SWBTS trustees ban ‘charismatic’ practices

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, will not knowingly endorse contemporary charismatic practices such as a private prayer language nor hire professors who advocate the practice, according to a statement issued by trustees Oct. 17.

In an Aug. 29 chapel message, Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas, and a seminary trustee, took issue with the International Mission Board policy refusing to appoint missionary candidates who engage in the contemporary neo-charismatic practice.

SWBTS President Paige Patterson, in the midst of what he told the Southern Baptist TEXAN would be a report on “exciting evidence of the blessings of the hand of God” on the seminary, expressed as “unfortunate” the need to address an action that was “ill-timed, inappropriate, unhelpful, unnecessarily divisive, and contrary to the generally accepted understandings and practices of Southern Baptists.”

Consequently, in a closed-session forum Oct. 16, trustees adopted a statement unanimously recommended by the board’s executive committee clarifying the seminary’s perspective on private prayer language with only one member, McKissic, voting in opposition.

The statement referenced the seminary’s affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention for the sole purpose of “training men and women to understand the Bible in all its ramifications in order to facilitate the assignment of Christ as provided in the Great Commission,” citing Matthew 28:18–20. “We wish to remain faithful to the biblical witness and its emphases, taking into careful account the historic positions of Baptists in general and Southern Baptists in particular,” the trustees stated.

“As it concerns private practices of devotion, these practices, if genuinely private, remain unknown to the general public and are, therefore, beyond the purview of Southwestern Seminary.” The trustees pledged, “Southwestern will not knowingly endorse in any way, advertise, or commend the conclusions of the contemporary charismatic movement including ‘private prayer language.’ Neither will Southwestern knowingly employ professors or administrators who promote such practices.” (BP)