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New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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. Charles Kelley is the current president of the seminary.
The Southern Baptist Convention founded the institution as the Baptist Bible Institute during the 1917 convention meeting in New Orleans. NOBTS 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 8 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.
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 help meet the budgetary requirements of the seminary and help in the restoration effort. Many churches provided support clean-up and construction teams to the seminary recover.
Following Katrina, the faculty resumed classes at extension centers and online. 85% of the students attending NOBTS continued taking classes during the 2005-2006 academic year.
In August 2006 classes fully resumed, and the only repair left to do on the campus was on the student and faculty housing.
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Categories: 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 | Seminaries and theological colleges | Southern Baptist Convention