Truett Seminary: One Year and Beyond
by: Dr Brad Creed,
Associate Dean
Professors A. J. Conyers III and Ruth Ann Foster

The George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University began the new year of 1995 with 54 students who have developed an incredible sense of community as well as commitment to their theological education. The reality of the seminary’s first year has surpassed the hopes and dreams of faculty, staff, students, and friends of the new seminary.

Truett students continue to amaze the faculty with their levels of academic excellence; their flexibility; their work ethic; and their commitment to Christ, His church, and to each other. Coming from eleven states and five foreign countries, the first class along with staff and faculty collectively speak fifteen foreign languages. The student body represents a mix of ages and a variety of backgrounds. Some are second-career seminarians, having left behind lucrative law practices and businesses. Others are fresh form the undergraduate college experience. By and large, all are pioneers who demonstrate a great deal of courage and self motivation in taking the risk to join an new enterprise which is striving to offer a fresh approach to theological education for the 21st century.

Truett’s approach to theological education is distinctive. The four major curricular areas for class work are: theological studies (which include Bible, church history, systematic theology, etc.), pastoral ministry (care giving) leadership/administration, and worship/ preaching. These four areas reflect the functional spheres in which a minister works. The goal within these areas is to take a more interdisciplinary approach to learning which employs team-teaching and an inductive methodology as the approach best suited to prepare seminarians for the tasks they will face as ministers. The students who may have been apprehensive about the approach at the beginning have become the strongest supporters of both the curriculum and the conversational mode of teachings. The primary classroom experience is the seminar format which allows faculty and students to share discoveries from the assigned readings. This approach makes learning a collaborative venture. Teachers and students take responsibility for the intellectual quest, bringing to calls time the tests of the Bible, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Barth, among others. These great figures then become partners in our “table talk.” This is a proven method of learning for gaining skills in analysis, integrating theology with life, and communicating accurately and persuasively, in a manner that will reach the heart and minds of others.

Team teaching enhances this mode of discourse. Each professor comes from a distinct discipline, adding to the multidimensional approach of questions about theology and life. Some of those who join in the process are actively engaged in ministry and bring that experience and perspective to the table as well. Brian Harbour, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richardson is currently serving as an adjunct teacher at Truett Seminary.

Another distinctive of Truett Seminary is the optimal faculty student ratio which strengthens the learning experience and overall quality of theological education. As the seminary experiences numerical growth, it will be a challenge to maintain a ratio that enhances our educational goals. Small classes and personal attention to the students demonstrate that Truett is committed to issues of quality. While we desire to be responsive to the needs of Texas Baptists and others for training ministers, we feel a strong imperative not to seek numbers for numbers’ sake or to make student enrollment the benchmark of our success. Mass-produced theological education is ultimately counterproductive to the standards that churches require in the training of their ministers.

To aid students in making the transfer from the classroom to ministry and to enrich the learning experience, four to six months of the seminary career will be spent in a mentoring program. Students will receive credit for this time spent on a local church staff, a foreign mission field, or in a hospital chaplaincy setting under the direct supervision of a mentor. This ‘Hands-on” training will better prepare students for the realities of ministry. Students are also required to complete lifelong learning units while at seminary. This is a precursor to continuing education, and units are earned by attending conferences, seminars, lectures, and workshops on a wide variety of subjects.

Concerned with the crisis of integrity within the ministry today, Truett Seminary is committed to preparing ministers spiritually as well as intellectually. Students and faculty meet together weekly in small covenant groups for mutual accountability and encouragement, to pray for one another and to learn about the practice of spiritual disciplines. Issues of character formation are just as crucial to ministry preparedness as is knowledge of theological issues.

Truett Seminary is also distinctive in its being a professional school attached to a major university with national standing and one that has been widely cited among America’s best liberal arts universities. Baylor regents recently reaffirmed the university’s commitment to pursuing academic excellence and holding fast to the Baptist heritage by electing Robert Sloan as Baylor’s twelfth president. Dr. Sloan’s commitment to theological education will strengthen Truett Seminary’s resolve to become a significant force in preparing ministers to serve Texas Baptists and others during the next century and beyond.

April 1995