Along with lectures and information about the seminary and its campus extensions, on Nov. 6 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary brought its “Prepare Here, Serve Anywhere” weekend to Valleydale Church in Birmingham.
James “Jamie” Dew, president of NOBTS and its affiliated Leavell College, noted that in recent years, many Southern Baptists were not inclined to study in New Orleans. Several years ago, while serving as vice president for undergraduate studies and distance learning at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Dew said he was asked, “Why would someone want to be president of New Orleans Seminary?”
Before he had any idea he would end up in the role, Dew replied, “Hold on. What do you mean, ‘Why would anybody want to go to New Orleans?’ Think about what Southern Baptists are really about right now. Think about what’s important for our collective work.”
Mentioning church planting, compassion, mercy and urban ministries, Dew said, “Where better to prepare people for that kind of ministry than in the city of New Orleans? It’s the perfect laboratory to work and serve in.”
But now students don’t have to actually live in New Orleans to take advantage of what NOBTS has to offer. Undergraduate and graduate extension centers are available in various cities across the Southeast — as well as language extensions in Korean and Spanish — which involve the student traveling to the center one weekend during the term, with the rest of the class online.
Lectures
The Prepare Here weekend in Birmingham also provided a lecture from Corey Barnes, the seminary’s associate vice president of distance learning, on Ezekiel and Daniel, and Dew spoke about the theology of technology.
Tara Dew, the president’s wife and director of NOBTS’ ministry wives certificate program, Thrive, provided information about women in ministry and “Prepare Her,” a new women’s initiative.
“Women comprise half of the population,” she noted. “Women comprise half of the Body of Christ. Women are comprising close to half of our workforce now. Women comprise half of our college graduates.
“For a very, very long time, especially in the Southern Baptist Convention, we have done a great job of training one-half of the population, one-half of the Body of Christ, one-half of our families,” Dew asserted. “But in recent years, we are now seeing the need to really train the whole Body of Christ and to train all of the women of faith. That’s why a theological education is so important.”
What’s available
NOBTS and Leavell College offer practical ministry education on a biblical foundation, including:
- Degree programs on campus, at any of the extension centers, online, hybrid or workshops
- Financial aid options for full- and part-time students
- Credit for some classes taken at other schools
- Distance-learning options
- Alumni Association
- Auditing classes free
- Access to the ATLA religious database and faculty-led webinars
- Discounts on conferences and merchandise
- The Caskey Center for Church Excellence
- Full tuition scholarships for paid staff in bivocational and smaller membership SBC churches
- All options for class delivery — on-campus, extension centers, online, hybrid and workshops
- The No Restraints conference
- Personalized coaching and mentoring
- “Prepare Her” for women
- Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree options
- Society for Women in Scholarship for graduate and doctoral students
- Thrive, a free ministry wives’ certificate providing biblical instruction and practical application to better help minister alongside spouses
- The annual Abide Women’s Conference, on campus Feb. 4–5
For more information:
- NOBTS and Leavell College: https://www.nobts.edu/default.html
- Alumni Association: www.nobts.edu/alumni/join.html
- Caskey Center for Church Excellence: www.nobts.edu/caskeycenter
- Extension Centers: https://www.nobts.edu/extensions/
- Prepare Her: www.PrepareHer.com
- Abide Conference: www.PrepareHer.com/Abide
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