PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
This month we were told the financial negotiations for the Walmart project are now complete and work should begin in the near future.
What God Has Done at NOBTS Enrollment and Endowment Trends
The monetary gifts kept coming as well. Year Enrollment Credit Hours Endowment We received funds to establish the new Jim and Rose Ramsey Chair of Psychology and Counseling, which the Trustees voted to 1996 1,879 33,288 $27.5 M activate this fall. I was handed a check for $1,000,000 to complete funding for the new 2005 3,797 52,368 $43.9 M apartment building and to make $100,000 in scholarship funds available for African2007 3,412* 43,153 $46.8 M American students in honor of Dr. Fred Luter and $100,000 in scholarship funds for bi-vocational and small church pastors. 2011 3,675 49,344 $56.1 M ** The total amount for these and other gifts received in the first three months of 2012 * Due to Hurricane Katrina, enrollment dipped to 3,412 before rebounding. ** Despite the recession, the NOBTS endowment grew from 2007 to 2011. is $2,289,673.86. There is that ancient Hebrew word again: Wow! Also encouraging is news from the Cooperative Program. After three years of declining revenues, CP is running ahead of budget projections for each of the last three months. We are profoundly grateful for the churches who are making great efforts to sustain this lifeline for SBC missions and ministry in the midst of the financial challenges that have touched the whole nation, and indeed the whole world. The gifts of our churches affect us every week. This leads me to address one of the most common questions I get when I visit with people about the seminary. I am often asked, “What does the seminary need most?” A school like ours has a wide variety of needs. This is why I like to say no gift to the seminary ever disappoints me. Each gift for any purpose matters. Gifts to the seminary are actually gifts to Jesus, and that makes it important to do the things He lays on your heart. If by that question, however, you mean what kind of gift does the greatest amount of good immediately, I would say a gift to the Providence Fund. Every dollar given to the Providence Fund goes straight to the operating budget of NOBTS. This means the fastest way to help the largest number of people is through a Providence Fund donation. We would appreciate it if you would consider such a gift. But never forget: any gift to NOBTS is a good gift and every gift matters however it is directed. I began this article by saying last year was a tale of two seminaries. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the 2011-2012 year at NOBTS is a great illustration of what God’s Providence actually is. At NOBTS we have learned the Providence of God does not look like the absence of trouble. We call ourselves the School of Providence and Prayer, but we have a history filled with challenges and difficult times. God’s Providence has been manifested not in the pleasantness of our circumstances, but rather in the unfailing provision God made to see us through every circumstance no matter how difficult. In many ways, 2011 was a great illustration of every believer’s life. Trouble and blessing both played a prominent role, but the one constant was the faithfulness of God in providing grace to match our situation. This He always does for us. This He will also do for you. Our prayer is that NOBTS will be a living illustration to you that trouble does not mean God has forgotten your name, nor does blessing mean hard times will never find you again. In all times we are in His grip! In all times you are in His grip! Join us in rejoicing over the Providence of God.
www.nobts.edu
SPRING 2012 | VISION 1