New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Type	Private, Southern Baptist Seminary
Established	1917
President	Dr. Charles Kelley
Provost	Dr. Steve W. Lemke
Dean	Dr. Jerry N. Barlow, Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. L. Thomas Strong III, Dean Of Leavell College
Students	3,600 (2002-2003)
Location	New Orleans , Louisiana , United States
Campus	Main Campus
Website	http://www.nobts.edu

The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a private, non-profit institution of higher learning associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Seminary offers Doctoral, Master, Bachelor and Associate degrees. Dr. Charles Kelley is the current president of the seminary.

History

The Southern Baptist Convention founded the institution as the Baptist Bible Institute during the 1917 convention meeting in New Orleans. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, or NOBTS for short, was the first institution created as a direct act of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The institutes's purpose was centered on missionary work, and initially established as gateway to Central America. The Seminary started as the Baptist Bible Institute in the Garden District and later relocated to the current location in the heart of Gentilly. The school purchased a 75 acre pecan orchard and transformed it into what is now a brustling campus over 100 buildings, including academic buildings, faculty and staff housing, and student housing.

On May 17, 1946, the SBC revised the institutes's charter to enable it to become a seminary, and the name was changed to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Missions and evangelism have remained the core focus of the seminary.

NOBTS has had eight presidents since its founding: Byron H. Dement (1917-1928); William W. Hamilton Sr. (1928-42); Duke K. McCall (1943-46); Roland Q. Leavell (1946-58); H. Leo Eddleman (1959-70); Grady C. Cothen (1970-74); and Landrum P. Leavell II, nephew of Roland Leavell, (1974-95). On February 3, 1996, Dr. Charles S. “Chuck” Kelley became president.

NOBTS currently offers a wide range of degree options for ministerial training. Leavell College houses the Seminary's undergraduate degree program, and offers associates and bachelors degrees in ministry as well as certificate and diploma programs intended to give concentrated training in a specific area (e.g., children's ministry). The graduate programs are quite varied as well. The faculty is divided into five working divisions: biblical studies, theological & historical studies, pastoral ministries, Christian Education ministries, and church music ministries. The primary degree offered is the Master of Divinity, but the seminary also offers the Master of Arts and Master of Theology degrees as an alternative. For music students, the primary degree is the Master of Church Music. Doctoral degrees are divided between research doctoral degree programs and professional doctoral degree programs. Most departments on campus offer a Doctor of Philosophy program. The Division of Church Music offers the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. The Seminary also offers the highly flexible Doctor of Ministry degree as an alternative professional doctorate. Newly instituted is the Doctor of Educational Ministry degree, which focuses on majors within the Division of Christian Education.

Hurricane Katrina

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina forced the seminary to evacuate its staff and students. Within a few days, temporary offices were established in Decatur, Georgia. The SBC overwhelmingly voted to keep the seminary in New Orleans and begin the necessary cleanup and repairs.

The Southern Baptist Executive Committee provided 6.2 million dollars from the Cooperative Program to the seminary following Hurricane Katrina. The money helped meet the budgetary requirements of the seminary and aided in the restoration effort. Many churches provided support clean-up and construction teams to assist the seminary in recovering.

Following Katrina, the faculty resumed classes at extension centers and online through the Blackboard Learning System. 85% of the students attending NOBTS continued taking classes during the 2005-2006 academic year.

In August 2006 classes fully resumed, and much of the repair had been completed on the campus including the restoration of the Providence Guest House and Leavell Chapel.

• Leavell Chapel - Katrina
  Leavell Chapel - Katrina
• 
  Leavell Chapel - Post Katrina

To date much of the repair is concentrated on restoring faculty housing. Most, if not all, of the student housing has been restored but at limited capacity. Many of the states housing (housing facilities named after the states in the United States) were demolished with no plans at this time to rebuild them. In addition to repairing facilities damaged or destroyed by hurricane Katrina, the seminary has decided to completely rebuild some buildings to facilitate today's demands. One such building which is currently being constructed is the new Operations Department building which is located at the back of the NOBTS campus.

Seminary Offices

Campus Police

Information Technology Center

Post Office

Public Relations

Financial Aid

(Please see [Discussion Page] for project information)

Notable Landmarks

Cafe' New Orleans

Leavell Chapel Steeple

(Please see [Discussion Page] for project information)

Places of NOBTS

(Please see [Discussion Page] for project information)

Events

The seminary has resumed meetings every Monday night with a community choir meeting in the Sellers music building. One Tuesday evening a month the seminary again welcomes the local residents with open arms and allows use of the Frost building for their community meeting. Cafe New Orleans is offering breakfast and lunch with soft drinks and a full menu of their famous Cafe New Orleans coffee (prices vary for different items). For any of the activities it is recommended one call ahead of time.

External links

• New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary website