News Articles by Frank Michael McCormack

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Viola Blayton Brooks, the mother of newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter Jr., passed away Wednesday, June 27, at the age of 82. A life-long resident of New Orleans, Brooks was one of two daughters born to Joseph and Winnie Blayton, who preceded her in death. She grew up […]

NEW ORLEANS — The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions held its annual meeting at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary June 17-18. Nearly 225 associational leaders attended the SBCADOM sessions in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 19-20 in New Orleans. Day one of the conference was highlighted by interviews […]

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- In 2011, English speakers -- and Christians in particular -- celebrated the 400th anniversary of the first printing of the King James "Authorized Version" of the Bible. The KJV, heralded both for its longstanding value as a translation of Scripture and for its impact on the English language, was commissioned in 1604. Seven years later, in 1611, royal printer Robert Barker produced the first copies of the new English version of the Bible. A second printing took place in 1613, with a third in 1617. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary acquired a copy of the King James Bible from that 1617 printing from a former Primitive Baptist minister and his family in Atwood, Tenn., in August 2011. The past year of the Bible's history is meaningful for the family and quite exciting for the seminary, which hopes to display it one day in a museum dedicated to Bible history and biblical archaeology. But much of the story of this particular Bible remains somewhat of a mystery. It was printed in Barker's own London print shop. Due to high demand for the Bible, later printings were done at several London printers and bound at Barker's shop. Judging from the Bible's size –- 15.5 inches tall by 11.5 inches wide by 5.25 inches deep -– it was probably used as a lectern Bible or in some other ministry setting. Little else is known about the Bible's history for almost 250 years after its publication. In 1860, according to an inscription near the front, it was presented to Anne Early as "the gift of her beloved father," Edward Early, on Oct. 24 of that year. No occasion is named for the gift. Members of the Early family lived both in England and the United States in the mid-1800s, so it's possible the Bible had crossed the Atlantic by then. Another century-long gap in the Bible's story sits between the inscription and the 1970s when it reemerged in Atwood, Tenn. Samuel Thomas Tolley, a Primitive Baptist minister, bought another Primitive Baptist pastor's library, which included the 1617 King James Bible.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated its largest graduating class in its 95-year history with a total of 389. Leavell College, the seminary's undergraduate program, held its commencement ceremony May 11, graduating 235. The graduate program commencement on May 12 issued 154 master's and doctoral degrees.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Some of the most famous words in English literature are found at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Tale of Two Cities” — “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, borrowed from Dickens for his annual […]

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- "What kind of shadow do you cast?" Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright asked in his chapel message at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Wright is pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., which hosts the seminary's largest extension center -- the North Georgia Hub.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary set a fall graduation record as 244 graduates received degrees on Dec. 17 -- 66 more than the previous fall record set in 2003.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary chapel schedule listed Professor of Preaching Dennis Phelps as the featured speaker in chapel, but when the music stopped and the stage cleared for the sermon to begin that morning, Phelps was nowhere to be found.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Institute for Faith and the Public Square hosted its third major conference, examining the tension chaplains experience between exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and religion while acknowledging the restrictions that often accompany receiving funds from public agencies. The conference was titled “Chaplaincy: Ministering […]

NEW ORLEANS (BP)–In response to the International Mission Board’s “Getting There” and “Embrace” campaigns, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has adopted seven unengaged, unreached people groups in Cuba. During the seminary’s annual Global Missions Day, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley said everyone shares the call and responsibility to participate in global missions. “Every one of us, […]