Southwestern Baptist Seminary celebrated its 100th birthday in grand Texas style, March 14, replete with a centennial chapel service, alumni gatherings and a campus-wide picnic featuring a spectacular fireworks show. Several notable alumni were present to honor the legacy of the seminary’s first century of service to Southern Baptists as well as to challenge the institution to remain a premier training ground for pastors, Christian leaders and missionaries.
Cloudless skies and bright spring weather allowed for a special centennial Founder’s Day chapel service to take place on the seminary’s front lawn in the morning. Seminary president Paige Patterson recognized alumni, welcomed students and guests, and read letters congratulating the seminary’s centennial from Southwestern graduates David Dockery, president of Union University, and Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Seminary.
Two Southwestern alumni gave testimonies of their relationship with Southwestern. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Seminary, thanked Southwestern for consistently setting the pace of evangelism for Southern Baptists. He encapsulated his hope for Southern Baptists by saying, “In the day and age in which we live, wedding a healthy, robust theology to a Great Commission passion – that is my prayer for Southern Baptists, that is my prayer for all of our seminaries, and, in particular, the one that has set the pace for so long, that is my prayer and my heartbeat for Southwestern Seminary.”
O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources, characterized Southwestern by its influence of training more pastors, more religious educators, more music ministers, and more missionaries than any other seminary. He also praised the seminary for its integrity to stay true to founder B.H. Carroll’s vision.
After Hawkins mentioned Carroll, Andy Smith, a master of divinity student, portrayed the seminary’s founder, delivering a speech of what Carroll would possibly state today to reflect on the past 100 years and charge the seminary forward. “I urge you as a brother, the founder, a fellow servant, to stand fast upon the inerrant word of God, keeping the seminary lashed to our Savior’s cross that all men might know him,” Smith said. “May God bless Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the president, the faculty and the students to always remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(This article was prepared by Michelle McNatt, Benjamin Hawkins, and Keith Collier.)