NOBTS celebrates opening of regional hub

By Gary D. Myers | Oct. 4, 2007

ORLANDO (NOBTS)—New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated a new way to provide theological training to Florida Baptists Sept. 24 with the dedication of the seminary’s Orlando Regional Hub.

Seminary administrators and leaders of the Florida Baptist Convention gathered at First Baptist Church in Orlando, home to the Orlando hub, to officially launch the initiative that allows NOBTS students in Florida to complete more of their ministry training closer to home.

The new approach allows students to earn all but 12 hours of New Orleans Seminary’s master of divinity degree or master of arts in Christian education degree at the Orlando hub. In the past students had to earn 30 hours of on-campus credit at the main campus in New Orleans, a costly endeavor for Florida students.

Now, regardless of the extension center a student attends, he or she can earn up to 18 hours of on-campus credit in Orlando. The student will only have to earn 12 hours of credit in New Orleans.

“When I came to this job 19 years ago, one of the things I determined is we are going to have quality theological education in the state of Florida,” John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention. “We are starting about 140 new churches every year and to start new churches without quality theological education makes no sense at all. So that’s why we are so involved in this.”

“I believe in what we are doing through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” he added.

Sullivan challenged seminary leaders to develop leaders who have a heart for the mission of the church, an understanding of the mind of Christ and a love for people.

Seminary President Chuck Kelley told the Orlando hub students that their generation of Christian leaders will play a crucial role in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention. He said this generation has the opportunity to be the greatest generation of Christian leaders Southern Baptists have seen.

At a time when the majority of Southern Baptist churches have planteaued or have slipped into decline, Kelley sees an opportunity for new leaders to make a real difference in local churches.

“If [our churches] grow, you’re going to be called the greatest generation of Christian leaders in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Kelley said. “I believe that we can experience a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit of God and that under the Holy Spirit’s anointing on a generation of Christian leaders, we can help our churches learn how to grow again.”

The Orlando hub represents the seminary’s commitment to make theological training available to God-called men and women, Kelley said. It also represents hope for the future.

“We have made a passionate commitment to your significance as leaders of the church,” Kelley said. “Many of you would tell me today if we did not have this center in Orlando you would probably not be able to get theological education.”

Kelley said that without partnerships with the Florida Baptist Convention, The Baptist College of Florida and First Baptist Church of Orlando, the hub would not be possible. He spoke a specific word of thanks to David Uth, pastor at First Orlando, for providing classroom and office space for the NOBTS hub.

“We are doing this because we believe in you,” he continued. “We believe you can make a difference. We believe, with all of us working together, we can do something that has never happened before.”

Jimmy Dukes, the seminary’s regional associate dean for Florida and director of theological training for the Florida Baptist Convention, also acknowledged the multi-level partnership represented in the Orlando hub. He acknowledged the significant role The Baptist College of Florida, under the leadership of President Thomas Kinchen, plays in providing theological training on the undergraduate level.

During the event Dukes announced that the theological library at the Orlando hub will be renamed in honor of Mark Stephens. Stephens, who led the seminary’s Orlando center and served as the Florida Baptist Convention’s director of theological training from 2002 until March 2007, died of an apparent heart attack.

“[Mark] was such a special person in so many ways,” Dukes said. “He had a brilliant mind and a deep commitment to the Lord.”

“He did a great job here in Orlando,” he said. “He was always thinking about new things we could do.”

Dukes said that because Stephens was a scholar and a deep thinker, it was fitting to name the theological library in Orlando after him. Dukes said that he would like to see the library grow in the coming years as a testimony to all the Stephens meant to the Orlando Center.

For more information about New Orleans Seminary’s Orlando Regional Hub, call (407) 514-4412 or visit www.nobts.edu/extensions.