University. SHAW, MIKE (MTh ’73, DMin ’76) is retired as pastor from First Baptist Church of Pelham, Ala. 1980S KING, BILL (MDiv ’80, DMin ’95) recently published the Christian novel You Shall Receive Power and the Christian book of humor Clean Up the House Boys, Mama has Hired a Maid with Oak Tara Publishers. King is the director of missions in Opelika, Ala., and ministers as a Christian humorist and musician through his stage creation, Bro. Billy Bob Bohannon. SMITH, TOMMY W. (MDiv ’80, MAMF ’98) published The War of the Lords, with Tate Publishers. This book for young teen readers explores from

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

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a Christian worldview the history of creation, the fall, Satan and his work on earth, the Gospel and the final judgment of evil.

1990SBUCKLEY, SETH (MRE ’ 90) recently completed a second term as chairman of the board of trustees at the Baptist Courier in South Carolina, the Baptist newspaper for South Carolina Baptists. Buckley was elected in November of 2015 to serve on the Board of Trustees at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C. BROWN, DAVID (MRE ’90) received a PhD in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Language and Literacy from Georgia State University in March 2015.

GLASGOW, JAY (MDiv ’96) is now serving as a chaplain with the Roper St. Francis Healthcare System in Charleston, S.C.

GRAVES, MICHAEL KIRK (MDiv ’95) serves as a bi-vocational and bilingual pastor of Smith Point Community Church in Anahuac, Texas, and teaches English, Sociology, and History at Robert E. Lee High School, Baytown, Texas. 2000SAUSBUN, DANIEL (MDiv ’03, ThM ’05) and wife, Sherri, adopted Esther Ausbun from Dongguan, China. Daniel serves as pastor of First Baptist Church of Moreland, Ga.

FRANZ, STEVE (BACMIN ’08, MDiv ’12) is an adjunct professor at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., in the Christian Studies department. He is the founder of Steve Franz Evangelistic Ministries and works as an evangelist with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

SMITH, CHANDLER (BACMIN ’05), Plaquemine High School principal was presented with the prestigious Milken Educator Award, with its notable cash prize of $25,000, in October 2015. Often dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching,” the award was presented to Smith in front of the student body and faculty by

the Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder, Lowell Milken. During Smith’s three-year tenure as principal, the school experienced increased attendance and graduation rates and was counted among the top 20 percent among Louisiana schools for growth in student proficiency, rising the next year to the top 15 percent.

WRIGHT, AARON (BACMin ’ 06) was ordained in June 2015 as pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church, Spring, Texas. He and his wife Janice (BACMin ’04) reside in Houston, Texas, with their four children.

DEATHSADAIR, BLANTON L. (BX ’66), of Hartselle, Ala., passed away March 17, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Helen Adair.

ADAMS, JAMES P. (DPCH ’58) or Athens, Ala., passed away Feb. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Adams.

ALLISON, ALTA MAE (MX ’54), of Memphis, Tenn., passed away Oct. 3, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dr. John Philip Allison.

ASHLEY, WARD M. (BDiv ’56), of New Market, Tenn., passed away Sept. 19, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Ruby Ashley.

BAKER, FRANK J. (MDiv ’76) of Hendersonville, N.C., passed away Sept. 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Margaret R. Baker.

BANKSTON, TROY G. (AX ’78) of McComb, Miss., passed away Oct.14, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Geraldine Wascom Bankston.

BARBEE, CHRISTOPHER (MDiv ’78), passed away Oct. 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Brenda Barbee.

BARLOW, JAMES E. (ThM ’67) of Oxford, Miss., passed away May 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ruby Sutherland Barlow.

BATARSEH, TOWFIG (THMH ’74), passed away July 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Patricia Batarseh.

BEATTY, DAVID B. (ADPM ’93, MX ’97), of Acworth, Ga., passed away Jan. 28, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Claudia Gail Beatty.

BELL, RAY E. (MX ’63) of Columbia, Miss., passed away May 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Joanne Dunn Bell.

BLACK, SANDRA “SANDY,” of Jackson, Miss., passed away Feb. 26, 2016. She is survived by her husband, Larry Black (MCM ’62).

BLANGE, PAULUS, L., III (ADPM ’84, MDiv ’94), of New Orleans, La., passed away Sept. 30, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Josie Contreras Blange.

BORING, DORIS CULBERTSON (DPRE ’66) Passed away March 10, 2015. She is survived by her husband, James Milton Boring (MRE ’68), and daughter, Brenna Boring (MACE ’94).

BRASELL, TRAVIS C., JR. (AX ’78), of Gadsen, Ala., passed away Nov. 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Candy Brasell.

BROWN, BOBBY (DPCH ’59) of West Monroe, La., passed away June 13, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Mildred Foy Brown. He is survived by his wife, Faye S. Brown.

BROWN, R. MICHAEL (AX ’83) of Greenville, Ala., passed away May 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Anita Brown.

BUCKLEY, JIMMY G. (MRE ’54) of Brookhaven, Miss., passed away April 22, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ruby Buckley.

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ALUMNI NEWS

BURKS, GLEN W. (MDiv ’99) of Jonesboro, Ark., passed away Aug. 5, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Shelvie Burks.

BURTTRAM, FITZHUGH A. (MX ’91) of Ashville, Ala., passed away March 27, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Anna Louise Williams Burttram.

CAMPBELL, ROBERT W. (MRE ’65), of Collierville, Tenn., passed away Jan. 9, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Ann Campbell.

CARTER, JAMES R. (BDiv ’59), passed away July 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Delores Carter.

CASTILLO, RENE F. (BX ’54) of Groves, Texas, passed away Dec. 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife of almost 64 years, Joan Castillo.

CATHY, JEANNETTE M. (MX ’48), passed away July 22, 2015.

CHATHAM, PHARES E. (AX ’92) of Sumter, S.C., passed away Oct. 3, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Linda Evans Chatham.

CLARK, JAMES L. (BDiv ’63) of Prairieville, La., passed away June 16, 2015. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 38 years, Pat, and survived by his present wife of 25 years, Janet.

CLARK, LESLIE R. (BX ’60), of Memphis, Tenn., passed away Jan. 23, 2016.

COOK, WILLIAM T. (MDiv ’86), of Salisbury, Md., passed away Aug. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Alice L. Cook.

CORDE, CLARISA A. (MRE ’55), of Tyler, Texas, passed away Sept. 30, 2015.

CRAWFORD, RENOLDA (BA ’96), of Bogalusa, La., passed away Sept. 18, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ernest Elbert Crawford.

CREWS, BRADLEY H. (MRE ’78), of Warner Robins, Ga., passed away Jan. 13, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Jackie Crews.

CROWE, RICHARD R. (THMH ’68) of Okeechobee, Fla., passed away Aug. 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Etola Sylvia Felton-Crowe.

DANNER, HORACE G. (BCM ’61) passed away Jan. 14, 2015.

DAVIS, J. THOMAS (DMin ’79) of Jackson, Miss., passed away June 16, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Johnie Stephenson Davis. He is survived by his wife, Betty Davis.

DILL, CHARLES B. (THMH ’68), of Des Moines, Iowa, passed away Feb. 11, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Shirley Pepper Dill.

DIXON, JOHN P. (BDiv ’57) of Tucker, Ga., passed away Sept. 4, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Karin Dixon.

DOHERTY, OTIS L. (THMH ’67) of Elkton, Md., passed away June 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn Doherty.

DOUGLAS, JERRY K. (MRE ’64), of Huntsville, Ala., passed away Feb. 8, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Ernest Douglas.

DOYLE, WALTER T. (MX ’83) of Walterboro, S.C., passed away April 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Billie Bass Doyle.

DUKE, T A. (BDiv ’57) of Tuscumbia, Ala., passed away April 18, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Alice Underwood Duke.

DUNCAN, AUBRIE L. (BX ’66) of Lancaster, Ky., passed away April 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Linda Ann Petrilli Duncan.

DUNN, JERALD H., SR. (AX ’58) of Bowling Green, Fla., passed away July 3, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, JoAnn C. Dunn.

ENSOR, ROBERT E. (ADRE ’81, ADMU ’81), of Elizabethton, Tenn., passed away March 8, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Frank Ensor.

ESKRIDGE, ROBERT L. (ThM ’68), of Painted Post, N.Y., passed away Jan. 7, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Barbara Eskridge.

EUBANKS, BARBARA P. (“Bobbie”) (AX ’67), passed away July 15, 2015. She is survived by her husband, N. Brannan Eubanks.

EULER, RONALD F. (BDiv ’65) of Pleasant Grove, Ala., passed away June 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jeanine Myers Euler.

EVANS, CARL E. (MDiv ’77) of Leesville, La., passed away April 9, 2015.

EVERETT, GROVER L. (BDiv ’59), passed away July 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Little Everett.

FAAS, RUDY O. (MCM ’62), of Naples, Fla., passed away Jan. 8, 2016. He is survived by his wife Linda Faas.

FORD, MARY E. (MRE ’51) of Nashville, Tenn., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. J.L. “Pete” Ford.

FORMBY, DAVID E. (MX ’75) of Picayune, Miss., passed away Sept. 2, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Ella Quinn Formby.

FOX, JOYCE B. (DPRE ’59), of Gardendale, Ala., passed away March 2, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Walter M. Fox.

FOY, SLATER A. (MSM ’60) of Hilton Head Island, S.C., passed away Jan. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Imogene Dearman Foy.

FREES, RICHARD L. (MRE ’81, MDiv ’79), passed away July 2, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sara Shockley Frees.

GANDY, JAMES U. (BX ’62), passed away Dec. 8, 2015. He is preceded in death by two wives, Esther Kelley Gandy and Faye Faulk Gandy.

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GANDY, R. LARRY (ThM ’71, DX ’83), of Cody, Wyo., passed away Sept. 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Linda Wilkinson Gandy.

GIBSON, JOHN F. (MDiv ’85, PhD ’02) of New Orleans, La., passed away Aug. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife Christina Rogers Gibson.

GOODMAN, BAERBEL S. (ThM ’70) of Rocky Mount, N.C., passed away Sept. 11, 2015. Susi is survived by her husband, Dr. David W. Goodman.

GRAHAM, CAROLYN M. (NX ’89), of Fairhope, Ala., passed away Jan. 30, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Dr. Charles Graham.

HAMLIN, BILLIE, (DPCH ’62), passed away Oct. 22, 2015. He is survived by his wife or 68 years, Betty Ingram Hamlin.

HARDIE, CHARLES C. (MDiv ’80), passed away June 29, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis G. Hardie.

HEARD, CAROLYN GREER (Seminary Donor) of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 14, 2016. She is survived by her husband, William Lee Heard, Jr.

HENRY, PATRICK L. (MRE ’70), passed away Dec. 8, 2015.

HICKS, STEVEN P., SR. (ThD ’73), passed away July 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Minnie Greer Hicks.

HOBBS, WANDA B. (MX ’55) of Lone Star, Texas, passed away March 29, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Robbie L. Hobbs.

HOLMES, CHARLES R. (MDiv ’76, DMin ’80), passed away July 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Lois Holmes.

HONTAS, DAVID (DMin ’05), passed away June 17, 2015.

HUNT, ASA, III (BDiv ’55) of League City, Texas, passed away March 19, 2015. He is survived by his wife Annette Hunt.

INGRAM, JEFFREY W. (MDiv ’05) of Fairhope, Ala., passed away Aug. 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Jean Ingram.

IRBY, DAVID J. (BDiv ’56; ThD ’63) of Johnson City, Tenn., passed away June 13, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marilyn Irby.

JOHNSON, J.D. (ThM ’68) of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Aug. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Bonnie Young Johnson.

JONES, MARY N. of Canfield, Ohio, passed away Jan. 13, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Melvin R. Jones (BDiv ’58).

JUSTICE, WILLIAM G. (BDiv ’61) of Knoxville, Tenn., passed away Aug. 27, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ann Fowler Justice.

KENDRICK, DAVID A. (MDiv ’89) of Amory, Miss., passed away June 10, 2015.

KNIGHT, FRANCES C. (MX ’52), of Trussville, Ala., passed away Sept. 24, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Thurman Knight.

LASSETT, GEORGE W. (MDiv ’74) of Fairhope, Ala. passed away May 8, 2015.

LASSETT, JOSEPHINE SCHUTZ, of Columbia, Tenn., passed away Feb. 24, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rev. George W. Lassett (MDiv ’74) in 2015.

LEE, KENNETH R. (MDiv ’98) of Black Mountain, N.C., passed away Sept. 5, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Sheryl D. Green.

LEGACY, JOSEPH E. (MX ’88) passed away Jan. 7, 2015.

LESTER, GERALDINE A. (ACM ’07), passed away June 26, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Adolphus Lester Jr.

LEWIS, ANNA D. (BX ’49) of Gallatin, Tenn., passed away Nov. 14, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, J. C. Lewis.

LINDSEY, VERDIE NEWTON (BRE ’48) of Jackson, Miss., passed away Nov. 4, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Clifton “C.O.” Lindsey.

LITTLE, JOYCE C. (AX ’79), of Jay, Fla., passed away May 30, 2015.

LITTLE, THOMAS, JR. (MDiv ’79), of Jay, Fla., passed away Jan. 23, 2016. He is preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Joyce Carnley Little.

LIVENGOOD, NORMAN L. (MRE ’64) of Bonita Springs, Fla., passed away May 9, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Maxine Livengood.

LODATTO, DONNIE J. (DPPM ’72) of Bossier City, La., passed away Aug. 5, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Joyce Lodatto.

LOPEZ, RICHARD M. (MX ’06), passed away July 9, 2015.

LUEBBERT, RICHARD W. (BDiv ’55) passed away March 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Dorothy Embree Luebbert.

LUNDY, CHARLES W. (MRE ’81) of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., passed away Sept. 1, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Lundy.

MARLER, L. PARKES (BDiv ’53) of Kosciusko, Miss., passed away Nov. 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Martha Ellen Townsend Marler.

MARTING, HUGH A. (THMH ’67) of Oxford, Miss., passed away May 11, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Jean Holder Marting.

MASSEY, VICTOR C. (BDiv ’56, THD ’62) of Cleveland, Ga., passed away Nov. 11, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sue Massey.

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ALUMNI NEWS

MAZZAGATE, ROY J. (MX ’02), of Orange, Texas, passed away Oct. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Darlene Mazzagate.

MCCLENDON, WILLIAM C., JR. (AX ’92), of Atlanta, Ga., passed away Feb. 25, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Brenda McClendon.

MCGEE, VIRGIL W. (CCM ’99) passed away Jan. 13, 2015.

MCGOUGAN, RALEIGH E. (MCM ’71), passed away June 26, 2015.

MCGREGOR, KERMIT D., SR. (BDiv ’63), passed away Dec. 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis McCoy McGregor.

MCGRIFF, GLEN D. (AX ’64) of Huntsville, Ala., passed away Aug. 15, 2015. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Helen Perry McGriff, and survived by his second wife, Cecilia McGriff.

MCINTYRE, ARCHIE P., JR. (BDiv ’58), passed away July 20, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen Johnson McIntyre.

MCMILLIAN, ALBERT E., JR (AX ’92) of Hattiesburg, Miss., passed away May 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Kaul McMillian.

MCQUERY, JAMES P., JR. (MDiv ’82) of Wichita, Kan., passed away July 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Angela McQuery.

MCWILLIAMS, CARRIE B. (MRE ’63), of Weatherford, Texas, passed away Jan. 24, 2016. She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Roy McWilliams.

MESSER, MARY WHEELER GRAY (MRE ’45), of Hattiesburg, Miss., passed away Oct. 14, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Thomas S. Messer Sr.

MILLER, CLINTON R. (DPRE ’60) of Dalton, Ga., passed away June 8, 2015. He is survived by Evalena Gladden Miller.

MINSHEW, PAT E. (MRE ’64) of Montevallo, Ala., passed away Dec. 12, 2015. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Eberhart Minshew.

MORRISON, CLINTON I. (MDiv ’75; EdD ’78) of Harrison, Ark., passed away April 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Laura Dubuisson Morrison.

MORSE, JIMMY D. (ADPM ’83) of Bowling Green, Fla., passed away Aug. 17, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Gayle Morse.

MULLEN, E. L. (MDiv ’92) of Robertsdale, Ala., passed away Oct. 16, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Hughes Mullen.

MURPHY, LINDSEY (CX ’98), of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Feb. 9, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Lisa Murphy.

MURPHY, MILTON E., JR. (ADPM ’84) of Jackson, Miss., passed away April 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Karen Howard Murphy.

NICHOLS, CALEY R. (BDiv ’63) of Vicksburg, Miss., passed away Oct. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marie Nichols.

OWEN, HERBERT M. (ThM ’73) of Rainbow City, Ala., passed away Oct. 28, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Kay Strozier Owen.

PARVIN, JEANNIE N. of Birmingham, Ala., passed away May 27, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Rev. Ernest B. Parvin (ThM ’73).

PERCY, WILLIAM E. III (MDiv ’78), passed away July 6, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Judy Percy.

PERRY, HUEY D. (DMin ’79) of Clarksville, Ga., passed away Oct. 20, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Donna McLean Perry.

PILGRIM, JAMES M., JR. (BDiv ’58), of West Columbia, S.C., passed away Feb. 12, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Gladys Geneva Pilgrim.

POLSON, RUSSELL A., JR. (PhD ’98), of Jasper, Texas, passed away Aug. 6, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia Polson.

POWERS, JOE C. (BDiv ’54), of Oklahoma City, Okla., passed away Jan. 21, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Irma Powers.

PROFIT, JOSEPH C. (MX ’60) of Gretna, La., passed away Sept. 4, 2015.

PRUITT, STANLEY W. (MDiv ’00), passed away Feb. 24, 2015.

RAMSAY, ROBERT S. (BX ’51) of Redondo Beach, Calif., passed away Oct. 4, 2015.

RINAS, RITA J. (MRE ’84), of Curryville, Mo., passed away March 15, 2016.

ROBERTS, KENNETH W. (BDiv ’62) of Humboldt, Tenn., passed away April 30, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marlene Wilson Roberts.

ROBINSON, JERRY W., JR. (BDiv ’60, MRE ’60) of Cleveland, Miss., passed away Aug. 31, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Jean Byrd Robinson.

ROGERS, STAFFORD J. (BDiv ’57), of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 9, 2016.

ROOKS, MARGARET “PEGGY,” passed away July 22, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Bob Rooks (BDiv ’59).

ROOTE, THOMAS STAFFORD, JR. (MRE ’59, EdD ’67), passed away July 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Lorraine Stoudenmier Roote.

ROSS, ELNORA COOPER of New Orleans, La., passed away Jan. 1, 2016. She is preceded in death by her husband, James D. Ross (MRE ’95).

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RUDDICK, EDDIE L. (BDiv ’54, ThM ’68, ThD ’77) of Montevallo, Ala., passed away Nov. 13, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Fay Ruddick.

RUNYAN, ELIZABETH B. (AX ’54) of Greer, S.C., passed away Oct. 24, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Farrell E. Runyan (ThM ’44, PhD ’04).

RUSSELL, OSCAR L. (MX ’66) of Biloxi, Miss., passed away May 9, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Helen J. Russell.

RYALS, ROSALOU D. (AX ’60), of Tampa, Fla., passed away Oct. 6, 2015. She is preceded in death by her husband, John Claude Ryals.

SANSON, SUSAN (ADPM ’92; BGS ’94) of Zomba, Malawi, passed away May 18, 2015. She is survived by her husband, Billy Sanson.

SCHELL, DAVID W. (EdS ’71; EdD ’73) of Selma, Ala., passed away May 15, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Zela Schell.

SELF, RALPH T. (BDiv ’56) of Alexandria, La., passed away July 8, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Louis Cox Self.

SHORTER, TANYA E. (CBT ’01) of Houston, Texas, passed away Nov. 9, 2015.

SHUFFLIN, CHARLES (DPCH ’68) of Shreveport, La., passed away May 9, 2015.

SKINNER, JERRY L. (MDiv ’87), of Ridgeland, Miss., passed away Feb. 13, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Skinner.

SLONAKER, E. JERRY (BDiv ’58) of Prentiss, Miss., passed away Aug. 19, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Katherine Robbins Slonaker.

SMITH, CLEMEN T. (BX ’57) of Monroe, La., passed away March 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Enid H. Smith.

SMITH, JAMES K. (MDiv ’86, DMin ’94) of Meridian, Miss., passed away Jan. 19, 2015.

SMITH, TRUETT S. (MX ’53) of Sacramento, Calif., passed away July 29, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Sarah C. Smith.

STEWART, DONNIE L. (BX ’66) of Oxford, Miss., passed away June 11, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Anona Stewart.

STEWART. RON A. (BDiv ’63), of Jackson, Miss., passed away Dec. 25, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Shelby Jean Pigott Stewart.

STOCKSTILL, ERNEST R. (BDiv ’55), of Baton Rouge, La., passed away Feb. 9, 2016. He is preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Ruth Stockstill.

STREET, JAMES W. (BDiv ’66, DMin ’74) of Jackson, Miss., passed away Nov. 8, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Jimmie Carol Street.

TOLER, DESMOND B. (MRE ’82) of Mobile, Ala., passed away Nov. 24, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Betty Toler.

WALLACE, RAY E. (MDiv ’73), of Shreveport, La., passed away Feb. 29, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Bobbye Gwin Wallace.

WAMBLE, DOROTHY M. (MSM ’60), passed away July 29, 2015.

WARE, JAMES C. (BDiv ’55) of Monroe, La., passed away May 26, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Susan G. Ware.

WATSON, JOHN H. (MDiv ’76, MRE ’77), of Richardson, Texas, passed away March 1, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Jory Rust Watson.

WATSON, ROBBIE N. (MRE ’82) of Olive Branch, Miss., passed away June 12, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Judy Watson.

WATSON, THOMAS H. (MCM ’72), passed away. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Watson.

WATTERSON, JAMES R., SR. (BDiv ’64, MRE ’74), passed away Nov. 27, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Sarah Campbell Watterson.

WAYNE, WILLIAM C. (BDiv ’64), of Lafayette, La., passed away Jan. 20, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carolyn Ann Wayne.

WEST, RON (MACE ’91, DX ’14) of Summit, Miss., passed away Nov. 10, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Paula Daymond West.

WHITE, ARCHIE W. (DPCH ’64) of Spring, Texas, passed away Nov. 25, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife, Francis Jeanette Mims White.

WILLHAM, WILLIAM O. (MX ’74) of Titusville, Fla., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. He is preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Gene Willham.

WILLIAMS, RUBY ANN (MRE ’56) of Gainesville, Ga., passed away July 25, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Willis Williams.

WOOD, WILLIAM D. (BDiv ’64, DMin ’79), of Lake City, Fla., passed away Aug. 4, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Eleanor Everson Wood.

WYNN, RICKY J. (MX ’92), of Tupelo, Miss., passed away Jan. 28, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Vickie Wynn.

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