New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
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| Type | Private, Southern Baptist Seminary |
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| 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 Kimbrough 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.
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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.
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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.
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Leavell Chapel - Katrina
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Leavell Chapel - Post Katrina
To date[when?] 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's Role In Restoring New Orleans - Post Katrina
Student Organizations
In additional to the academics provided at NOBTS, the seminary also offers activities for students and their children.
This student chapter of the AACC is designed to encourage those seeking to beocme professional counselors. The purpose of this group is to provide students with educational resources enabling them to strengthen their counseling skills.
CYC is an organization designed to promote fellowship among 7th and 12th grade youth and provide Bible study and planned activities.
This fellowship is designed to create professionalism and camaraderie among social work on-campus.
CHESS is an organization consisting of families within the seminary who participate in the home education of their children.
The Dead Preachers Society encourages preachers in the passionate proclamation of God's Word through weekly meetings and other special events.
This organization exists to promote fellowship among members through Bible studies and planned activities.
Quest is a student led fellowship for women students. This organization is designed to provide encouragement for women during their time in seminary through Bible study, small groups, and monthly socials.
Shepards Fellowship Forum is a pastoral ministries faculty-sponsored organization for students, undergraduate and graduate, who serve or are preparing to serve in the office of pastor or in pastor-type positions (e.g., chaplains, staff members, missionaries, and church planters. ) SFF meets once a semester to mentor, encourage, and expose students to exemplary practitioners involved in effective pastoral ministry and to NOBTS pastoral ministries faculty on a more personal basis.
Student Missions Fellowship seeks to promote through its activities a vital missionary spirit among students, to encourage students who are preparing for missionary service, and to help others consider their individual responsibility toward missions.
Student Theological Fellowship is a student-led organization whose purpose is to complement and enrich the student's theological education.
This fellowship of women is an organization designed to provide encouragement to student wives on the campus through Bible study, fellowship, and planned activities.
This group of students, committed to the pastoral role of chaplaincy, whether hospital, industrial, military, or law enforcement, hold regular programs of interest to those preparing for this specialized type of ministerial service.
Notable Landmarks & Events
The Gentilly Postal Plus Post Office is located inside and at the front of the Hardin Student Center. The Gentilly Postal Plus is a United States Postal Service recognized post office in the 70126-4858 zip code.
The Lifesongs Radio station is located in the William Carey Building, attached to and east of the Hardin Student Center, next to Lifeway Christian Bookstore. It is the only 24-hour Christian radio station in New Orleans. In New Orleans, Louisiana, LifeSongs broadcasts on the 89.1 FM frequency with callsign WBSN. In Houma, Louisiana, LifeSongs broadcasts on 97.7 FM frequency with callsign K249DI.
Since 2005, NOBTS has hosted the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum. The Forum is designed to provide a venue in which a respected evangelical scholar and a respected non-evangelical scholar dialogue on critical issues in philosophy, science, religion, and/or culture from their differing perspectives. The forum is not exactly a debate, although by design the speakers necessarily differ in their opinions. Instead, the intention is to provide a model for civil discourse on important topics and an environment in which to discuss differences--without abandoning one's convictions--and to make a case for one perspective over against another. Previous forums have included John Dominic Crossan and N. T. Wright, The Resurrection: Historical Event or Theological Explanation? (2005); William Dembski and Michael Ruse, Intelligent Design (2006); and Daniel Dennett and Alister McGrath, The Future of Atheism (2007). Next year's forum, scheduled for April 4-5, 2008, will feature Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Daniel B. Wallace of Dallas Theological Seminary as they discuss the textual reliability of the New Testament.
External links
- Universities and colleges in New Orleans
- Educational institutions established in 1917
- Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Universities and colleges affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention
- Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges
- Southern Baptist Convention