Leo Day to serve as founding director of Southwestern Center for the Arts

Leo Day will serve as founding director of the Southwestern Center for the Arts, President Adam W. Greenway announced Monday, June 3. This new role will see Day, who previously served as dean of the School of Church Music and Worship, develop and expand current avenues of private and group instruction to the seminary community and surrounding area in music as well as dramatic and visual arts.

The center, which will be housed in the School of Church Music and Worship, will host various concert series, camps, and workshops, as well as develop art and music curriculum to strengthen and revitalize youth and children’s choirs in local churches. As director of the center, Day will also continue as professor of voice, teaching courses in the School of Church Music and Worship.

“Leo Day is a gifted musician and performer, and I am grateful that someone with his formidable talents and vast expertise will launch this new institutional initiative expanding our seminary’s longstanding commitment to training those who will serve the body of Christ in the worship and creative arts area,” Greenway explained. “Southwestern Seminary has long been the leader in Southern Baptist theological education in providing the highest quality and most comprehensive training for those called to minister through music and worship, and my administration is committed to strengthening our work in these critical areas. Our new Southwestern Center for the Arts is one more way our seminary will be able to develop and equip men and women for more faithful Kingdom service.”

“Dr. Day is incredibly gifted, and I can’t think of anyone more qualified to lead this new initiative,” says Southwestern Seminary provost Randy L. Stinson. “His lifetime of experiences have prepared him to help partner with the School of Church Music and Worship to create opportunities for students and the community for the development of the Christian display of the arts and ministry.”

Day has served at Southwestern Seminary since 2013. Prior to his arrival, he served as minister of music at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla. He also had teaching experience from various roles at the University of West Florida, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and William Carey University.

Since coming to Southwestern Seminary, Day has overseen the School of Church Music and Worship’s annual Gala, the annual Keyboards and Carols at Christmas concert, and the annual Summer Music Camp. This camp, which provides high school students the opportunity to enrich their musical talents through an on-campus, weeklong workshop, began under Day’s directive.

“My entire life has been filled with music,” says Day. “In fact, music has been at the core of my existence since I was a teenager. I have witnessed the power of music as an instrument that, through the Holy Spirit, brings others closer to God. My prayer is that those who will be trained in the Southwestern Center for the Arts will then use their musical gifts to glorify God.”