HOUSTON (BP)–For one intensive week, students grappled with social, moral and ethical issues from a biblical perspective at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies led by Southern Baptists’ ethics and public policy specialist Richard Land.
Land, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, was the visiting professor for a “Bible and Moral Issues” course on the Houston campus May 15-19.
Land has been a spokesman for the SBC on every major television and cable network including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox. Last year, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee appointed Land to a third term on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Land, who grew up in Houston and still has relatives there, expressed delight that Southwestern Seminary now provides God-called men and women with a fully accredited theological education in his hometown.
“Up to now, the fourth-largest city in the country did not have a significantly national SBC presence,” Land said, referring to the availability of theological education in Houston. “The glaring gap has been wonderfully filled by the Havard School.”
Southwestern Seminary has offered extension classes in Houston since 1975, but students had to spend some time on the Fort Worth campus to complete their degrees. After Park Place Baptist Church deeded their facility to the seminary in 2002, seminary students have been able to complete their education entirely at the Houston campus.
Land said it is a privilege to teach at Southern Baptist schools across the country and that the exposure to men and women in the seminary classroom is an inspiring experience. He was impressed by the quality of seminary students in his class in Houston.
“As long as God is calling such exceptional men and women into fulltime service through our churches, the future of the convention and the country is great indeed,” Land said.
Land holds degrees from Princeton and Oxford universities and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He also hosts a weekly syndicated radio program and is the author of numerous books, the latest of which is “Imagine! A God-Blessed America” published by the B&H Publishing Group of the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources.
“Land’s rich background is an excellent example of the outstanding quality Southwestern Seminary provides in its education and equipping of Christian leaders,” said J. Denny Autrey, dean of the Havard School in Houston.
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For more information about Southwestern Seminary’s Havard School in Houston, call 713-634-0011 or log on to www.houston.swbts.edu.
