The old maxim “like father, like son” possesses a core, ubiquitous truth. For May 2012 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate Joshua Thomas, the maxim has held true for four generations. Thomas’ completion of his degree will make him a fourth-generation graduate of Southern Seminary on May 18.
Joshua ThomasThomas’ family history with Southern dates back 100 years to his great-grandfather on his mother’s side, Effie Layton Howerton, who graduated from Southern in May 1912. His son, Ellis Paul “E.P.” Howerton, graduated from Southern in May 1956. E.P.’s son-in-law and Thomas’ father, James H. Thomas Jr., graduated from the seminary in May 1984. Now, one century since his great-grandfather walked the stage, Joshua Thomas, too, will cross the stage to receive his diploma.
According to Thomas, who will graduate with a master of divinity in the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism’s Great Commission track, his family’s ties to Southern led him to consider attending the seminary as he contemplated entering vocational ministry. In August 2008, Thomas made known to his family that he sensed a call to ministry. His grandmother, Eunice Howerton, jovially commented to him that “the only real seminary is ‘The’ Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.”
Effie Layton, the first-generation Southern graduate of Thomas’ family, was a chaplain in the U.S. Army in France during World War I and later pastored First Baptist Church of Pikeville, Ky. E.P. was a church planter for the former Home Mission Board in Ohio and Kentucky. A bivocational minister who taught at Barrett Middle School in Louisville, E.P. served as a pastor of North 42nd Street Baptist Church.
Thomas’ father, James, is a bivocational minister of music at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Walhalla, the town where Thomas grew up. James met his wife, Martha, at Oconee State Park, when James served as the musical accompanist to Thomas’ uncle, Layton Howerton, who was a “park missionary” at Oconee. James met Layton’s sister, Martha, when E.P. and his family visited the park, and, one year later, they married. James went on to attend Southern, where he studied religious education and music.
Thomas currently serves as the development coordinator for institutional advancement at Southern and is an intern for enrollment management and student services. He is also the interim elementary coordinator at Highview Baptist Church’s East campus.
Following graduation, Thomas, along with his wife Deidre, hopes to work toward the revitalization of Southern Baptist churches in his home state of South Carolina.
If his family’s past is any indication of the future, Thomas’ passion for ministry and potential influence may result in further generations of Southern graduates. In fact, Thomas’ brother, Matthew, plans to enroll in Southern’s Greenville extension site this fall. Like father, like son; like brother, like brother. – SBTS