Bradford to occupy newly established evangelism chair at SWBTS

FORT WORTH, Texas—Students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary say Carl Bradford’s “pastor’s heart” and passion for evangelism are evident in the classroom and influences their own zeal to share the gospel.

Bradford has served as assistant professor of evangelism at Southwestern Seminary since 2018. Effective Jan. 1, Bradford will occupy the newly established Malcolm R. and Melba McDow Chair of Evangelism in the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern. Through his academic role, he teaches several evangelism-related classes, including Contemporary Evangelism, Theology of Evangelism and Missions, and the Historical Development of the Kerygma and the Gospel, in the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions.

“Among those classes, I most enjoy Contemporary Evangelism,” Bradford said, noting one of the core classes for master’s students. The course results in the “greatest transformation of an individual’s passion for evangelism. The students must study evangelism concerning areas such as God’s and man’s role in evangelism, evangelism in the Old and New Testaments, what constitutes the Gospel, and other areas of evangelism study.”

Students enrolled in the class “are challenged to practice sharing their faith a minimum of 12 times throughout the semester,” he added, noting “The class is a favorite of mine because it has the perfect mixture of biblical theology and practice.”

Bradford not only teaches evangelism as an academic discipline, but he lives it out with his students too. He also spearheads the group of Southwestern students each year at Crossover, which precedes the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting each June, and he leads a group of students in Everyday Evangelism, which is a ministry opportunity where Southwestern and TBC students go out into various places each week in the Fort Worth community to share the Gospel.

While Bradford grew up loving the culture and food in his native New Orleans, he came to Fort Worth to evacuate from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Having earned both his Master of Divinity (2011) and Doctor of Philosophy (2018) degrees from Southwestern, he explained there are three reasons he teaches at the seminary, including his own education at the institution.

“I am a two-time graduate of SWBTS,” Bradford said. “Through a partnership with local churches, I believe in its mission to provide Gospel-centered teaching, strong theological education, and a Great Commission focus.”

He also noted that teaching at Southwestern Seminary “allows me to have a significant influence on students all around the world and those they meet,” and then “the things I lecture on evangelism, theology, discipleship, and other topics have a global reach.”

This article originally appeared on the SWBTS website.