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SBC Life Articles by Kathie Chute

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FROM THE SEMINARIES: Iorg, at convocation, underscores evangelism as priority

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- Jeff Iorg opened the fall 2019 semester by exhorting the President's Convocation audience at Gateway Seminary to prioritize personal evangelism. "The factors undermining personal evangelism," Iorg noted, "have often resulted from a positive theological conviction, ministerial practice or leadership perspective taken to an extreme or applied in an unbalanced way."

TRUSTEES: Iorg notes changing student demographics

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- Gateway Seminary's spring enrollment increased 6 percent over spring 2018, President Jeff Iorg reported to trustees during their May 6-7 meeting at the Ontario, Calif., campus. "This increase continues the steady growth pattern at both the new Ontario campus and in our online programs," Iorg said.

Gateway Seminary begins 75th anniversary celebration

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- Seventy-five years ago, Southern Baptists' seminary to the West was born during a prayer meeting, the dream of a visionary man. Gateway Seminary celebrated the anniversary of that occasion Thursday (March 14) during a Founder's Day event that culminated in a 10-hour prayer vigil by faculty, staff and students.

Gateway to offer all master’s degrees online

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- Gateway Seminary will become the first Southern Baptist seminary to offer all its master's degrees completely online in the fall of 2019. Approval to offer the final two degree programs online came from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) on Feb. 15. "Having all of our master's degrees online means that more than ever before, Gateway students have optimum flexibility to hone their ministry skills as they expand God's Kingdom around the world," said Kristen Ferguson, Gateway's director of online education. "We couldn't be more thrilled to offer this flexibility to them."

‘Everyday people’ need the Gospel, Iorg tells grads

RIALTO, Calif. (BP) -- Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary, challenged its 73 graduates during winter commencement to "take the Gospel to everyday people who are struggling with life." The seminary granted degrees and certificates to students from 17 states and four countries during ceremonies at Sunrise Church in Rialto, Calif. Iorg told the graduates that if Gateway had shaped them to make the Gospel real to those who are struggling in life every day, then the seminary had succeeded in its mission. "The Gospel is good news, and it's supposed to produce joy," he said. "The Gospel when preached properly will first bring conviction but inevitably bring joy. "If you share something that only brings condemnation and distress, then you have not shared the whole Gospel," he said. "I challenge you to share the Gospel as good news because you're sharing the redemptive power of Jesus Christ."

TRUSTEES: Gateway sees 8.2% growth, remembers key vote

PORTLAND, Ore. (BP) -- Enrollment increased 8.2 percent during the fall 2018 semester at Gateway Seminary's new Southern California campus over the combined fall 2017 enrollment that included its former campus in Brea. Gateway President Jeff Iorg relayed the enrollment news to trustees during their Oct. 8-9 meeting in Portland, Ore. The Brea location closed in July 2018 and its academic operations were moved to the new main campus in Ontario, Calif., about 24 miles from Brea.

Gateway takes final step in campus transition

BREA, Calif. (BP) -- Gateway Seminary's Southern California campus in Brea, Calif., officially closed July 27, in anticipation of moving academic operations to the seminary's new primary campus in Ontario, Calif. The closing was marked with a ceremony attended by alumni, faculty and staff. It was the final step in Gateway transitioning its main campus from Mill Valley in Northern California to Ontario in Southern California. That move included a name change from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary to Gateway Seminary, as well as opening a new regional campus in Fremont that would continue the work the seminary began in the San Francisco area nearly 75 years ago. The story of the Southern California campus began 45 years ago, when former trustee Guy Rutland Jr. from Georgia approached Harold Graves, then president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, to ask about offering seminary classes in the Los Angeles area. He had an idea that opening a satellite campus would aid the churches in Southern California.

Gateway grads challenged to share Gospel ‘aroma’

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- President Jeff Iorg charged spring graduates of Gateway Seminary to share the Gospel with everyone they encounter as the sweet aroma of a triumphant Lord. Some aromas evoke positive emotions, Iorg said, recalling playing baseball as a boy in the shadow of huge commercial bakery. "Baseball and the smell of fresh bread go together and bring back many happy memories," he said. "Our sense of smell is profound. That's why God used it as an analogy to ...

Conley Smith, key Gateway supporter in Denver, dies

DENVER (BP) -- Conley Smith, a Denver oil executive who was instrumental in founding the Rocky Mountain Campus of Gateway Seminary, died unexpectedly April 21 at age 83. "When we get to heaven, we will be surprised who the really important people really were," Jeff Iorg, president of the Southern Baptist seminary, wrote at Gateway's website April 23. "Conley Smith will make that list." Iorg credited Smith as "the reason Gateway Seminary has the Rocky Mountain Campus," one of Gateway's five regional campuses. Established in 1996, the Rocky Mountain Campus enrolls students from Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Montana and other western states.

TRUSTEES: Gateway to sell former Southern Calif. site

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) -- Trustees of Gateway Seminary approved selling a former regional campus site in Brea, Calif., and heard reports on the "new normal" for the seminary's new Southern California campus during their April 16-17 meeting in Ontario. Trustees also approved an $11.9 budget for the coming year. President Jeff Iorg noted the transition to a new location and a new name for the Southern Baptist seminary occurred two years ago and he had noticed it is no longer a frequent topic of discussion in meetings.