Dockery celebrates gains, 50,000th graduate in Southwestern report to SBC
DALLAS—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is “by God’s grace … in a very different place than it was 33 months ago,” President David S. Dockery told messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention during his June 11 report, noting the institution’s improved financial position, enrollment gains, revised Master of Divinity, a new faculty book, evangelistic initiatives, and prayer emphasis.
“The board, faculty, staff, and students are unanimous in their sense of joyful hopefulness regarding the future of the seminary as we seek in accordance with our great heritage as a Great Commandment and Great Commission institution to equip and educate students for service to the churches for the glory of our majestic Triune God,” he said.
During his report, Dockery recognized Chris Gardner, who received the Master of Divinity in December as the 50,000th graduate in the seminary’s 117-year history. The achievement makes Southwestern “one of the few theological institutions in the world to reach this amazing milestone,” he said, also noting the spring commencement saw the seminary’s largest graduating class since 2002.
President David S. Dockery recognizes Christopher Gardner, the 50,000 graduate of Southwestern Seminary.
Dockery also noted the seminary’s celebrations throughout the 2024-2025 academic year of the centennial anniversaries this year of the Cooperative Program, Baptist Faith and Message, and Southwestern’s official affiliation with the SBC. As the first SBC entity to formally adopt the Baptist Faith and Message, he said the seminary has “reaffirmed” its “commitments to both the Cooperative Program and our confessional heritage.”
In praise of the faculty, he pointed to the publication of Shapers of the Southwestern Theological Tradition, a 400-page volume published by Seminary Hill Press that traces the seminary’s theological heritage. Twenty-three current Southwestern faculty members wrote about 80 former and present faculty members throughout the seminary’s history.
Dockery said the Southwestern campus “has been characterized by a deep dedication to faithful and regular prayer as well as intentional institutional stewardship, pointing toward a hopeful sense of institutional stability.”
He told messengers that adjustments of more than $8 million to the annual operational budget have been made while continuing to support the seminary’s academic mission and strategic plan.
“Since the conclusion of the 2022 fiscal year, total debt has been significantly reduced, all short-term debt has been eliminated, and total net assets of the institution have increased by more than $20 million, following the patterns of the two previous years,” Dockery reported.
He also highlighted enrollment gains of more than 200 students since 2022 and an increase of more than 3,000 total credit hours in that same time period.
Dockery told the messengers that while Southwestern continues to await news regarding the seminary’s options related to current sanctions from its regional accreditor, “I’m pleased to let you know that our status with the Association of Theological schools is in a good place.”
In other campus news, Dockery shared that Southwestern Seminary welcomed the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center to campus. The partnership with Prestonwood Baptist Church, led by Southwestern alumnus Jack Graham and the church, will enable the entities to “mutually live out our commitments to sanctity of life convictions.”
He also noted the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Southwestern’s formal partnership with the Bibelseminar in Bonn, Germany.
Regarding the newly revised MDiv curriculum, Dockery said the degree was unanimously approved by both the faculty and affirmed by the board of trustees. The process has led the seminary “to reprioritize efforts to serve students, to strengthen academic seriousness, to prepare the next generation to more faithfully serve the churches, and to help our students engage the rapidly changing culture by anchoring this new curriculum in the articulation of a Christian world and life view.”
Following his report, Dockery received a question from Timothy Sanford, lead pastor of New Hope Community Church in El Monte, Calif. Sanford, a military veteran, asking why seminaries had stopped receiving funding from the Veterans Administration.
“It is a concern, not only at Southwestern Seminary, but for all six” seminary presidents, Dockery said. “This was certainly not our decision.” However, he noted, through the seminary’s endowment, “each year we give $2.6 million in scholarships to our students, and we have found ways to serve those veterans through those scholarship funds, and we want to commit to continue to do that for as long as the Lord provides.”
A second question came from Southwestern alumnus Jacob Smith, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas, who asked if the seminary’s board of trustees had implemented any systems to “help prevent the kind of financial mismanagement that has occurred at Southwestern previously from being a problem in the future.”
Dockery replied that he was “pleased to tell you that the board of trustees approved a new board policy manual in the past two years, which has extensive guidelines for financial management, guardrails that are in place, responsibilities for the role of the administration, the role of the board working together to ensure ongoing, faithful institutional stewardship, not just for the short term, but for the long term and the good of Southwestern Seminary and the glory of God in the days ahead.”
