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FORT WORTH?The trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary approved six new faculty members and a $34 million budget, and affirmed plans for a modified counseling degree program during their spring meeting on April 7.
Trustees elected as chairman Geoffrey Kolander, vice president and general counsel of the Austin-based Citizens insurance holding company. A member of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, he has been on the board since 2004, previously serving as vice chairman.
The board also elected Hance Dilbeck, pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, as vice chairman. Harlan Lee, a business owner in Phoenix, was re-elected secretary.
The $34 million budget for 2011 is shy of an earlier proposal of $34.5 million. The slight scale-back was on advice from outside financial advisers, who cited uncertainties in financial markets.
Kolander told the TEXAN, “In an economy that no one can predict what’s going to happen, we have to be very prudent managers of this seminary’s endowment,” a key to developing an operating budget. “We’re very cognizant of the strain on the endowment at a hard time like this.”
Speaking on behalf of the academic administration committee, trustee Van McClain of Schenectady, N.Y., updated trustees on the seminary’s progress in modifying its counseling degree program. Trustees affirmed the process, anticipating a review of curriculum changes next fall.
Earlier this year, the seminary announced the appointment of a committee chaired by the dean of the Terry School of Church and Family Ministries, Waylan Owens, to shape a distinctively Southwestern approach to teaching counseling. “It will emphasize biblical principles set in the context of developing a biblical worldview and perspective on life,” Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson stated after announcing the process for the new program to be developed.
Six new faculty members were elected, all of them to begin teaching in August, with the exception of an archaeology professor whose assignment begins a year later. New faculty include:
?Thomas Davis as professor of archaeology and biblical backgrounds in the school of theology. Davis has been director of Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute since 2003 and served as assistant vice president and archaeological investigator for R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates from 1991 to 2003. He has participated in research excavations in locations such as Cyprus, Egypt and Jordan, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
?Ira “Mack” Jones as associate professor of Christian education in the Havard School for Theological Studies where he has served as adjunct professor since 2004 and pastored Wooster Baptist Church in Baytown since 1999. He spent 16 years as an IMB missionary in Brazil, where he also taught in several seminaries and earned a master of arts in religious education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ed.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
?Donald Kim as an assistant professor in the College at Southwestern, currently a Ph.D. student in New Testament who has taught adjunctively since 2007. He earned his M.Div. from Yale University Divinity School and serves as assistant editor and research librarian at the Institute for Biblical Research (IBR) Library located on Southwestern’s campus.
?Matthew McKellar as associate professor of preaching in the school of theology where he has served under presidential appointment since January. He pastored Sylvania Church in Tyler, for 22 years and earned his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southwestern. He taught adjunctively for Dallas Baptist University, Criswell College and East Texas Baptist University.
?John Michael Morris as assistant professor of missions in the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions. He has served as pastor and church planter of Fayette Baptist Mission in Williston, Tenn., since 2007, and previously served as an IMB missionary and team leader from 1995 to 2006. He earned his M.Div. from Southwestern and a Ph.D. in Missiology from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary.
?Matthew Queen as assistant professor of evangelism in the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions. He has served as associate pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C. since 2006, and as an adjunct professor in the Southeastern College of Wake Forest and the Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism teaching fellow at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1999 to 2002. He earned his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In his report to the trustees, Patterson spoke of the evangelistic atmosphere on campus, recent faculty publications and the most pressing needs of the seminary.
“The first and most important need that we have at this seminary touches all of you,” Patterson said. “We desperately need revival in our churches and on our campus. And let’s not forget that these things are spiritual, not physical.”
Among the remaining needs of the seminary, Patterson mentioned scholarships, final funds to renovate the Walsh Counseling Center, and money to build new student housing and to make renovations to existing housing. Institutional advancement committee chairman Steven James said his committee supports the initiative to pursue student housing.
“We’ve made that a priority,” James told trustees. “We’re taking a strong look at that and how we can help move that along.”
Student Services committee chairman Hance Dilbeck agreed, saying, “We also talked about the importance of improved student housing and how that will help with student recruitment.”
?Based on reporting from Keith Collier of Southwestern Seminary and Tammi Ledbetter of the TEXAN.
