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SWBTS sees record number of Hispanic graduates
FORT WORTH Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated a milestone in December when 124 of the 336 students who graduated at the fall commencement were Hispanic. The trend underscores Southwestern’s goal of becoming the premiere theological training institution for Hispanics worldwide.
The historic number of Hispanic graduates was preceded by a celebration banquet the night before which gathered Hispanic leaders, many of whom are also students, from all over the country and world, including Puerto Rico, South America, Mexico, and Brazil.
“The work for the Spanish program is very important for the vision of the future at Southwestern,” Southwestern President David Dockery said to the students. “Southwestern is committed to you and we ask for you to renew your commitment to Southwestern. We want you to think of this seminary as your seminary … a place providing Spanish language education not only in Texas but across this country and around the world.”
— Clara Molina
Longview church breaks ground on Hope Road Counseling Center
LONGVIEW Mobberly Baptist Church held a groundbreaking ceremony in December at the location where a building will house its Hope Road Counseling Center.
The counseling center was established in October 2018 and operates out of office spaces in Longview and Marshall, according to its website. Its mission is to “provide gospel-centered professional therapeutic care for all of East Texas.” Hope Road currently offers counseling for individuals and couples, as well as premarital counseling and spiritual formation counseling.
A post on Mobberly’s Facebook page, which included photos of the groundbreaking ceremony, stated, “What a joy and honor it was to break ground on the new Hope Road Counseling Center! We are praying that God will continue to use this ministry as a place of healing and restoration.”
— Texan staff
SBTC DR director praises work with Salvation Army
ARLINGTON A working model developed between Texas Salvation Army Disaster Services and Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief is being evaluated for its national potential, said Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director.
“SBTC DR has long worked closely with the Texas division of the Salvation Army Disaster Services during mass feeding deployments,” Stice said. “Our teamwork has been so good because both organizations are faith-based. Our relationship is mutually complementary and supportive. The gospel first, that’s the big thing.”
Seamless, shared deployments between SBTC DR and Texas Salvation Army workers to Gonzales, La., and Fort Myers, Fla., caught the attention of other state Baptist DR teams and Salvation Army crews alike, Stice said, adding that a meeting in Arlington just before Thanksgiving 2023 with personnel from both organizations featured preliminary discussions of standard operating procedures should the teams mutually deploy.
— Jane Rodgers
Georgia Baptist leader Called to lead Sagemont
SUWANEE, Ga. Georgia preacher Levi Skipper will be heading west to serve as lead pastor of a Texas megachurch. Sagemont Church, a Southern Baptist congregation with some 16,000 members in Houston, announced Dec. 10 that Skipper had been called as lead pastor. Skipper, with 17 years of experience as a senior pastor, has led the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s church strengthening and evangelism teams since 2019. Skipper has been a regular speaker at evangelism conferences and revivals and has held numerous evangelistic crusades overseas. He also was instrumental in founding a theological school that has equipped more than 300 pastors in Ethiopia. Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director W. Thomas Hammond Jr. said Sagemont is getting one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s most gifted preachers, a loving pastor, and a strong administrator. “His evangelistic zeal will lead Sagemont to new heights,” Hammond said. The Skippers have four children: Garrison, 20; Mattie, 18; Gavin, 16; and Marlee, 14. — Baptist Press
