FIRST-PERSON: A few reflections on 40 years ago

It seems impossible. I remember the evening like it was yesterday. I still remember the white dress Lanese wore that night. How could it have been 40 years already?

The graduation speaker for Southwestern Seminary in 1981 was a man whose name I had not previously heard prior to the commencement service. This quiet-spoken gentleman served at a Baptist institution in Tennessee, but at that time I knew little about that institution. In many ways, however, the service, which was held at Travis Avenue Baptist Church, served as an adumbration and pointer to my future. 

The speaker, Robert Craig, the 13th president of Union University, served Union for almost 19 years from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. A decade after his departure, and 14 years after my graduation, I was elected the 15th president at Union in 1995. Like Dr. Craig, I was privileged to serve Union for almost 19 years. During our final year at Union, Lanese was the blessed recipient of the Robert Craig Service Award. Weekly, for almost two decades, I held meetings in the Robert Craig Conference Room. A name I did not know in May of 1981 became ever so important years following that commencement service. 

I remember little of what Dr. Craig said that evening, but I remember well so many aspects of my years at Southwestern, including friendships with fellow students like Ben Mitchell, Doug Walker, and others. Southwestern, with 4,000 students at the time, seemed so large. It was easy to go through one’s seminary years anonymously, but there were many who invested in my life in significant ways during those years, ensuring that my time here was personal and special in numerous ways. 

Outside of the memorable classroom experiences, I remember well going to Texas Rangers games with Tom Nettles, Russ Bush, and Robert Sloan, eating nachos and talking theology in the outfield bleachers. I remember being given the privilege to index the Baptists and the Bible volume, authored by Russ Bush and Tom Nettles. 

My mind still reflects on conversations with Huber Drumwright and John Newport. I will never forget lunch conversations with Leo Garrett at Luby’s cafeteria. The day that John Kiwiet shared an apple from his lunch with our oldest son, Jon, when, at 2 years of age, he came to class with me, will never be forgotten. 

I remember the kindness of Tom and Margaret Nettles, sharing a much-needed baby bed with a cash-strapped young couple so that we would have a place for Ben, our second son, to sleep when he was born. I remember meeting Russell Dilday and others who were so deeply invested in Southwestern students. 

Our spiritual lives were nurtured each week with the masterful teaching and preaching from a young Joel Gregory (as well as the personal touch and administrative oversight from Gary Waller) at Gambrell Street Baptist Church. I taught the college class at the church, and Lanese invested much in the lives of these students. The class was a thriving group that included the children of a few Southwestern faculty. 

The number of memories is much longer than space allows to list. I should not fail to mention the pastoral care that was provided for us by Tommy Lea (from inside the seminary community) and Darold Morgan (from outside the seminary). Our two former pastors from our Birmingham home church, and well-known Southwestern alums, helped to make sure our Southwestern experience was as good as it could be. 

All three of our sons were born in the DFW area. We barely survived financially and learned to get by on little sleep and less money. I worked as an attendant at Shannon’s Funeral Home, where I learned about ministry to the dying. I also had a job as a security guard at Colonial Country Club, along with a role with a carpet cleaning service. Somehow, we managed school, studies, part-time jobs, an expanding young family, and a few ministry opportunities. 

Many classes were helpful, but my favorite five were:

1. Patristic Theology with James Leo Garrett Jr.

2. The Theology of the Gospels with Robert Sloan

3. Contemporary Theology with John Kiwiet

4. Philosophy of Religion with Russ Bush

5. Baptist History with Tom Nettles

Honorable Mention goes to Introduction to Ethics with Ebbie Smith, as well as The Use of the Old Testament in the New with David Garland (OT) and Bruce Corley (NT). Both were excellent classes. I also greatly enjoyed Psychology of Religion with John Drakeford, perhaps because of his Australian accent.

After graduation, we were called to serve the Metropolitan Baptist Church, a young church in only its seventh year, in Brooklyn, New York. As the only full-time staff member, I found myself often drawing on notes from practical classes such as Church Administration with Bill Caldwell, Pastoral Care with C.W. Brister, Church Music with David Music, and Church Evangelism with Roy Fish. 

Following graduation, I later had opportunity to get to know well Curtis Vaughan, Cal Guy, and James Eaves (three Union grads) along with John Newport and Bill Tolar. In this sense, my Southwestern education has extended far beyond my 1981 graduation date. For 40 years, my life has been shaped and formed by this special institution. 

There are so many more special memories, but I wanted to mark this week by saying “Thanks be to God” for the influence of Southwestern on my life as I prepare to watch the class of 2021 walk across the stage this week. My prayer for them is that their lives will continue to be influenced by Southwestern in positive ways in the days ahead, as mine has been for these four decades. I count it a special joy to be able to serve the Southwestern community in a small way while reflecting on this meaningful 40th anniversary.