KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary board of trustees voted Oct. 17 to make relocation of the seminary within the Kansas City metropolitan area “the preferred option” for the school’s future.
The board also affirmed interim president Michael Whitehead and asked the presidential search committee to continue its work, with Whitehead as a potential candidate.
Meeting Oct. 16-17 at Kansas City’s Embassy Suites hotel, the board of trustees spent the majority of its time in closed session. Trustees heard a presentation from Hunt Midwest Real Estate Corp., which is interested in acquiring and developing Midwestern’s campus and helping the seminary relocate.
In a two-part motion from a planning and building committee, trustees authorized the committee to negotiate with Hunt Midwest and other firms “for services related to appraisal, land-use planning and various options for developing new facilities.”
The second part of the motion noted that finding a new site in Kansas City is the board’s preferred option.
Trustees ratified an Oct. 7 resolution by their executive committee, which rebuffed rumors that Midwestern might merge with another seminary and move to a different state.
Whitehead told the Missouri Baptist newspaper Word and Way that trustees moved to squelch the rumors because seminary officials were getting calls from people who believed a merger/move was a “done deal” made with the board’s knowledge.
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