SEBTS elevates Walter Strickland’s Kingdom Diversity role.
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP) — Walter Strickland has been named associate vice president of Kingdom Diversity Initiatives at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Formerly special adviser to the president for diversity, Strickland will move to his expanded role Aug. 1.
Strickland, who was elected as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, has “served our school with distinction as a key administrative leader,” said Danny Akin, president of SEBTS. “God continues to bless Southeastern with a godly and gifted team of faculty and staff. These are exciting days for this Great Commission seminary.”
Strickland also is being promoted to assistant professor of systematic theology from instructor of theology at the Wake Forest, N.C., campus.
Southeastern’s Kingdom Diversity Initiatives (KDI) began in 2013 as an effort to increase the diversity of underrepresented races and of women among the faculty, staff and student population. Through KDI, SEBTS aims to increase its ethnic diversity and the female student population to 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively, by 2022.
Student enrollment was at 18.1 percent for minorities and 26.4 percent for women for the 2016-2017 academic year.
In March, the Kingdom Diversity Missions Initiative (KDMI) was launched to help bridge the gap of minorities that are underrepresented on the international mission field by offering short-term trips for students to to gain experience in overseas mission work and to better understand their role for international ministry.
“I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve the Kingdom at Southeastern, Strickland said. “The structural change in my role [at SEBTS] will propel the Kingdom Diversity Initiative into greater effectiveness as we strive to reach our goals.”
As the SBC’s first vice president, Akin said Strickland will “serve our president Steve Gaines and our people with grace and wisdom.”
Strickland and his wife Stephanie have two daughters, Kendra and Kaiya, and one daughter, Hope, who is in heaven. He and his family live in Wake Forest, N.C., attend Imago Dei Church.
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SWBTS book illuminates biblical teaching on parenting
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — Seminary Hill Press, the publishing arm of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has released a new anthology book titled “Everyday Parenting” featuring chapters written by faculty, alumni and friends of the seminary.
Labeled “a text-driven resource for everyday parenting,” the book aims to illuminate what God has revealed in Scripture about the numerous aspects of the parenting task in order that readers may raise their children in a biblically informed manner. As stated in the book’s introduction, “everything contained herein is ultimately tied back to Scripture and, by extension, to God Himself.”
Paige and Dorothy Patterson, Southwestern’s president and professor of theology in women’s studies, respectively, wrote the foreword for the book, calling it a “perceptive and important volume.”
“To even begin the journey [of parenting], you will need to be at your best spiritually, and you will need to have the anointing of God as in no other enterprise of your life,” they wrote. “Therefore, we commend to you one of the best books that we have ever read. Remember to read it once, and then again and again until you have it in your heart. Make it a resource to which you go again and again for biblical solutions to the challenges of this world.”
The book covers a wide range of issues in parenting, including evangelism in the home; family worship; whether children should be educated via public schools, private schools or homeschooling; what to do when children struggle with homosexuality; and dealing with the loss of a child.
Contributors to the book include Malcolm Yarnell, research professor of systematic theology; Charles Patrick, vice president for strategic initiatives and communications; Evan Lenow, associate professor of ethics; and alumna Kelly A. King, who serves as children’s minister at Magnolia Church in Riverside, Calif. Alex Sibley, managing editor of Seminary Hill Press and associate director of news and information at Southwestern, served as the volume’s editor.
Everyday Parenting is available at seminaryhillpress.com.
