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The presidents of two Southern Baptist Convention seminaries—Adam Greenway of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Jamie Dew of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary—participated in a live Zoom chat on “leading in/beyond COVID-19” with hosts Matt Henslee and Kyle Bueermann of “Not Another Baptist Podcast,” May 28.
The two presidents reflected on lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic, how to lead with wisdom and grace as things gradually return to normal, and what advice they would give students currently deciding whether to attend seminary online or in person this fall.
Concerning what the transition to fully online classes this semester due to COVID-19 precautions has taught him, Greenway said, “There are some things that we can do in person or we can do online, and it’s just as good online. There are other things that we can do in person or online, but it’s clearly better in person.”
Dew agreed, “If COVID-19 has done anything, it has given us a scenario that reminds us of just how much we need each other. We need each other relationally, we need each other psychologically, we need each other spiritually, we need each other missiologically. And so it’s given us a context now that should forever change the way we celebrate and embrace public gathering.”
The two noted, however, that some positive lessons have been learned from this pandemic and will be useful moving forward, such as continuing to meet with church members via Zoom during the week in order to stay connected.
Greenway explained, “Through this [technology], we can see each other, we can hear each other, we can, in a sense, have a degree of virtual community where we can be together Thursday afternoon, Wednesday night, Saturday morning—whatever we want to do.”
Dew added that Zoom can continue to be utilized for Sunday School meetings with members unable attend the church campus, and that, in the seminary context, he personally will continue to produce weekly video messages to his students—a habit born out of necessity during COVID-19.
What the pandemic has “forced us to do in thinking outside the box,” Dew said, “is we have gone into the mode of ‘engage, engage, engage,’ and get creative in doing it. And I hope when we come through the other side of this and are able to get back to normal, we don’t lose that. Maybe we can engage face-to-face now, but I hope that we’re forever a little bit different about the intentionality of just connecting with people and talking with people.”
The two agreed that “grace and latitude” are key in the process of returning to in-person gatherings, particularly regarding such issues as some churches requiring members to wear masks and others not.
Dew noted that the transition is “going to look different for everybody,” especially for rural churches relative to urban churches, and so he encouraged the Christian community to “give grace to everybody, expect innovation, welcome innovation, and then let’s learn from each other as we do it.”
As students make plans for the fall and are considering whether to do their theological education online or in person, the two presidents encouraged them, if possible, to choose the on-campus experience.
Dew, though acknowledging “the quality of the product that our schools produce in our online classes is solid,” nevertheless said, “If you have the opportunity to get to campus, get to campus, for this reason: the longer it takes you to do your degree program, the less likely it is that you will finish.”
Dew noted residential students, on average, take 12 hours per semester, while online students take an average of only 3-6 hours. This drawing out of the education experience renders it less likely that online students will finish their degrees, he said.
“We don’t exist to dabble in theological education and ministry preparation,” Dew said. “We exist to get people here, get them prepared, and send them out so they can get to the church and to the mission field. And students don’t come here to dabble either. So, let’s not dabble.”
Greenway acknowledged that, for some people, online classes truly are the best option. But he nevertheless advocated for on-campus theological education.
“Some of the best content of these Zoom meetings has been what didn’t make it into the recordings—it’s the pre-conversation; it’s the post-conversation,” Greenway said. “In the same way, some of the most memorable content I ever received in seminary was not part of the planned lecture from the professor; it was after class as he was walking out and I was walking with him to the office. It’s organic; you can’t script it, you can’t plan it—you have to be there.”
