Posts Tagged ‘Midwestern Seminary’

At Midwestern Seminary, we are beginning a new tradition: the faculty lecture. Formal academic presentations have a rich history in theological education and a rich history within the Southern Baptist Convention. After all, it was a faculty lecture that birthed Southern Baptist theological education in the first place. Read more

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here in this hour of worship and for choosing to be a part of this family; both as faculty, staff, student, trustee, and all that comprises who Midwestern Seminary is. I want to invite you this morning, as we frame the semester before us and think through where we are in our stage of life and ministry here, to Colossians 4:17. Frankly, this morning’s charge is a little different than what I typically do. I am not going to work through a longer passage of Scripture, rather, we are going to look at one verse in particular. This verse will be a charge to the entire seminary community. Read more

Last week, Midwestern Seminary had our 2016 commencement ceremony. For my portion of the service, I urged our graduates to “finish well.” In a time when ministry is hard, and many who enter ministry will retire doing something else, it is vital for our graduates to run the race with endurance, fight the good fight, and finish well. Read more

This past week, we welcomed nearly 100 prospective students to Midwestern Seminary’s campus for spring Preview Day. Every semester, Preview Day encourages me as I get to interact with future students and sense who the Lord is calling to study here. This year’s spring Preview Day did not disappoint. I heard the stories, sensed the passion, and felt the conviction of another wave of students coming to Midwestern Seminary for theological education.

It was good for me to hear from them, but also for them to hear from me about what they can expect at Midwestern Seminary. One of life’s most important questions for those pursuing ministry preparation is which seminary to attend. One should not choose a seminary lightly. In fact, I would encourage anyone considering seminary not to move forward with their choice without having these questions satisfactorily answered: Read more

In the world of theological education, the Master of Divinity degree has long been the gold standard for ministry preparation, and its status is well deserved. In it, one finds the complete toolkit for ministry service: Greek and Hebrew, New Testament and Old Testament, theology, church history, preaching, pastoral care and counseling, evangelism, missions, and much, much more.

Yet, in many seminaries, the Master of Divinity degree has fallen on hard times. In recent years, shorter and less rigorous Master of Arts degrees have syphoned off students from the Master of Divinity degree. Read more