New Orleans Seminary moves Birmingham extension center

For the first time in 18 years, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s (NOBTS) Birmingham extension center will meet somewhere other than Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham. The move this fall to The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, led by Pastor Rick Ousley, brings both a fond “goodbye” and an expectant “hello.”
   
With an enrollment approaching 300, the center has steadily outgrown the space available at Lakeside Baptist.
   
“Time has passed quickly,” said Bob Hall, director of the Birmingham extension. “We were running in the 40s (in enrollment) when I started [nine years ago]. The Lord has done a great work here.”
   
Jimmy Dukes, dean of the extension center system, said, “(Lakeside has) really been super to us. Mike McLemore, the pastor there, has been a friend to the seminary since his student days.”
   
McLemore said, “We were extremely glad to have the seminary extension here on our campus for 18 years. 
   
“We feel we have had a small part in helping the Kingdom grow by training men and women for ministry through the extension center,” he said. 
   
“We wish the very best for the extension center as it moves to The Church at Brook Hills,” McLemore said.
   
Larry Herndon, leadership pastor at Brook Hills, sees the partnership with NOBTS as a benefit to both the seminary and church members. 
   
Church members will have a greater opportunity to take classes at the center, Herndon said. “I see that as a good thing.”
   
Extension center life at Brook Hills is about to be in full force. Student orientation will be held Aug. 15, followed by the first Thursday night classes Aug. 18.
   
Currently extension center leaders are in the process of transferring the center’s library to the new site. 
   
The church has given the center library space for up to 5,000 books and has also made office space with computer network and phone access available to the center. The additional classroom space, however, remains the greatest advantage.
   
“Being able to have space to expand will be the greatest benefit,” Hall said. “And unless things change, we’ll continue to grow.”
   
The Birmingham Center offers course work toward undergraduate and graduate degrees. For more information about the Extension Center System, visit www.nobts.edu/Extensions. (NOBTS)