The presidents of each of Alabama’s three Baptist institutions of higher learning shared with messengers how they are a part of God’s sending mission
through education during the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 15 at Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery.
JUDSON COLLEGE
Legacy of ‘going’
Judson College has a legacy of “going,” said David Potts, president of the 178-year-old women’s college in Marion.
It’s a legacy that has roots in the very letters of the university name, called “Judson” after Ann Hasseltine Judson, who was the first American woman to serve as a foreign missionary. Then the legacy continued throughout the 19th century as Judson sent one-fourth of Protestant missionaries to China during that time, Potts said.
“And the first and 100th missionaries to Japan were Judson people,” he added.
“And you should also know that Judson continues to be involved in heeding the fire of our Savior,” he said.
Meeting needs
“An overwhelming percentage of our women are Baptist young women and they have the opportunity to apply what they are learning … in a community that is among the poorest in the U.S.”
In the past year Judson women have met the physical needs of their neighbors in Perry County where the college is located; served as camp staff members at WorldSong Missions Place in Cook Springs; led summer camps for inner city children in Memphis, Tennessee; ministered to trafficked women in Louisville, Kentucky; served alongside church planters in Montana and Florida; carried out missions projects in Indianapolis, Indiana; built relationships with internationals in New York City; and shared the gospel in China.
The number of women who did these things weren’t the classic 10:90 ratio that is often seen in Baptist life, where 10 percent of the people do 90 percent of the work.
Instead, more than 80 percent of Judson students voluntarily participate in community service or missions projects.
And that legacy will only continue as “a lifetime of future service awaits them,” Judson’s report reads.
But the only way Judson can send its young women out into the community and the world is through the cooperation and support of Alabama Baptist churches, Potts emphasized.
‘Faithful to sending’
“We are grateful for the faithfulness of Alabama Baptists [in giving through the Cooperative Program] so we in turn can be faithful to the sending. The power of God that raised Christ from the dead resides in each of you,” he said. “What will you do with that power?” (Maggie Walsh)
SAMFORD UNIVERSITY
‘Hidden gem’
Samford University President Andrew Westmoreland could have spent his time onstage talking about a number of programs, projects or plans but he instead chose to invite a colleague to share about a “hidden gem” at Samford.
While Kevin Blackwell is assistant to the president for church relations, he also serves as executive director of the university’s Ministry Training Institute (MTI), and that is what Westmoreland wanted messengers to hear more about.
‘Addressing challenges’
Samford seeks to accomplish its mission of sending Christians into the world by “graduating students capable of addressing the profound challenges facing today’s society,” according to its report. And MTI is one avenue toward that goal.
Samford’s extension division has been around since 1947 under various names and in many locations. From the inception of The Howard Plan to its evolution into MTI in 2014, the program has offered a theological education to thousands who have had a desire to learn more.
Blackwell said he is encouraged when he thinks about how MTI concluded the 2015–2016 academic year with more than 950 students in locations across Alabama. And since August, there have been 850 enrollments in MTI classes.
“God is doing a tremendous work in this program and I’m grateful to be a part of it,” Blackwell said.
And as MTI classes are being taught at five prisons in the state, the program has a unique opportunity to reach outside of its normal student base of existing Christians. In prisons, Blackwell said, some come to a class for education and some are seeking truth.
At the Federal Correctional Institution (for women) in Aliceville recently, two of the students approached their instructor after a lecture on the Old Testament. The instructor thought the women were going to ask him a question about what he had just taught. Instead they wanted to know how they could be saved.
MTI is more than just a convenient option for a little learning; “it’s a way to transform lives through the ministry of reconciliation,” Blackwell said. (Maggie Walsh)
UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE
‘Head-to-heart transformation’
When a parent sends their student to a university … we believe there is a process of more than just an academic learning degree,” said University of Mobile (UM) President Timothy L. Smith in his inaugural report to Alabama Baptists.
The first goal is for students to understand who they are individually and who they are in Christ.
‘Imago Dei’
“This is what we call ‘imago Dei’ — being an image bearer of God. We want this to happen not just in the classroom but out in the world,” he said, noting that this is done through a renewing of the mind like Paul talks about in Romans 12.
“We want students to understand that if you want to engage in Christian higher education it’s about understanding this head-to-heart transformation.”
Essentially it’s a goal of “higher education for a higher purpose” by teaching students to have a biblical worldview. To do so, UM will focus on being Christ-centered, student-devoted, academically focused and distinctively driven.
“We are wanting to be clearly a Great Commission university,” Smith said, which is why UM recently broke ground on a Great Commission Globe project that will signal a new tradition for the university.
When students first arrive at UM, they will touch the globe “to consecrate their hearts and minds for the calling of Christ.”
And as they touch the globe for the second time at the close of their graduation ceremonies, they will be “sent out into the world to do whatever God has put on their hearts,” Smith said.
This symbolic act embodies the sending mission of the 55-year-old university.
Numerous changes
Along with a new president, UM also now has a new mission statement and vision statement that reflects the institution’s focus on academic preparation and spiritual transformation. And more changes are coming, from campus enhancements to new academic programs to the development of new partnerships as well as an expanded chapel program.
No matter how many changes take place, however, “Christ is still the leader of this institution,” Smith said. (Maggie Walsh)
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