Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary exists to provide theological education for individuals engaging in Christian ministry. Southwestern provides a community of faith and learning that develops spiritual leaders with a passion for Christ and the Bible, a love for people, and the skills to minister effectively in a rapidly changing world.
Since its founding, the seminary has trained and sent out more than 40,000 graduates to serve in local churches and mission fields around the world. In 1908, B.H. Carroll established the seminary on the campus of Baylor University. It was moved to its current location on Seminary Hill in Fort Worth in 1910 and was placed under the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925. Paige Patterson was elected as the eighth president of the seminary in 2003.
"Do the work of an evangelist ... Bring the books, especially the parchments" captures for a new generation of students the historic pledge of Southwestern Seminary to serve both Southern Baptist churches and a lost world by equipping ministers for their God-ordained task, according to President Paige Patterson.