The legacies that endure are those rooted in eternity, those that store up treasures in heaven. If we hope to leave a legacy that remains tomorrow, we must live devoted to Christ today.
BIBLICAL LANGUAGES •
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS •
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT •
CHURCH MUSIC •
CHURCH PLANTING •
EXPOSITORY PREACHING •
MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING • MINISTRY TO WOMEN •
PHILOSOPHY •
WORSHIP MINISTRY • & MORE
In a world that moves fast, values efficiency and rewards selfpromotion, Christ-centered devotion can feel out of place, especially when that devotion means turning down the noise and choosing quiet faithfulness over public acclaim.
Yet, that’s the way of our King.
The Old Testament tells of a coming King who would bring redemption and reign with justice. When Jesus steps onto the scene in the New Testament, He fulfills that promise. He doesn’t come with fanfare or force. Instead, He arrives in humility—born in a manger, walking among the poor and serving the overlooked.
Many missed Him because they expected power and prestige. But Jesus showed us a different kind of King, one whose authority is revealed through sacrifice and whose glory is found in servanthood.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus called His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, lose their lives and follow Him. In other words, He called them to live with a deep devotion that expresses itself in service. You and I are called to that same life. In a digital age filled with distractions and competing voices, our task remains the same: to fix our eyes on Christ and follow Him fully.
We are called to love Jesus with everything we have, to trust our Father and to remain devoted no matter the earthly context where we serve.
Dr. Jamie Dew President
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College
Hear how NOBTS professor Mike Wetzel helped lead St. Bernard Baptist from tragedy to transformation.
A newly launched collection of NOBTS students, faculty, alumni and friends leads worship, releases music and headlines notable events all in service of the Church.
Whether or not we live in a digital world is no longer the question. The question for Christians to consider is, how should we now live in this digital world?
Three NOBTS counseling students travel to Europe for a summer internship working with IMB missionaries.
Ogola Kange’s journey from Nigeria to New Orleans is one of overcoming heartbreak, finding purpose and seeing the faithfulness of God. A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO ‘SERVE ANYWHERE’
DR. JAMIE DEW
President
DR. LARRY LYON
Senior Vice President for Business Administration
DR. MIKE WETZEL
Vice President for Institutional Advancement
CHRISTIAN TOWNSON
Director of Alumni Engagement
JOSEPH DUKE
Director of Communications
TIMOTHY COCKES
Editor
MADELYNN DUKE
Art Director and Photographer
JONATHAN SKINNER
Additional Photography
VISION MAGAZINE
is published once a year by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College.
3939 Gentilly Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70126 (800) 662-8701 | (504) 282-4455 contact@nobts.edu www.nobts.edu | www.leavellcollege.com
All contents © 2025 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. All rights reserved.
Please send address changes and alumni updates to the office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@nobts.edu. NOTE: Alumni updates will be used for the publication of the VISION magazine and on the Alumni website.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a Cooperative Program ministry, supported by the gifts of Southern Baptists.
“The greatest legacy you can pass on to your children and grandchildren is not your money or the other material things you have accumulated in life. The greatest legacy you can pass on to them is the legacy of your character and your faith.” - Billy Graham
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
By Timothy Cockes
f someone were to walk through the doors of St. Bernard Baptist Church in Chalmette, La., it would be completely unrecognizable from what it looked like just two years ago.
At that time, the church had an average attendance of about six people on a typical Sunday. Since then, St. Bernard has tripled their attendance to more than 20, had several professions of faith and baptized three people.
Mike Wetzel, associate professor of pastoral ministry and vice president for institutional advancement, has served as a pastor at St. Bernard for just over two years. He said the church has undeniably experienced the transformative power of God.
“It is so different that night and day is not enough to describe it,” Wetzel said.
“It’s gone from being a struggling church to a congregation with a strong sense of vibrancy. There’s just a different spirit here. You can certainly feel God’s presence. There is a sweet fellowship among the congregation that can only come from Christ.”
While the renewal at St. Bernard has been incredible, this exciting season came after a season of intense tragedy.
The church was previously pastored by Paul Gregoire, former NOBTS registrar, for more than 30 years. Gregoire tragically and suddenly passed away from cancer in March 2023.
Wanting to help, Wetzel (who lives in Chalmette) reached out to offer help with pulpit supply, to which the church quickly agreed.
Although he had been preaching in various settings since moving to New Orleans, Wetzel had not served as the pastor of a congregation in several years. Over time, Wetzel became the interim pastor, then the transitional pastor and then finally the full-time pastor of the church.
“It was a slow realization that this is what God was leading me to do,” he said. “It went from ‘I can help them a little bit as an interim’ to ‘well let’s make this official and see what we can really do.’”
St. Bernard has experienced amazing growth under Wetzel’s leadership, but the journey was not always easy.
Wetzel said the church was in a season of struggle and decline when he came. They were experiencing deep pain from losing their beloved pastor and were “overcome with grief.”
There were changes that needed to be made, but Wetzel did not want to rush the process.
“For most of them, Paul was the only pastor they had ever known in their life,” he explained. “There was extreme grief and pain. A church that is going through a situation like that, they know that they’re hurting, but they don’t know what to do. They know the church is not healthy, but how on Earth are they going to change it around?
“Going into a situation like that, I knew that you can’t just go in guns blazing and make changes right away. You have to wait. You have to give people the opportunity to know you and trust you. So, by the time we were ready to outline a new vision, they were ready. They trusted us.”
Much of this new vision included making some big changes, which the congregation agreed were necessary. These changes were both spiritual and physical.
Various renovations were made around the church building. The church began utilizing their street sign to display messages. A cross was built for display outside the church. NOBTS MissionLab groups assisted with renovations on the property.
The congregation began to engage in corporate Scripture memory. A monthly fellowship time began to foster community and relationships. Musical instrumentation was added to the church’s corporate worship times.
All of these changes were fueled by assistance from various NOBTS and Leavell College students Wetzel recruited to help him at the church. One such student was Noah Collins, an NOBTS student working towards a Master of Divinity degree.
Collins was initially recruited by Wetzel in April 2023 to simply help preach but would eventually become an associate pastor at the church.
“Both of us at first were thinking we just want to help this church until they find a pastor,” Collins said. “I didn’t think that would be me because I didn’t know what I was doing. I had been around local churches for a long time, but I still didn’t really know what I was doing in pastoral ministry at that point.”
Collins remembers a specific Sunday that summer when things seemed to turn the corner for the church and his time there.
There was nothing different about this particular Sunday, except that Collins was horribly sick.
“I was just trying to make it through the sermon,” he said. “I was really sick and struggling to preach. I was thinking ‘Lord just help me get through this Sunday please.’ At the end of the service, I gave a clear Gospel presentation and two people came forward to be saved. That was a real benchmark moment. God might actually be doing something here.
“It was a way that God showed me, through my weakness He is strong. Even though you’re sick, I’m not sick. Even though you don’t feel like preaching this Sunday, the results are not dependent on you, they are dependent on me.”
Later on in the summer, the two people who made decisions, along with a third person, were baptized by Collins during a service. They were the first baptisms he had ever performed.
Doing baptisms and leading through change have not been the only things Collins has learned during this time of ministry. For his NOBTS preaching practicum, his mentor was Wetzel, someone who just happened to hear him preach in-person on Sundays.
“I got something I feel some other students didn’t get in that I got to preach in front of him on Sunday morning and he would take notes and we would meet in our mentor time and talk about my sermon,” Collins said.
“To me that was the most helpful thing. To have someone who has preached for many years take specific notes on my sermon and us talk about it after was incredibly helpful. Pairing my classroom experience with this local church experience did the trick. I’ve been able to learn in the classroom and then put it into practice immediately.”
Collins has an additional personal connection to St. Bernard, as his mother played the piano at the church back when she was an NOBTS student. He understood the painful loss the church went through and has been thrilled to see the revival of the congregation.
“These people weren’t just losing a pastor,” he said. “Paul cared for and loved these people deeply. He was a very influential person, and he died very suddenly. The church was having a hard time.
“We’ve since given them a vision of what the future could look like and to see them latch onto that and find their hope in Christ has been awesome. The way they’ve welcomed us into their family has been something special. There’s a real family atmosphere here now. I think Paul would have loved to see the new life that’s entered the building and the reviving of the church that we’ve seen.”
For his ministry leadership at St. Bernard, Wetzel received the 2024 Outstanding Faculty Churchman award during the seminary’s end of the year ceremony.
He was honored to receive the award and encouraged other NOBTS students that although your specific assignment may change, your purpose in ministry never will.
“I was amazed that I was named the churchman of the year,” Wetzel said. “I didn’t even know that people knew I was doing this. I was kind of blown away.
“God’s call on your life is a never-ending call. The roles that you have will change, but His call on you will not.
“God called me to pastor when I was 13, and even though I’m in this role (at the seminary) as my main role, I’m now back where I really feel God’s calling and that’s to pastor. To me, there’s nothing better.”
Our Fall 2024 chapel services were sweet times of worship as a campus family. Throughout the semester, NOBTS and Leavell College faculty preached on different characteristics of God evident throughout the Scriptures, encouraging students to contemplate God’s love, mercy, holiness, glory and more.
Crescent City Worship, a newly-named collection of students, staff and friends of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, has released two live albums and led worship at multiple SBC events since its launch in summer 2024.
These live albums, along with multiple singles, have garnered Crescent City Worship (CCW) more than 130,000 streams on various digital music platforms.
Additionally, some of the notable events where CCW has lead worship include the 2023 SBC Pastors’ Conference, the 2025 Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting and pastors’ conference, the 2025 Alabama Baptist State Convention pastors’ conference and many youth camps/conferences.
Crescent City Worship is overseen and lead by Nate Jernigan, associate professor of music and worship for NOBTS and Leavell College.
Jernigan said this collection of around 20 or so musicians had already been leading worship at NOBTS events, including chapel, and in various settings around the country without any formal designation until 2024.
The group announced their formal designation as Crescent City Worship that June in conjunction with the release of their first album, which was recorded live at the 2024 Abide Women’s Conference and features Dove award-winning vocalist Meredith Andrews.
Jernigan said the name Crescent City Worship, which comes from the nickname for the city of New Orleans (Crescent City), closely connects with the mission of NOBTS.
By Timothy Cockes
“Of all the name options we could think of for the group, Crescent City is the name of our city here in New Orleans, and NOBTS was put here by the Southern Baptist Convention for a strategic purpose,” Jernigan said.
“NOBTS exists to train students to serve our churches. So, ultimately our goal as Crescent City Worship is to serve the Church, specifically Southern Baptist churches.
“One way that we can do that is certainly by training students to go physically to those locations, but I think another way to serve our churches is to capture music we believe is worth singing and to package it in a way that is creative and accessible.”
Regarding their first live album, Jernigan said it has been a major focus for him since arriving at NOBTS and took a lot of hard work.
“President Dew asked if I would work on an album project as soon as I got here,” Jernigan said. “This was the culmination of that first attempt.”
Yet, Jernigan said recording their first live album as the group’s official launch was worth the effort.
“Recording the albums and working through all the challenges of doing so was a worthy task to take on,” Jernigan said.
Since releasing their first album, CCW has released another live album from their performance at Falls Creek Youth Camp (Okla.) in summer 2024. The group also has released two singles, “Trust in God” and “Christus Victor,” both featuring Andrews.
As of May 2025, CCW’s music can be found on nearly 15 different digital music platforms and has reached 98 countries including Canada, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.
They plan to release their first ever studio album, “Hymns Project 1,” in June 2025.
Despite all of this success, Jernigan again emphasized the goal of CCW is not only to train excellent musicians but develop worship leaders that will help serve local churches.
According to the students serving with CCW, being a part of the band has helped them do just that.
Cory Carr is a Leavell College student and pastor of worship and creative arts at First Baptist Church of Brandon, Miss.
He echoed the sentiment that CCW prioritizes both service and excellence.
“We’ve created an ‘all hands on deck’ type of culture,” Carr said. “No one is above doing any job, task or interaction. That’s the expectation. I think what we’re doing is practically preparing people to serve in their local church context. “This vision starts with the school itself. Servanthood is one of our pillars and it’s an integral part of everything we do, including Crescent City Worship. Preparing people to serve the local church is the most important thing we do, and we want to be able to do that with excellence. We want to create a pipeline for developing worship leaders.”
Andrew Belmore, a master’s student studying church music, said CCW represents NOBTS not only through service, but through a focus on shepherding in ministry.
“Nate wants to shape the program in a way that leverages worship ministry to shepherd people,” Belmore said.
“There’s an emphasis on being pastoral and being a shepherd in your ministry that I’ve resonated with and felt called to. That’s why I came here. Traveling and doing events is great, but each of our greatest callings is to serve our local church.
“I love NOBTS and Leavell College. I think everything that we’re doing here is great. This has probably been one of my favorite seasons in life. To be able to represent the school has been a privilege.”
Carter Newsom, a freshman at Leavell College, said serving with CCW has deeply impacted her life.
“Nate is incredible, and he’s one of the kindest people I know,” Newsom said. “He’s super passionate about raising up younger leaders in ministry and women in ministry and giving them a voice.
“Everyone on the team is great at working together and not against each other. They all have a heart for ministry, and it’s a joy to work with them.
“It’s super exciting to be even a small part of something new that the Lord is doing at NOBTS through Crescent City Worship. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s forced me out of my comfort zone. It has pushed me to do different things than I was used to and challenged me and taught me a lot.”
Jernigan said as Crescent City Worship looks to an exciting future, the goal of the group will always be the same.
“Our future hope is to continue to serve the Church really well,” he said. “My hope is that we will dedicate adequate time and resources to train our students how to write, record music and create resources that will ultimately serve the Church. We want to be a training ground for our students.”
July 2024, Cory Barnes was named dean of graduate studies for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Barnes, associate professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, has served on the NOBTS faculty since 2021.
Jamie Dew, president of NOBTS and Leavell College, voiced his excitement for Barnes to step into the role of dean.
“Dr. Barnes has a long history of serving NOBTS and Leavell
College with great faithfulness and skill,” Dew said. “He’s proven himself to be a strong administrator with pastoral wisdom. We’re very excited to have him in this role and confident he will strengthen our graduate programs that serve the churches of our convention.”
After many years as a student and faculty member, Barnes is thankful to continue to serve in a place that has deeply impacted his own life.
“As a three-time graduate of NOBTS, I know how much difference our school can make in someone’s life and ministry,” Barnes said. “I am blessed to serve alongside our outstanding faculty to equip those God has called.”
Ethan Jones, associate professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, recently received two different awards from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
One award recognized his overall contributions to the study of Scripture, while the other recognized one of his recent publications as one of Southwestern’s books of the year for 2024.
Jones, a Southwestern graduate, was first awarded the Curtis Vaughan Award for Contribution to the Study of Christian Scripture during the 76th annual meeting of the Evangelical
Theological Society in Nov. 2024.
The award, named in honor of the late New Testament professor at Southwestern, honors an individual who has displayed excellence in research, scholarship, teaching and service for the Church in the area of Christian Scripture.
A few weeks later, Jones’ newly released book, “Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry,” was announced as Southwestern’s book of the year for 2024 in the Discipleship/Spiritual Formation category.
Jones called receiving the awards “humbling and unexpected.”
“They both bring joy and humility in a distinct way.”
The 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program was celebrated during NOBTS chapel throughout the spring 2025 semester.
A series of videos played during several chapel services featured NOBTS faculty discussing the history and importance of the Cooperative Program.
Special focus was given to the role that M.E. Dodd, an influential figure in the founding of NOBTS, played in the formation of the CP.
“100 years ago, Southern Baptists gathered together at their annual meeting and formed what we know today as the Cooperative Program, and Louisiana pastor M.E. Dodd was the one who chaired the committee that presented the idea of the Cooperative Program,” explained Chris Shaffer, assistant professor of theology.
Shaffer went on to speak about the essential role the Cooperative Program still plays in the Southern Baptist Convention.
“It’s the way Southern Baptists gather together to support the work of the SBC in sharing the good news around the world,” he said. “It’s a beautiful way that Southern Baptists come together to support the work that we do to proclaim the good news of the Gospel.”
Other faculty members featured in the video series throughout the semester include Thomas Strong and Greg Wilton.
NOBTS President Jamie Dew also charged students to continue to carry on this legacy of supporting the Cooperative Program.
“The stewardship of this wonderful mechanism falls to you now,” Dew said. “As you go and lead, remember this, fight for this, support this, invest in this, and together we’ll continue being this massive missiological force.”
Leavell College prepares servants to walk with Christ, proclaim His truth, and fulfill His mission. We believe servanthood, devotion, proclamation, and mission is the foundation for all that we do.
Contend, an annual apologetics event for high school students at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, gathered nearly 250 students from more than 20 different churches for a one-day conference April 12 discussing apologetic issues impacting society today.
Plenary speakers at the event, which is in its third year, included Jamie Dew (president of NOBTS), Chip Luter (senior associate pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church) and Tripp Almon (director of Summit Gap Year).
Dew presented the students with three arguments that can be used to argue for the existence of God. Almon spoke to the students about apologetic dialogue, and Luter focused his plenary address on the reality of the resurrection of Christ and our proper response to it.
Music at the conference was led by Crescent City Worship, and the event also featured a performance by entertainer and illusionist Bryan Drake. Breakout sessions on a variety of topics were led by the plenary speakers and other NOBTS faculty.
New Orleans Seminary’s Caskey Center for Church Excellence is celebrating the milestone of 10,000 professions of faith as the result of more than 10 years of student evangelism efforts.
Caskey Center students have carried out weekly evangelism efforts since the Center’s launch in 2014. As of March 2025, students have initiated more than 87,000 Gospel conversations, which have resulted in the recent mark of 10,000 professions of faith.
Blake Newsom, director of the Caskey Center and associate professor of expository preaching, said this amazing milestone is ultimately about 10,000 changed lives.
“10,000 professions of faith is an incredible and miraculous accomplishment,” Newsom said.
“Such an awesome number might have the effect of looming so large that we forget the individuals captured in such a number. I’m struck by how the Gospel narratives present Jesus intersecting with and transforming the lives of all sorts of individuals. The Gospels force us to look below the broad, universal scope of Jesus’ ministry to the individual lives touched by the Savior.
“As we celebrate 10,000 professions of faith, let’s think of the
individuals transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus. As a result of our students sharing the Gospel, churches are healthier, families are stronger, communities are better and the world is experiencing the power of Jesus’ transformative work. We celebrate these 10,000 professions and look forward to more lives being transformed by the power of Jesus.”
The Center, named in memory of evangelistic Louisiana pastor Steve Caskey, represents the dream of an anonymous donor family to see Louisiana churches re-engage in the task of evangelism.
Since the donor family wanted evangelism to be a top priority of the program, consistent Gospel witness became a requirement for recipients. To help students achieve consistency and provide accountability, the program requires students to report at least one gospel conversation per week.
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, spoke about the Center’s incredible accomplishment.
“Thanks be to God for the Caskey program,” he said. “We celebrate this with great joy and hope for many more professions of faith in the years to come.”
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AND MINISTRY
Johann Acuna was appointed assistant professor of music and ministry at the December 2024 meeting of the Executive Committe of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. Acuna holds the M.Div. from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
Eli Byrd was appointed assistant professor of Christian ministry at the fall 2024 meeting of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. Byrd holds the M.Div. in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is an Ed.D. candidate at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COUNSELING AND MINISTRY
Rebekah Callahan was appointed assistant professor of counseling and ministry at the summer 2024 meeting of the Executive Committe of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. She will continue in her position as assistant dean of students for student life. Callahan holds the M.A. in Biblical Counseling and Ed.D in Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT AND GREEK
Fabio Castellanos was appointed assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at the spring 2025 meeting of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He will continue in his position as the director of Spanish online education at NOBTS. Castellanos holds the M.Div. in Biblical Languages, the Th.M., and the Ph.D from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,
Richard Gambil was appointed assistant professor of expository preaching at the summer 2024 meeting of the Executive Committee of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He will continue in his position as associate vice president of auxiliary services and operations. Gambil holds the M.Div. in Biblical Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Th.M. and Ph.D. from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
PROFESSOR
Terry Iles was appointed assistant professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the summer 2024 meeting of the Executive Committee of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He was also named director of the NOBTS Ph.D program. Iles holds the M.A. in Old Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East, from Harvard University.
Luke Johnson was appointed assistant professor of global missions at the spring 2025 meeting of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He was also named director of the ServeNOLA gap-year program. Johnson holds the M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is graduating with his Ph.D. in Applied Theology (International Missiology) from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 2025.
Alex Oakley was appointed assistant professor of Christian philosophy at the spring 2025 meeting of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He will continue in his position as director of institutional strategy. Oakley holds the M.A. in Philosophy of Religion from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Th.M. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Nottingham.
PROFESSOR OF
Michael Wang was appointed assistant professor of discipleship at the fall 2024 meeting of the NOBTS and Leavell College Board of Trustees. He will continue in his position as director of institutional effectiveness. Wang holds the M.Div. in Christian Education, Th.M., and Ph.D. in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Edited by Tawa Anderson (Summer
2025)
Tawa J. Anderson edits Truth, a volume of keynote lectures from the 2025 Defend Apologetics Conference. The anthology explores the truth of the Christian worldview as it relates to the realms of epistemology, science, Scripture and humanity.
By Tommy Doughty
Thomas G. Doughty Jr. produces a fresh theological narrative presenting the work of Christ progressively. Through both biblical and systematic theological lenses, Christus Dominus explains how the
of God accomplishes multiple benefits for humanity and the cosmos.
By Ethan Jones
Ethan C. Jones explains, in our current age of distraction, the Psalms remain ready to train our ears, steady our hearts, and teach us to pray and to extend our imagination so that we might flourish.
By Jody Dean
Jody Dean produces a valuable resource for youth ministry leaders and their volunteers. With the built-in study guide and the chapter reflections, Serve is designed to foster conversation and discussion among a youth ministry leader and their volunteer team.
Equipping for Global Mission: Theological and Missiological Proposals and Case Studies
Edited by Greg Mathias,
et al.
Equipping for Global Mission offers insights from seasoned scholars and practitioners. Beginning with theological convictions and practical reflections, the authors make a case for what equipping for mission could look like in the present global church. Case studies from India, China, North America and Britain further challenge the reader to reflect on this critical issue.”
Black Church, White Convention: A Pastor’s Story of Hope
By Mark Johnson (Summer
2025)
Mark Louis Johnson shares his church’s journey to put racial reconciliation into action within the Southern Baptist Convention. He explores eight questions that his church, Liberty Hill Baptist Church, needed to answer on their journey to join the SBC.
The “Abre Mis Ojos” conference (Spanish for “open my eyes”) gathered more than 700 guests from the Hispanic community at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Sept. 20-21, 2024.
The third annual conference, developed by NOBTS as an intentional way to engage Hispanics, hosted guests from six states and more than 50 different churches. The event saw a record number of youth attendees, and 14 different nationalities were represented among all guests.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Character Matters.” Plenary speakers preached about the importance of Godly character and how to develop it.
Castellanos, director of Spanish online education at NOBTS, reminded attendees they have an active role to play in their own sanctification.
“Individuals are called to actively present themselves, make choices, and live in a manner that reflects their commitment to God,” Castellanos said. “This involvement is crucial for growth and transformation in their spiritual journey.”
Bill Warren, NOBTS professor of New Testament and Greek, spoke about the urgent need for Christian character in the midst of a broken world.
“We have a role to play in the formation of our character in that God works with us in our lives,” said Warren. “This means that we need to purposely make decisions to let God work in our lives and to work with God in the transformation of our lives. We are to seek to have the fruit of the spirit as the characteristics of our character.”
Bárbaro Abel Marrero, president of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba and dean of the Baptist Theological Seminary of Havana, preached about the importance of authentic Christian character.
“The authenticity of Christian character is manifested by different kinds of tests, either adversity or prosperity,” Marrero said. “Actually, prosperity is a more difficult test for spiritual life than adversity.”
Castellanos said the conference is playing a key role in connecting NOBTS to the Hispanic community and the Hispanic community to both the seminary and the broader SBC.
“NOBTS is becoming an ally and a tool for the Hispanic community in the South. Reaching Hispanics helps support the mission of the seminary and provides spiritual nourishment for people.
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New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary kicked off the 2025 spring semester after experiencing a record-setting winter storm which covered the campus in snow and postponed the start of classes.
Snow began to fall early Tuesday morning (Jan. 21) and did not stop until the late evening. The official record for snowfall in New Orleans was easily shattered with several inches accumulating on the ground before mid-day.
Various parts of the New Orleans area recorded 9 to 10 inches of snow by the end of Tuesday. This far exceeded the official New Orleans record of 2.7 inches set on Christmas Day in 1963.
Remarkably, there was more snow on the ground in New Orleans on Wednesday (Jan. 22) than there was in South Dakota. For a brief moment, the Crescent City looked like a winter wonderland.
Freezing temperatures kept the snow and icy conditions around for a couple more days. The start of the semester, which was supposed to begin Tuesday, was postponed.
In-person classes were cancelled, and offices were closed Tuesday through Thursday (Jan. 21 - Jan. 23) for the sake of safety. Campus operations resumed as normal on Friday, Jan. 24.
Larry Lyon, senior vice president for business administration, said the days off gave the campus an unexpected opportunity for fun and fellowship.
PROF. ELI BYRD
“We are incredibly thankful that our campus community got to enjoy a beautiful snow and that families across campus got a few extra days together while classes and offices were closed,” Lyon said. “It was especially fun to see the reaction of families, especially children, who have never seen snow before having grown up along the Gulf Coast. It really was a special time had by all.”
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary held a 10th anniversary celebration for its Museum of the Bible and Archaeology on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.
The celebration included presentations from a variety of speakers chronicling the history of the museum as well as the unveiling of new scrolls (named the Festival Scrolls) to be displayed in the museum.
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, praised the work of the museum, which combines the work of the school’s archaeology institute and Center for New Testament Textual Studies.
“To have a place with resources and faculty like this and to be able to do this work for 10 years is a significant thing in the Kingdom,” Dew said.
During his report to messengers at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College President Jamie Dew described his time of ministry at the institution as the “greatest honor” of his life.
“I just recently celebrated five years of service at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College,” Dew said during his address on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.
“I’ve got to tell you my friends, it has been the greatest honor and the greatest joy not of just my life, but my wife and my four beautiful children.
“We love you folks and we’re so grateful that we get to serve you and to work with the fine people down in the city of New Orleans doing what you put us there to do, which is train up the next generation of missionaries, pastors, preachers and teachers.”
Dew listed four different things the school has specifically focused on during his five years of service.
Those things include:
• An emphasis on Leavell College
• Increasing Enrollment
• Communicating the story of the seminary
• Denominational Engagement
Dew noted progress in each of those four areas across his five years of service.
“It is with all of that in mind, after these five years of doing that work, that we recommit ourselves to the work that God put us here to do.”
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s spring Serve Day offered students and faculty the opportunity to faithfully volunteer in the local community and share the hope of Christ.
Serve Day, taking place Thursday (Feb. 20), saw more than 200 participants engaging in a variety of evangelism efforts and service projects around the city.
After the projects were completed, the groups gathered in the Luter Student Center to share highlights of their time serving.
“This is always one of my proudest moments for the seminary, to see our people going out and doing these things,” said Jamie Dew, NOBTS president. “Our job is to be faithful. Our job is not necessarily to win someone over or try to fix certain things, it’s just to go and do what we’re called to do and be who we’re called to be.”
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, reminded more than 200 graduates of the “why” behind ministry during the school’s fall graduation ceremonies Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.
Preaching out of John 1, Dew reminded the graduates of the unique call they have chosen to pursue and the good reasons behind that pursuit.
“You came to this school because God put a call on your life,” Dew said.
“He did something unique in your life by redeeming you, giving you life and transforming your whole existence. And then He put a call on your life. It’s a call that a lot of people might not understand. It’s a call that some people might not appreciate. It’s a call that some people, quite frankly, might despise. And yet, there is good reason for it.”
NOBTS conferred 145 degrees, while Leavell College graduates received 92 undergraduate degrees and certificates.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary partnered with five Baptist state conventions to facilitate the Prepare Here Pastor’s Summit (Oct. 10-11, 2024), an event designed to encourage and equip more than 60 pastors from those different conventions.
The five representatives from the participating conventions were:
• Stephen Rummage, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention,
• Shawn Parker, executive director-treasurer of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board
• Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions
• Roc Collins, strategic objectives director for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board,
• Steve Horn, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention
“I’m grateful that we get to partner together to do this kind of stuff,” said Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Seminary and Leavell College. “I think this is the kind of thing that we need to be doing as Southern Baptists. We really ought to find these different moments where different layers of the SBC can partner together and find events like this that can be genuinely edifying to people. I’m grateful for you brothers.”
A GAP YEAR PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS TO EXPLORE THEIR CALLING THOUGH A SUSTAINED SEASON OF SERVICE.
our Monday morning alarm clock, also known as your iPhone, starts to go off. It’s a noise that seemed innocent at first but now sends a shiver down your spine.
As you grab your phone to start the day, you notice tons of missed notifications from various apps. You can’t decide whether to answer unread texts, take a peek at work emails or watch the dozens of Instagram reels sent in your group chat.
You ask Siri to play some music on your wireless speaker as you get ready for work. As you leave, you text your spouse saying you love them and to remind them the Amazon package you ordered three days ago should arrive today.
After arriving at work using your mobile GPS, you open your work app to clock in. You’re already getting overstimulated from looking at your phone, so you take a break by opening your laptop computer instead. Once you log in, you read some discouraging news happening across the world, answer a couple of those work emails you ignored and order some Chick-Fil-A breakfast through DoorDash because you deserve it for working so hard already.
This typical morning scenario illustrates an obvious truth about today’s society; we live in a digital world.
Rapid advancements in technology have created a world that would be hardly recognizable to previous generations. Imagine trying to explain the preceding paragraphs to someone living in the 1980s.
This new digital world deeply affects our relationships, hobbies, work and even how we meet our basic needs.
Whether or not we live in a digital world is no longer the question.
The question for Christians to consider is, how should we now live in this digital world?
How do you create real community in a world that lives so much of their lives online? What parts of new technologies should we embrace and what parts should we reject? How do we live and share the Gospel in this new reality?
At New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, our mission is to prepare servants to walk with Christ, proclaim His truth and fulfill His mission.
One of the four pillars that make up this mission statement is devotion.
Devotion is what it means to walk with Christ. To abide in Him. To worship Him. To trust Him. To follow Him.
No matter how the world changes, these things will always be part of what it means to be a Christian and part of our mission at NOBTS.
If we now live in a digital world, it will be important for Christians, and for the Church as a whole, to think deeply about how to be devoted to Christ in this new reality.
The digital world gives us an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy that honors Christ.
rowing up on the mission field in South Korea, Charlie Ray III remembers writing letters to friends and family on the other side of the world.
He even remembers how much it cost to make just one phone call to talk to his grandparents.
Years later, much more than a phone call is possible for Ray’s international students at NOBTS.
“Because of advancements in technology, the world has just gotten so much smaller,” said Ray, associate professor of New Testament and Greek. “We have NOBTS students who live across the world, and we can just do a video call like that.”
Ray said as technology continues to advance and the world becomes even more digital, he continues to wrestle with how the Church should respond and how he can prepare his students for future church ministry.
He said discernment will be necessary as churches sort out the positives and negatives associated with the digital world and certain technologies.
“I tell my students all the time you have to have your principles down, because what you’re going to be doing in ministry is applying those principles to different situations,” Ray said.
“If I’m teaching a student in class right now who is going to be pastoring a church in 30 years, there’s no way I can possibly think about how they are going to be applying biblical principles then.
“They have to know the Scriptures well and actively apply them.”
Ray pointed out a major way digital technology can benefit the body of Christ is by aiding in spreading the Gospel.
“We can stay in contact with missionaries who are on the field in ways that would have blown my mind as a 10-year-old living in another country,” he said. “Technology provides us avenues to spread the Gospel in ways that are just unprecedented in the course of human history.
“It’s easy for us to be like ‘technology does all these bad things’, and it does just to be clear, but I think technology has also opened up avenues for the Church to fulfill the Great Commission.”
These avenues enable the Church to leave a permanent legacy on the digital world.
Although technology can help communicate the Gospel message, it should only be thought of as a tool to be used, not as a replacement for the local church.
Ray explained the negative components of the digital world start to come into play when technology begins to replace or hinder the physical gathering component of the Church, which he says is essential.
He said believers must start by determining the true purpose of the Church before determining whether a particular piece of technology is useful or not.
Ray gave the example of a microphone.
While viewed as almost essential now, there was once a time when the microphone was a new piece of technology and churches had to decide if they should use one during their services or not.
Ray theorized that the microphone helps aid the purpose for which the local church gathers, while other modern technologies or digital elements may not actually aid the physical gathering of believers.
We have to allow technology to serve the reason that we’re there in the first place, rather than taking over and negating why we’re trying to gather in the first place.
“We have to have a really good understanding of what the Church is and why we are called to gather together in the first place,” Ray said.
“The term church or ‘ecclesia’ in the New Testament means corporate gathering, so there is something to us being together physically. The question we must ask is ‘does the technology serve or hamper the purpose that we’re gathering for?
“I think the answer to why we are supposed to gather is that we can encourage one another. There is a relational connection that’s necessary for the Church. It’s not just a show that we’re seeing in person. We have to allow technology to serve the reason that we’re there in the first place, rather than taking over and negating why we’re trying to gather in the first place.”
“A lot of technology is a substitute for personal presence, at least that’s what it ends up being,” he said.
“I think the New Testament helps us think about this. It helps us realize that we can use these substitutes in a good way, but one of the main things for the Church to realize is that God created a physical world, and we are embodied creatures. This will always matter. Technology is never going to get to the point where we replace physical presence.
“There’s a certain extent that the Church needs to be countercultural here. We have to be thinking about the good opportunities technology presents us with but be careful not to just end up with a poor imitation of what God created us for.”
Ray explained genuine unity is another key aspect that differentiates the local church from the digital world.
The digital world pitches the idea of unity, but this version of unity is more akin to uniformity. Whether it’s only following people who agree with you about everything or joining Facebook groups based around a specific shared interest, the digital world offers a chance to surround yourself with
This is not the picture of the New Testament church, which unites believers of all nationalities and backgrounds who have various experiences and personalities.
“The world offers this idea of unity through being the same,” Ray said. “The unity that the New Testament talks about is based on God-ward conditions rather than personal conditions. It’s about our connection to God, not our individual characteristics. It’s not a self-obsessed, find somebody else just like me unity, but it’s a spirit-driven conformity to Christ kind of unity.
“I think we often grow more from people who are different than us. God uses our differences to sanctify us and for our good. This is something that can happen in the context of the
As churches continue to wrestle with living in a digital world, Ray said it’s important to show grace as believers begin to
“I do think there are areas that are sinful in how we engage with technology, but I also think there’s Christian liberty here,” Ray said. “I think we have to be careful not to just assume that the way we handle this issue is the only way for it to be handled and have charity towards Christians who do
hile the digital world allows people all over the world to be connected at all times, there is one event every two years which unites people from all over the world in one physical place: the Olympics.
The International Mission Board (IMB) has a specific strategy to engage the lost during each Olympics, but the 2024 Paris Olympics was the first time the IMB explored the convergence of on-the-ground evangelism efforts with new digital engagement methods.
NOBTS student Kathryn McMillan played a major part in laying the groundwork for this strategy.
McMillan, who is working towards a Master of Theological Studies, formerly served for nearly three years as the IMB’s digital engagement strategist for France.
She worked with the IMB to help prepare a digital engagement strategy for the 2024 Olympics.
The strategy began to develop nearly two years before the games took place, and much of the digital engagement portion was based around methods McMillan had already employed in her role.
A major component of the strategy was digital evangelism ads the IMB ran on social media during the Paris games.
These ads contained prompts such as:
· How can we pray for you?
· Who am I?
· If you could ask God a question, what would it be?
As people sent messages responding to these prompts, an IMB digital responder would then respond back in that person’s own language. The goal for the digital responders was to initiate a Gospel conversation or provide the person with Gospel resources.
During the games, the IMB reported nearly 9 million people saw one of their ads and more than 170,000 people engaged with the ads.
More than 7,000 people engaged in conversations with an IMB digital responder. From those conversations, there were more than 300 Gospel discussions and 43 professions of faith.
The IMB also incorporated some of this digital engagement strategy into another Olympic tradition. Visitors will often collect various handheld pins given by representatives from various countries or organizations from around the world.
IMB personnel would engage visitors at the games and hand them one of their own designed pins. These pins could be scanned with a mobile phone which would lead to the IMB’s Olympic webpage containing Gospel resources in multiple languages and the opportunity to begin messaging with a digital responder.
Although digital engagement was a big push during this most recent Olympics, McMillan explained those two weeks are only the tip of the iceberg.
“Digital engagement is going on all over the world all the time,” McMillan said. “Almost every single IMB affinity group has some kind of digital engagement going on. The end goal is always wanting to get to an in-person context if you can.
“That’s goal number one. With digital engagement, we always want to push towards those real-life connections.”
Despite the IMB’s great success with digital engagement thus far, McMillan believes there are relational limits to this technology.
“I think digital engagement is a tool,” she said.
“We want to use it because it is a way to reach people that we probably will never have the opportunity to reach in real-life. It is a broad Gospel seed-sowing tool, but for me it doesn’t replace one-on-one discipleship or living in community as the Church.”
reg Mathias, associate professor of global missions and director of the Global Mission Center at NOBTS, marveled at the success of digital engagement during the Olympics, but agrees with McMillan about its limits.
He explained the Gospel is an “embodied message.”
Jesus did his earthly ministry in a physical body, so this should affect what we do with our physical bodies, including physically going to church and engaging with the lost.
“We are no question in a digital world, but we are physical beings and that’s a part of who we are,” Mathias said.
“When Jesus came to the world, the Word became flesh (John 1:14). The Gospel was fleshed out in the life of Jesus, so there still needs to be a ‘flesh’ component to our ministry. At some point we have to believe an end goal is something embodied.”
Despite its limitations, Mathias said digital engagement will continue to be vital in a world where the average person reportedly spends nearly 7 hours a day online.
“The thing I love about the digital world is it connects the globe unlike any other movement in history,” Mathias said. “It really does open up opportunity and access like we’ve never had before.
“A lot of people spend significant time, if not most all of their time, in digital spaces. As believers wanting to get the Gospel to all people and places, I think you have to consider digital avenues. I think we have to consider how do we meet people
where they are with the Gospel. We need to be there, it’s just about how do we go about doing that.”
In fact, Mathias has recommended some new digital technologies to his students doing mission work.
“I think one benefit of these new technologies is the ability to communicate with people that speak different languages,” he said. “You can do that now almost without missing a beat. I’ve taught our students about that in our city and in other places.”
Mathias explained there are many times in which his students know more about the digital world than he does.
He said younger generations are essentially “digital natives” because they have always known life with both the internet and social media, the first generation for which this is the case.
Mathias has hope for the future of digital engagement because of these young Christians who desire to make an impact on the digital world.
“I think a lot of students naturally function in some of these realms,” Mathias said.
“Students have the boldness and courage to set up their channels and profiles to be Gospel-centered. I think that’s a big Gospel witness for teenagers and younger people.
“They will sometimes do little teachings on social media or have Gospel conversations with people. This is where they have much of their fruit in evangelism.”
or believers, every use of technology and every interaction with the digital world should reflect a devotion to Christ.
Although any digital engagement should reflect this devotion, the most prominent and public way many Christians will impact the digital world is through social media.
What started out as a simple way for friends to interact online has become something that deeply affects the world every day.
Tommy Doughty, associate dean of Leavell College, said although social media can be a tool to use for good, there are also a lot of negative things that can come from it.
Doughty has given presentations to various groups about the potential dangers of social media and the impact it can have on Christians’ worldview.
A concept he talks about is the “circular feedback loop,” which is the idea that social media algorithms learn what people want to click on or view and continue to fill their feeds with that type of content.
The loop allows the digital algorithm to dictate what a user sees and influences the user, rather than the user intentionally choosing what they wish to view.
“We’re going to social media where we think we’re going to connect with other people, but in reality, this feedback loop is just bringing us back to what we want to see,” Doughty said.
“Everything we see on social media is programmed to provide a tailored experience to each user. These algorithms will only show us our own passions or interests but rarely our friends and their different interests or views.
“We get stuck in this loop and live in our own bubble. The digital world can disconnect us from the real world in terms of our worldview.”
In addition to getting stuck in this vicious cycle, numerous studies have proven a correlation between increased social media use and poor mental health.
If we could let our minds be captive to Christ, if we could focus on the things that are good, we can use digital technologies in a better way.
Despite these negative effects of social media, Doughty said there are ways for Christians to approach social media with intentionality.
One way that Christians can be more intentional with their social media use and break the feedback loop is to invest in their personal walk with Christ.
“Instead of filling myself with whatever the screen shows me, if I fill myself with the Word and am attentive to the Spirit, that’s going to cause me to think things that are pure,” Doughty said. “So then when I go to social media I’m going to be in a mindset of the Spirit, not of the flesh.
“If we are being changed by our spiritual devotion, what comes out of us will be transformed and will be different.”
Doughty agreed with the sentiment of Mathias, as he has observed many Leavell College students using social media to honor Christ.
“We are prone to be impacted by social media, but there are ways we can impact others with it,” he said. “If we could let our minds be captive to Christ, if we could focus on the things that are good, we can use digital technologies in a better way.”
When it comes to impacting the digital world positively, Doughty said it ultimately begins from within.
“When we think about walking with Christ in this digital world, it starts with each of us,” he said.
“Churches are made up of individuals and it’s going to have to start with each one of us in our walks with Christ. If we’re taking in what is good and if we’re prioritizing habits which train the good in us, the good will come out of us. God will change us to where we can then change the world and use technology as a tool in this process.”
Another member of the NOBTS family trying to use social media in a positive way is Tara Dew, wife of NOBTS President Jamie Dew and director of the seminary’s Thrive Ministry Wives Certificate Program.
When Dew published her first book “Overflowing Joy: What Jesus Says About a Joy-Filled Life” in 2024, her publisher asked if she could create a social media page as a way to showcase the book and keep up with women she meets at her speaking engagements.
Although initially hesitant, Dew launched her author/speaker Facebook page last year with the goal of encouraging other women.
“My hope is that this ministry-focused page will encourage women to love God more by providing content that can help them do that,” Dew said. “I post worship songs that really minister to me. I post Scriptures that have encouraged me. I share resources or podcasts or books that will hopefully edify them in their walk with Christ. Every now and then I will post a quick video of encouragement. I try to use my page as a missionary tool to reach women that I might not have otherwise had the privilege of serving in person.
“It’s ultimately not about me. People are going to forget my name, but I want them to remember Jesus. I want to be someone who engages with a lost and hurting world and gives them a glimpse of Jesus and his faithfulness to me.”
“IT’S A GLIMPSE INTO OUR HEARTS AND CHARACTER. WHEN WE GIVE PEOPLE A GLIMPSE INTO OUR LIVES, I HOPE THAT THEY GET A GLIMPSE OF JESUS.”
Dew’s page now has more than 1,000 followers. Even with her success, Dew has enlisted several close friends to help her maintain integrity in this pursuit.
“Just for my own accountability, I have asked five people who know me very well to watch all of my social media and I’ve told them if there is ever a time that I post or do something online that is not what I am trying to portray you need to tell me,” she said.
“Those five people really help me make sure that my online presence matches the heart and motivation behind it. That’s a safeguard I’ve put in place.”
Dew said the popularity of social media has “radically” changed ministry, and all believers are called to live out their devotion to Christ as they use it.
“Social media is here to stay in our world, so
we want to engage with it wisely,” Dew said. “I think there is wisdom that can be taught in our discipleship and mentoring groups about how to use social media positively. It can either be a weapon or an ally. It can be used for good or for bad. We have to train believers how to think of this properly, as a tool and not something to be worshipped.
“I look at social media as a way to open our hearts and our lives for people who are looking, either Christians looking for an example or non-Christians looking for something different. Just like our words model Jesus, our social media is an evangelistic apologetic. Our online presence should be a positive example, and I think people can see there is something different about the way we handle social media.
“It’s a glimpse into our hearts and character. When we give people a glimpse into our lives, I hope that they get a glimpse of Jesus.”
“What you post will be part of what you’re remembered for and that matters. What you post shares with the world how you lived and what you want your legacy to be.”
The digital world provides people with the opportunity to leave a lasting and accessible legacy, similar to a tombstone or a photo scrapbook.
“Facebook and Instagram are sort of like an online diary or memory page that the whole world is seeing,” Dew said.
THE DIGITAL WORLD PROVIDES PEOPLE WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE A LASTING AND ACCESSIBLE LEGACY, SIMILAR TO A TOMBSTONE OR A PHOTO SCRAPBOOK.
“People used to think a lot about what to put on their loved one’s gravestone, because that’s what they wanted others to remember about this person. This practice is not as common today, and social media has kind of replaced this in our culture. These digital memory pages are like an online tombstone.
“What you post will be part of what you’re remembered for and that matters. What you post shares with the world how you lived and what you want your legacy to be. It shows people the things that mattered to you and the things that you valued.
As Christians, let people see our profiles and our online presence and say ‘wow, that’s a person who really loved
As Dr. Paul Chitwood, President of the International Mission Board, says, “The greatest problem in the world is summed up with one word: lostness.” While our seminary mission begins @3939, it does not stay there. Our mission extends to local churches, parachurch organizations, church plants, international mission fields, unreached people groups and others. Our mission’s target: people. Our motivation: Christ and His kingdom. Our scope: Beyond the Gates.
By Timothy Cockes
Each summer break, many NOBTS and Leavell College students spend their time off engaging in a variety of ministry activities including camps, mission trips and internships.
For three NOBTS counseling students, the 2024 summer involved getting some of their required internship hours on an eight-week trip to Europe.
The students, each pursuing a master’s degree in counseling, spent their trip offering counseling services out of a local community center run by International Mission Board missionaries.
Kip and Janet Dwyer* are IMB missionaries that have been working in Europe for more than five years.
Janet, an NOBTS graduate and licensed professional counselor, quickly noticed a need for counseling upon moving to their country. When people in their church realized she was an English-speaking counselor, they immediately asked if she would be willing to counsel them.
She began informally counseling individuals in her church, but soon noticed the need in the broader community was much greater. The Dwyers eventually opened up a community center in 2022 designed to meet a variety of needs, including counseling.
The couple realized people native to their country are much harder to reach with the Gospel, as they are already established in their rhythms and beliefs.
Janet began language training in order to better counsel natives, but still faced an overwhelming number of Englishspeaking foreigners who also desired counseling.
This is where the counseling internship came into play.
Janet worked with Craig Garrett, professor of counseling at NOBTS, to develop a summer internship program for students to travel to Europe to earn some of their internship hours counseling English-speaking clients at the community center.
The first batch of interns came in 2022, shortly before the
center opened, followed by this most recent group of students in 2024.
Although the internship was a learning experience for these students, Janet said this past summer’s interns were already prepared incredibly well by the NOBTS counseling program.
“These students came in and they were able to take the bulk of the English speakers and do counseling with them so that I can focus my counseling efforts on the locals,” Janet said.
“NOBTS counseling students are held to a high ethical standard, they get really good supervision and they are really encouraged to do outside trainings and try different therapy models and modalities. These things really enlarge their toolbelt.”
The three students who participated in the 2024 internship were Sophia Roark, Eli Manley and V.M. Quinn.**
Roark agreed that her time doing internship hours at the Leeke Magee Christian Counseling Center (LMCCC) helped prepare her to jump right into work at the community center.
“Being able to finish my internship in Europe was such a blessing and an experience most do not have,” Roark said.
“New Orleans is a multi-cultural setting, so the LMCCC prepares us to counsel people from different cultures and countries and provides many resources and wise insights.”
Manley echoed this sentiment.
“I’ve been seeing clients for a year and a half, and I’ve learned so much about what it is like to counsel,” she said. “What I have learned in the program translated to what I did in Europe even though I was using a different approach.”
A unique aspect of this trio of counseling students was each of them had previous overseas experience.
Janet said this cross-cultural experience, along with having a significant amount of their counseling hours completed, allowed this internship experience to primarily focus on how to combine missions and counseling.
“It was really neat to have this particular group of students here because they all had very extensive cross-cultural experience already,” she said.
“NOBTS does a great job training students how to be counselors, and so I wanted them to have all of that training under their belt already so that we could really focus our time on the cross-cultural component of counseling. I loved being able to coach them through getting meaningful work done in a short period of time in this setting.”
The students also relished this special opportunity.
“This was a cool internship because I got to incorporate counseling and missions,” Manley said. “It definitely helped me understand the place where counseling and missions can meet.
“I met intentionally with six people for eight weeks and the goal was to help them become more whole, healthy and ultimately more Christ-like. It was a different take on missions than I’ve experienced, but it was a good one.”
Quinn said, “this trip was the best preparation that I’ve had to figure out what it looks like to ‘serve anywhere’ with this degree.”
The students explained a huge learning experience for them was counseling people of different nationalities, religious backgrounds or worldviews. Most of the clients the students met with had different countries of origin.
“I think these kinds of trips really help expand your worldview and see what counseling looks like in different contexts and cultures,” Manley said.
“We want to be the salt of the Earth and the light of the world for people where they’re at. People are people no matter where you are, and ultimately our problems are all the same. We all have this need for God and this longing for belonging.
Wherever you are counseling people, there might be different methods, but the Spirit is the same and people are the same.”
Roark said Kip and Janet were “amazing and welcoming” supervisors and walked with them step by step throughout the whole experience.
Manley emphasized the importance role such a trip could play for fellow counseling students.
“If you’ve never been overseas, something like this would be a great way to put your toes in the water,” she said.
Janet explained she was thrilled to show these students a reallife example of how missions and counseling could be used together, because the need for counseling on the mission field is great.
In her country, Janet is the only English-speaking, clinicallytrained Christian counselor that she is aware of.
As she prepares to welcome a new group of interns in 2025, Janet said her goal with these opportunities is to help build a better future for Chrisitan counselors.
“My hope for the students was if they have a desire to merge counseling and missions, that they’d see how they can do it at the ground level, and if any of them decide to pursue it, they won’t have to forge the path themselves,” she said.
*Names changed for security purposes*
**Name changed for security purposes**
Your conference will include 4 plenary sessions, 3 breakout sessions, and a special time of worship through song, all centering around knowing God and worshiping Him properly with all that we are. September 1, 2025 Group registration and alumni discounts available.
A sold-out crowd of more than 1,200 women gathered for the Abide Women’s Conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025, to learn more about the importance of biblical community.
Tara Dew, wife of NOBTS President Jamie Dew, adjunct professor and director of New Orleans Seminary’s Thrive program, began the conference’s opening plenary by examining the Gospel of Jesus Christ in connection to the conference’s theme of biblical community.
“Without the blood of Christ, you are still dead in your sins,” Dew said. “Without the atoning sacrifice that Jesus made for you ... we cannot live.”
In addition to Dew, other speakers at the conference included Katie McCoy, author and strategy director for cultural engagement at the YHWH Foundation; Catherine Renfro, director of women’s evangelism at the North American Mission Board and Emily Dean, assistant professor of ministry to women at NOBTS.
The conference’s theme verse was Acts 2:42, and the plenary speakers each examined one aspect of the picture of the early Church’s community painted in the passage.
Dew began by explaining the crux of the apostles’ teaching referenced in the verse is the Gospel.
“The Gospel is the crucible of the apostles’ teaching,” Dew said.
“Without Jesus you can’t have biblical community. If we want to be a true biblical community, may we never get over the Gospel.”
McCoy said in the second plenary that God designed people to live in biblical community.
“You and I cannot become the strong women that God made us to be on our own,” McCoy said. “We need each other. Our individual health depends on our collective life. We will not blossom and bloom by ourselves.”
In the third session, Renfro emphasized the need to follow the disciples’ example of breaking bread together.
“The act of breaking bread is significant for all of us,” Renfro explained. “It’s around the table that we get to know people, and we get to be known by people. Community is not found, community is built.”
Dean closed out the conference by speaking on the importance of praying in community with other believers.
“Praying in community teaches us how to pray, strengthens our faith and binds us together in community,” Dean said.
Worship at the conference was led by Crescent City Worship and Dove award-winning vocalist Meredith Andrews.
PITMAN & CHITWOOD IN CHAPEL FOR
NEXT STEPS LUNCHEON
MISSIONS WEEK EXPO
In case you missed it, here are stories you will want to read. Or, read again!
EMILY DEAN DISCUSSES HOW THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM HELPS WOMEN IN MINISTRY
Emily Dean, assistant professor of ministry to women at NOBTS, participated in a CP stage panel at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting which discussed how the Cooperative Program helps support women in ministry.
DEW EXHORTS STUDENTS TO “LIVE WISELY” DURING CONVOCATION SERVICE
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, exhorted new and returning NOBTS students to “live wisely” during his Convocation address.
NOBTS TRUSTEES APPROVE REVISION TO DOCTOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Executive Committee of the NOBTS Board of Trustees approved a revision to the Doctor of Education program and heard other various updates during a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The revision will allow students to earn a Master of Theology (ThM) degree while pursuing the Doctor of Education (EdD) degree.
DEW CELEBRATES 2024 AS “BEST YEAR SO FAR” AT NOBTS
Growing enrollment numbers, academic milestones and a thriving spiritual community highlighted 2024 for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College.
NOBTS SPANISH PROGRAM EXPERIENCES RAPID SUCCESS
A result of NOBTS’s recent fundraising success is the establishment of the seminary’s online Spanish program. The program allows Spanish-speaking students to interact with professors and classmates via online video conferencing, while also allowing students the flexibility to watch recorded lectures at their own convenience.
NOBTS EXPERIENCES RECORD-SETTING FUNDRAISING SUCCESS
Since Jamie Dew became president of NOBTS and Leavell College in 2019, the average yearly fundraising total for the institution has nearly doubled.
NOBTS CASKEY CENTER CONFERENCE ENCOURAGES PASTORS
The Caskey Center at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary hosted their annual pastors’ conference April 25-26 featuring guest speakers Jeff Iorg, President and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee and Sam Greer, senior pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church (Tenn.).
NOBTS FUNDRAISING SUCCESS ENABLES SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Because of recent fundraising success, NOBTS has established several new scholarship opportunities for various students in the last several years. For many of these students, scholarships are an answer to prayer and evidence of God’s call on their lives.
NOBTS TRUSTEES APPROVE NEW FACULTY, HEAR POSITIVE REPORTS
The board of trustees for New Orleans Baptist Theology Seminary and Leavell College approved new faculty positions and heard a variety of positive reports during its fall meeting Oct. 8-9.
SBC PRESIDENT CLINT PRESSLEY PREACHES ABOUT SUFFERING DURING NOBTS CHAPEL
Clint Pressley, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church (Charlotte, N.C.), explained how suffering prepares people for ministry during NOBTS chapel on Tuesday (Feb. 11).
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Education
Doctor of Educational Ministry
Doctor of Ministry
Doctor of Musical Arts
By Timothy Cockes
NOBTS faculty member Mark Johnson has been named the 10th president of Louisiana Christian University (LCU).
Johnson, who served as assistant professor of evangelism and pastoral ministry and director of the seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program, was announced as LCU’s new president on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
The LCU board of trustees elected Johnson upon recommendation from a presidential search committee formed in May 2024. He will begin his presidential duties on June 1.
“Mark Johnson is an incredible hire for Louisiana Christian University,” said Jamie Dew, president of NOBTS and Leavell College. “He is very personable and relatable, and I think Louisiana Baptists are absolutely going to love getting to know him and work with him.”
Anthony Bunting, chair of LCU’s board of trustees, said the school is thrilled to announce Johnson as their new leader.
“Dr. Johnson’s exemplary leadership and profound love for the students and staff will undoubtedly support our mission and foster the growth and support of our university,” he said.
“Dr. Johnson said he sees this role as a divine calling. He is moved by the opportunity to serve the Lord at this remarkable institution. He is committed to upholding the university’s Christian values and inspiring students and staff to grow in their faith and academic pursuits.”
Johnson and his family moved to NOBTS in 2019 to pursue his Ph.D. in Evangelism, Pastoral Ministries and Christian Leadership. After joining NOBTS faculty as assistant professor in Aug. 2020, Johnson became director of the Doctor of Ministry program in Jan. 2023.
He and his wife Heather, assistant director of the seminary’s Thrive Ministry Wives Program and former LCU trustee, have been married for 29 years and have four children: Mark Jr., Jonathan, Victoria and Benjamin.
NOBTS Provost Norris Grubbs spoke to Johnson’s impact on NOBTS.
“Dr. Johnson has served with excellence during his time with NOBTS as a faculty member and as the director of the Doctor of Ministry program,” Grubbs said.
“His passion for evangelism and love for students is evident in all his efforts. We celebrate this new opportunity for leadership.”
Johnson is the first person during the Dew administration to be elected as president of another educational institution.
As he embarks on a new ministry opportunity, Johnson expressed gratitude for his time of service at NOBTS.
“I’m grateful to Dr. Jamie Dew for my time on faculty at NOBTS where I’ve had the privilege of serving alongside incredible colleagues and investing in students who will impact the Kingdom for years to come,” Johnson said. “I will always cherish my time here and pray for God’s continued blessing on the work of NOBTS and Leavell College.”
Commemorate your seminary experience or honor a loved one with a brick or paver placed in Leavell Chapel’s Legacy Plaza.
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Support the ongoing work of NOBTS and Leavell College through monthly giving. Giving Day
Join together with other NOBTS and Leavell College friends and alumni to support the educational, spiritual and personal experiences of current students and future grads. Our Fall Giving Day is Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
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Support the NOBTS and Leavell College endowment through an annual commitment of at least $5,000. The Seminary Foundation ensures campus technology, buildings and grounds are in the best condition possible.
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By Timothy Cockes
Students come from all over the world to prepare for ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
For Ogola Kange, her journey from Nigeria to New Orleans began when the letters NOBTS appeared to her in a dream.
Kange, a graduate student pursuing a degree in ministry to women, said the experience of attending NOBTS has been lifechanging.
“My time at NOBTS has been amazing,” Kange said. “The moment I came here, I just knew why God brought me here. There was this peace of knowing this is where I was meant to be. I can’t really describe it, but just this sense of knowing gave me rest.
“It was a very difficult journey getting here because at every point there were challenges, but at every one of these points I would go back to what I was certain of: God had told me to come here.”
Kange’s journey is one of overcoming heartbreak, finding purpose and seeing the faithfulness of God.
Born to Christian parents in Nigeria, Kange came to know Christ at an early age and her faith was “transformed and deepened” during high school.
She met her husband while in graduate school and the couple would go on to have three children.
After finishing graduate school, Kange became an assistant university lecturer while also running a small business focused on food delivery.
All was well until tragedy struck.
One day on his commute home from work, Kange’s husband was in a car accident and suffered a severe spinal injury. He died just days later.
“I got that call that nobody ever wants to have, it was lifealtering,” Kange said.
“The pain when I saw him pass away was like the worst pain anybody could ever experience. It’s not something I would wish on my worst enemy. I felt like I had been punched with a sledgehammer in my gut.”
Everything changed for Kange in that moment, but she chose to have faith.
“At that point, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life,” she said. “I really didn’t know what was going to happen. During that period, I just keep praying to God, ‘show me what to do.’ This was a crossroad in my life where I just didn’t know what to do, and God spoke peace and comfort to my heart.”
Kange eventually decided to quit her job as a lecturer and put her full attention towards her business, which she named Smiley’z MobileKitchen.
Originally started as a food delivery service, the business expanded to include food preparation, processing and other agricultural skills.
Kange explained a major priority of Smiley’z MobileKitchen is educating and empowering women to learn these agricultural skills for themselves so they can cook for their own families or earn an income.
Although Smiley’z was experiencing great success, Kange knew something was missing.
“What I found during this period was God telling me that I shouldn’t just be concerned with the economic lives of these women but their spiritual lives as well,” Kange said.
“As much as I was doing these things with my business for God’s glory, I knew that I wasn’t fully equipped. I wasn’t trained in ministry, and I knew that there was so much more that God wanted me to do. This desire that God was putting in my heart just kept growing.”
Soon after beginning to feel these desires, Kange woke in the middle of the night from a dream in which she saw a series of letters, either ‘nobts’ or ‘nobdts.’
Kange explained she often senses God speaking to her in dreams and subsequently began to search for some meaning in these letters. She started by googling NOBTS.
“I typed NOBTS and realized it’s an institution in the United States,” she said. “I started scrolling through the courses on the seminary website and I see ministry to women. I had never heard of any course like that. I didn’t even know there was a course like that.
“It just grabbed me, and I was like ‘this is what I need to do.’”
Kange immediately started an application in what she called a “spur of the moment decision.” She soon began online classes.
After traveling to the United States for a trade fair her business was involved with in late 2023, she decided to take the leap and move onto the NOBTS campus that next March.
During her time at the seminary, Kange said the in-person experience of interacting with students and faculty has aided her understanding of ministry and the Scriptures.
“I’ve learned so much about how to study the Word of God in context and do proper exegesis,” Kange said. “I believe that all that I have learned is transforming the way I read the Bible and teach the Word of God. I feel like I have been equipped to minister to women anywhere in the world.”
Kange never wanted her time at seminary to be a purely academic experience. She quickly became involved with community activities on and off campus including the seminary’s weekly chapel services, Together Women’s Life events and involvement with First Baptist Church New Orleans.
“Being able to connect with other women, share my story, pray with them and cry with them created a sense of community for me at NOBTS,” Kange said.
“God gave me people to hold my hand on this journey, especially because I have been separated from my children for so long. This time has also been a season of healing for me after my loss. I felt like I found family here. These are going to be life-long relationships.”
One of these women Kange met was Rebekah Callahan, the first person at the seminary that she talked to.
Callahan serves as assistant dean of students for the office of spiritual formation and student life.
God’s providence continued to be a theme in Kange’s story, as Callahan does not normally work at the front desk in the student life office, but just so happened to be doing so when Kange came in to get her student ID.
“I just felt a sense in this situation to offer her whatever was needed,” Callahan said. “I took Ogola to get her phone fixed that afternoon and got to hear her story from day one. We got to connect and bond over her story and what the Lord had done in her life. The genuineness of her story was evident.”
She invited Kange to attend First Baptist with her, which was the start of a deep friendship.
“I was in awe of this faithful woman who was so obedient to come here just because the Lord called her to come here,” Callahan said. “There was a lot of her life testimony that spoke deeply to me and encouraged me. I learned a lot from our time together.”
Callahan emphasized Kange truly got the most out of her short time at NOBTS, and her story perfectly represents the mission of the seminary.
“It was incredible what she did in the time she was here,” Callahan said. “It was such an example of being all-in somewhere because you never know when that time is going to end. I think she was faithful to get trained here while also not neglecting anything she was called to back home.
“We say ‘prepare here, serve anywhere,’ so we have to mean that. I miss her, but we have to be willing to let our people that we’ve trained really go and serve anywhere.”
Now back in Nigeria, Kange said the most important thing throughout her entire journey has been trusting God.
“For me, it’s about trusting God and having faith in his Word,” Kange said. “It’s scary to step out in faith, and if God had showed me all of the challenges that I would have to go through on this journey, I would probably not have come. But He just kept leading me and I just held on one step at a time. There were times when these challenges made my faith waiver, but all in all, God has been faithful on this journey.
“Many times we are afraid to take a leap of faith because none of us have the whole picture. You just take the next step in faith believing that God is leading you down this path. You may not have the full picture but trust Him. As you are faithful in the next right thing, He opens the way.”
Reconnecting alumni to the seminary is both the most rewarding and the most challenging part of my role at NOBTS and Leavell College. The beauty of our alumni network is that they’re serving all over the world, which means there are countless opportunities for our office to pursue and stories to celebrate. Our aim is to serve alumni wherever God has placed them—and to make sure they know we’re here to support them in every season of their ministry.
We’re excited to continue bringing alumni back to campus while also meeting them where they are in their ministry contexts. One of our goals has been to increase in-person events, providing more opportunities for networking and continuing education. We’ve hosted multiple Lunch and Learn events on campus, along with virtual sessions that allow alumni to engage with our faculty and one another. If you’d like us to host a workshop, lead a seminar or preach at your church, we would love to serve you, your congregation and fellow alumni in your area.
We also love getting to tell—and retell—the story of NOBTS. We’re beginning to collect alumni stories so we can celebrate what God is doing in and through your lives. If you have a story to share, we’d love to connect and hear from you.
Our alumni are the most vital component in the future of NOBTS and Leavell College. You have the greatest ability to mobilize and support current and future students. I encourage you to join the Alumni Association—not simply to give, but to give in a way that helps pastors, missionaries, evangelists, teachers, counselors and other ministers of the Gospel follow God’s calling without financial stumbling blocks.
NOBTS and Leavell College Alumni—we need leaders, servants, and difference-makers. We need you. Reach out to us with your comments, concerns or constructive feedback. Your voice matters to help us serve you with greater excellence.
I am thankful to serve you.
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Jim Shaddix, pastor and educator for more than 40 years, passed away Feb. 1, 2025 after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 64.
Shaddix came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior as a 9-year-old boy gripped by the fear of hell and eager to be saved from future condemnation. Since that moment of salvation, God revealed to Jim the hope of the cross in ever expanding degrees of glory, far surpassing his understanding as a young boy.
God did not just save Jim from condemnation. He declared him a child of God and began a work of glorious sanctification that would come to completion the day Jim saw him face to face.
At the age of 21, Jim responded to God’s call on his life to preach the Word and to minister to the people of God. This call captured his soul and filled him with passion and drive; and it remained with him, influencing his steps for the rest of his days.
Early in his ministry, Jim learned a valuable lesson. There was something much greater that held the power to not only impact people but change lives: It was the authoritative and infallible Word of God. If anything in his ministry were to affect the hearts of others, he wanted it to be the Bible — preached to God’s people through the power of the Spirit and soaked in prayer.
This passion for the local church and for faithful expositional preaching was integral throughout Jim’s years of ministry. As an educator, Jim served as professor of preaching and held various administrative roles at New Orleans Seminary from 19942005, taught at Gateway Seminary as an adjunct professor of preaching from 2006-2012 and served as professor of preaching at Southeastern Seminary from 2012 until his passing. Additionally, while at Southeastern, Jim served as the Equip Network coordinator before holding the role of director of the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership.
Over the course of his 30-year educational career, Jim continued to serve the local church. He served as senior pastor for multiple congregations and held numerous interim pastorates. Preaching God’s word to the bride of Christ was paramount, and Jim’s academic positions helped further this goal as he equipped young pastors and church leaders in biblical exposition.
Because of Jim’s faithfulness and commitment to his calling, thousands of people can testify to the tremendous influence that he had on their lives, on their walk with the Lord and on their prayers. In Jim’s life and death, God was glorified and hope proclaimed.
**The majority of this obituary was written by Mary Asta Mountain and published by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. To read the full, original edition, visit sebts.edu/jim-shaddix-life-remembered/.**
Friends and loved ones who have gone on to be with the Lord leave to us a legacy of faith and an example of service.
Please scan the QR code to see their names and class dates.
The 16th annual Defend apologetics conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary drew nearly 400 attendees from more than 100 different churches and 21 different states Jan. 6-10, 2025.
Conference guests heard lectures from a variety of plenary and breakout speakers about various apologetics topics including transgenderism, sexuality, doubt and suffering, the deity of Christ, science and Christian faith, atheism, beauty, the purpose of apologetics and much more.
Tawa Anderson, NOBTS associate professor of philosophy and apologetics and first-time director of Defend, opened the conference with a plenary message about the importance of Christian apologetics for all believers, drawing from the well-known passage of 1 Peter 3:13-17 from which the conference gets its name.
“This is a well-known passage where we see what we call the ‘apologetic mandate,’” said Anderson. “God is commanding all Christians to be ready to answer questions that people have concerning our faith. It’s not the apologetic suggestion.”
Anderson said not only does the Bible command believers to engage in apologetics, but Scripture also provides examples of apologetics being done.
“Scripture presents us with examples of apologetics and the commandment to engage in apologetics. God commands it, the Bible demonstrates it and we ought to be doing it,” Anderson said.
Several of the plenary and breakout speakers were returners to the conference, while some were first-time presenters at the conference.
Among the returning speakers was Bob Stewart, retired NOBTS professor of philosophy and theology and founder of the Defend conference.
This was the first year Stewart had not overseen the conference since founding it 16 years ago. Stewart retired following the spring 2024 semester.
“For the last two years I got to walk alongside Dr. Stewart and learn some of the ropes as he was handing off leadership to me,” Anderson said. “He was very intentional about mentoring me through that process and making sure that I knew all of the team members. Dr. Stewart made it as easy as possible to step into his shoes.
“I’ve loved Defend for over a decade,” he said. “To have the privilege of carrying on Dr. Stewart’s legacy with Defend is truly an honor and I enjoyed it.”
PLENARIES EXPLORE THE CONCEPT OF GOODNESS IN PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY, & APOLOGETICS.
“MAKE A DEFENSE TO ANYONE WHO ASKS YOU FOR A REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU” 1 PETER 3:15
REGISTRATION | AUGUST 1, 2025
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