Don KirklandOn page one of this issue of the Courier is an article under the headline, “Preparing ministers for the 21st century.” It chronicles the efforts of the three South Carolina Baptist universities — Anderson, Charleston Southern and North Greenville — to provide education for ministers or would-be ministers. Among Southern Baptists, this has been viewed popularly as an assignment for the six SBC seminaries.
The graduate programs at each of the schools — the Clamp School of Christian Ministry at Anderson, the extension of Southeastern Baptist Seminary at Charleston Southern, and the Brashier Graduate School at North Greenville — are responses to evident needs within South Carolina.
Church polity followed by autonomous Southern Baptist congregations does not require that ministers attain particular levels of formal education. Faithfulness to the call to ministry, however, demands a higher standard for those who would bring honor to the work and necessary nurture to the people served.
My father was 30 years old when he graduated from the University of South Carolina. He held pastorates in the state for eight years before deciding to pull up stakes and move to Fort Worth, Tex., and attend Southwestern Baptist Seminary.
He never was pastor of a large church, and he completed his active ministry as an associational missionary in Kershaw serving many small, and some large, congregations. He never allowed the size of the congregation to influence the study that went into each sermon. He was a teaching pastor from start to finish. His preparation for ministry — even after college and seminary — never ceased or slacked off. He recognized, as did John the Baptist, that “no one can receive a single thing unless it’s given to him from heaven.” The New Living Translation of the Bible puts it this way: “God in heaven appoints each person’s work.” The task for each of us engaged in ministry — and that is all Christians — is to properly prepare for our divinely appointed work.
I had been at The Baptist Courier for some time when one day, following a board meeting, trustee chairman Doug Blackwell came into my office and told me, “Don, get that master’s degree.” He knew that it would enhance my career in Christian publishing as well as my service to the Lord in a variety of other ways.
I took his word of encouragement to heart, though not until later. I was in my early 50s when I graduated from Erskine Seminary. Interestingly — and providentially, I am convinced — I was elected editor of the Courier on the Friday of my final class at Erskine. When I learned I had passed my exit exam from seminary, I rushed immediately to the chapel, bowed to my knees and thanked God for the opportunity he had given me to better prepare for service to him.
Anderson, Charleston Southern and North Greenville universities are providing opportunities for ministers and would-be ministers to inform both their spirits and their intellects through disciplined programs of graduate study that blend theory with practice. The result can only be more productive and more satisfying ministries for both ministers and their congregations. Our three universities, by making available graduate studies in Christian ministry, simply add to their worth to South Carolina Baptists who care about and give support to Christian education. The investment South Carolina Baptists continue to make in higher Christian education pays dividends worthy of our praise, gratitude and support.