So, How’s the Seminary Doing?

People often ask me this when I’m speaking in other cities. I’m happy to report it’s doing just fine.

In fact, today, Friday, I sat in Leavell Chapel at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and had a fresh update on the seminary’s comeback from Katrina. President Chuck Kelley was addressing a gathering of students, faculty, and friends who had assembled for a campus homecoming of sorts. I arrived late, and slipped into the back.

Two rows ahead of me sat Dr. and Mrs. Landrum Leavell. He was president of the seminary for some 20 years from the mid-70s to the mid-90s. Prior to that, he pastored FBC Wichita Falls, TX, FBC Gulfport, MS, and other outstanding churches. If you recognize that his name is the same as the chapel–and a number of other places on campus–it’s because his “Uncle Roland” was president of the seminary in the 40s and 50s. This gentleman hails from one of Southern Baptists’ most distinguished families. I might add that Dr. Landrum Leavell added to the luster of his family’s history. (He reads this blog, too, so I’ll watch myself here!)

As we sat taking in Chuck’s report, I quickly sketched out a cartoon of Dr. Landrum and the lovely JoAnn sitting in this beloved chapel. Above his head, the caption indicated that he was thinking, “I kept telling the trustees, ‘Apres moi, le deluge.'”

You history students will recognize that as a line from France’s 18th century King Louis XV who was predicting a flood of woes after his departure. I could see Dr. Leavell’s body shaking as he laughed at my little attempt at humor.

After testimonies from students and professors on the Lord’s care for them and their families through the Katrina tragedy, Dr. Kelley went into detail about the Father’s watchcare over both the campus and the seminary family. He called attention to a handout with facts seminary-lovers will want to know.

During and after Hurricane Katrina’s storm and flooding….


80 percent of the city was underwater.

Seminary students were scattered to 29 states.

Faculty and staff evacuated to 12 states.

The Georgia Baptist Convention put 300 seminary families in housing.

The seminary campus itself sustained some $60 million in damages, most of it due to the floodwaters which saturated the homes and buildings for many days.

Most of the campus housing was under 3 to 5 feet of water for 2 to 3 weeks.

45 percent of all student housing was flooded, resulting in almost total loss for those families.

92 student apartments were demolished afterward.

All the faculty houses were flooded.

Administrative offices were relocated to Atlanta from September ’05 through April ’06.

Over 1,000 students from the main campus were contacted by the Student Life Office after the hurricane, to find out what needs they had and help them stay “in class” through the internet.

Over 400 refrigerators on campus were destroyed.

Over 150 automobiles were destroyed.

Campus recreation facilities and equipment were unusable.

400 National Guardsmen set up their base camp on the campus.

100 NY Highway Patrolmen stayed in campus facilities.

No class programs were eliminated as a result of Katrina. (No other institution of higher learning in the New Orleans area can make this claim.)

The seminary was the only institution of higher learning in this area not to lay off a single faculty member.

Over 3/4 of our students continued to take classes, most over the internet.

2500 students enrolled following Katrina, which was 25 percent below the previous year’s enrollment.

The SBC Executive Committee gave the seminary $6.2 million for recovery efforts.

The International Mission Board donated $1.2 million.

The Florida Baptist Convention donated cash and gift cards to distribute to seminary families.

Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana state conventions sent significant donations.

More than 3,000 volunteers completed the equivalent of more than $3 million in labor.

60 acres of sod was laid on the campus.

All campus landscaping was replaced.

SBC disaster relief teams and church volunteers have been in New Orleans continuously since the hurricane, over 2 years ago.

Volunteers from churches and other SBC entities, too vast in numbers to keep track of, have given time, materials, and money toward the recovery of this seminary, our churches, and our city.

Dr. Kelley said, “Our favorite scripture comes from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah.” He read the opening verses.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

When you pass through the watrs, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

For I am the Lord your God.”

I first arrived on this campus in late June, 1964. The “New Mexico” building we moved into on Seminary Place was one of those demolished not long after Katrina’s floodwater receded. Since that time–we’re talking 43 years now–the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has been a part of my life in one way or another. A little of my money is invested in some of those new student apartments these young families are enjoying so much.

Some of the professors are dear friends, people whom I served churches with, people whom I pastored alongside, or in a couple of cases, people I taught in Sunday School when they were college students. More than one professor I actually taught myself when they were enrolled in seminary and I was teaching the occasional class during the 1990s.

Yesterday, Thursday, I drove to Spanish Fort, Alabama, a few miles east of Mobile, to pay a brief visit to my favorite seminary professor, Dr. George Harrison. He and “Miss Jean” are some of the dearest people on the planet to Margaret and me. He has visited almost every church I ever pastored, and can still remember the meat loaf Margaret fed him on a Saturday night in 1968 when he arrived in Greenville, Mississippi, to begin a Bible class there the next day.

Recently, I sat in a campus gathering of veterans and students alike when the leader asked each of us to select one champion, a hero to our ministry, and tell the others who it is and why we chose that person. I’m thankful to say I could fill a book with them, everyone from my college roommate Joel Davis, to neighboring pastor James Richardson, to several staff members I was privileged to work alongside–Bill Hardy, Bryan Harris, Wilson Henderson, and Ken Gabrielse, to name four. In that class, however, I did not hesitate. “Dr. George Harrison, who was professor of Old Testament and Hebrew here for over 30 years.”

“In college, I was used to highly trained professors who were experts in their field but who hardly knew anything going on in the real world. But I walked into Dr. Harrison’s class and can still remember two things that impressed me right away. In his opening prayers, he mentioned something going on in the city or what the state legislature was doing. I remember thinking, ‘He has read this morning’s paper!’ And the other thing. He was an expert on the Old Testament and knew the Hebrew language backwards and forwards, but what amazed me about his teaching was how he related it to the New Testament. I sat there thinking, ‘He knows the New Testament better than he does the Old!'”

Anyone who has sat under my ministry for any length of time–and a number of readers of this page did–will recognize from my own preaching and pastoring those same traits I so admired in Dr. Harrison.

That’s what seminary is all about: the teachers. That’s why the most critical job the dean ever does is to select new ones.

I told Dr. Harrison Thursday, “Your classes were like my mom’s meals. They were delicious and tasty and each one enjoyable, but eventually, you cannot remember more than just a few of them. However, the fact that I am healthy today proves she did a good job! And the love I have for the Word today is confirmation for the job you did.”

Dr. Harrison retired in 1992 and moved to Gulfport. Since that time, he has done the occasional interim pastorate and short-term Bible studies in churches. He and Jean are natives of Kentucky, but since he had served as interim pastor of Handsboro Baptist Church in Gulfport on three separate occasions, they came to love that area and those folks and chose to live there. Katrina ruined their home; they sold it and moved to Spanish Fort where their daughter lives. “What I miss most are the friends at church,” George said. But, the reality of post-Katrina life is that many of them have moved away, also.

Meanwhile, in East New Orleans, on the seminary campus at 3939 Gentilly Boulevard, the process is being repeated. Some young preacher boy is planting himself in a class with fear and trembling, wondering if he can do graduate work. Within a few weeks, he will have made the adjustment and will come to treasure the insights from these outstanding professors. When he graduates, he will look back and give thanks for the special relationships he enjoyed during this brief three years. He will invite a professor to his church to teach a book of the Bible, and the relationship will be cemented.

Then, forty years later, he will get in his car on an off-day–or one when he was so tired from everything else, he needed the break–and drive 3 hours to call on that retired mentor whom he treasures so much. The old gentleman will thank him and make out like the young minister has done him a favor. But the pastor knows better. This visit was for himself. He returns home rejuvenated and ready to tackle the work all over again.

The process goes on and on.

God is good.

4 thoughts on “So, How’s the Seminary Doing?

  1. When I enrolled in NOBTS in the Summer of 1983 my first classs was OT Survey under Dr. Harrison. Having been out of the academic setting for 11 years, and being 35 years of age, that class almost did me in. I thought: I’ll never take this guy again. But I did, again and again and again. His lectures were so fascinating that one wanted to put down one’s pen and just listen. What an inspiration to me even now in my teaching. However, I finished with my Ph.D. I was still on campus when Dr. Harrison retired. Rumors were rampant about why he retired. So I was glad to read that he is still alive in Spanish Fort. May God continue to bless him.

  2. Hey Joe,

    I really enjoy you insite and your knowledge. However placing your old college roommate in the same class of some of the other people you mention is really something. You know how much you and Maggie mean to Wilma and I. Your writing is very refreshing and really good especially after you ran around with the like of Joel Davis and Kenn–th Hogue,

    Joe, I pray God’s continued blessing on you and your work.

    Joel

  3. Joe,

    You have blessed me and my family in so many ways. I could never begin to thank you for all that you taught me in our time together. May God give you an extra portion of His strength as you run the race today.

    KJG

  4. I appreciate your comments about Dr. Harrison. I took an “Exegesis of Job” class under him back in the early 80’s. It was very interesting but very challenging! He always took interest in his students and endeared himself to my wife, who served as campus nurse for a while. He was one of my favorite professors at NOBTS.

Comments are closed.