Marilyn Stewart

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- David Platt posed a question he called "critical" for church leaders to answer in a Founders' Day chapel message at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. "What is success for you?" Platt asked. "How do you define success in your role as a leader in the church?" Platt, former president of the SBC International Mission Board who has moved to a northern Virginia pastorate, spoke at a special evening service marking the conclusion of the New ...

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The Dakota Badlands, a barren stretch of land once described as "a place with a long list of secrets," doesn't typically receive top billing as a vacation destination. But for Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and his wife Rhonda, a trek across North and South Dakota is one they wished they had taken sooner. Taking their cue from the NOBTS centennial challenge to go on a mission trip this year, the Kelleys decided on a mission trip/vacation this summer, encouraging church planters with a listening ear alongside Chuck Kelley's goal to visit all 50 U.S. states. The trip allowed him to visit states 49 and 50. Dubbing it the "Great Dakota Adventure," the Kelleys set out to find and encourage church planters and their wives serving in out-of-the-way places. Over a meal at each stop, the Kelleys heard stories of blessing and God's faithfulness and of trial and difficulty as church planters told of what God is doing in the Dakotas.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention have been in decline for 16 years. To change that, Chuck Kelley hopes to start a conversation. "The Southern Baptist Convention is facing the greatest evangelism crisis in its history, with an unprecedented gap between the number of churches and the number of baptisms those churches record," said Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. A new book by Kelley, "Fuel the Fire: Lessons from the History of Southern Baptist Evangelism," published by B&H Academic, examines the causes behind the longest running decline in baptisms in SBC history and what can be done to reverse it.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- A technology advance of benefit to students and two faculty retirements garnered action from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustee executive committee June 5. NOLA2U, a synchronous online program allowing students full classroom participation from their home computers, prompted trustee approval for closing the graduate program at the Southwest Louisiana extension center in Lafayette, La.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- As the world watched the royal wedding festivities at Great Britain's Windsor Castle May 19, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary graduate candidates waited patiently inside Leavell Chapel to receive their diplomas. Chuck Kelley, NOBTS president, reminded the chapel audience that while a media frenzy that morning surrounded Prince Harry and his new bride Meghan Markle, no reporters waited outside to talk to them.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- God's enduring faithfulness throughout New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's 100-year history is the inspiration for a musical commissioned for its centennial celebration. While record enrollments, rapid growth and cutting-edge integration of ministry and education mark the school's history, so also do struggles brought on by an influenza outbreak, economic downturns and hurricanes. "Our Faithful God," written by NOBTS alumni Mike Harland and Chris and Diane Machen, debuted March 8 at NOBTS' Leavell Chapel. Musicians from a dozen congregations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana made up the 150-member choir and orchestra featured in the evening presentation.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- At home or on the job, women committed to discipleship and transformed by Christ can change the world, speakers said at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's "Discipling women into the future" conference. Rhonda Kelley, wife of NOBTS President Chuck Kelley, said the March 15-16 sessions aimed to equip women to minister through the church to other women, which the seminary's women's academic programs likewise do.

CLINTON, Miss. (BP) -- Supernatural unity of the heart is the key to racial reconciliation, speakers said at a day-long event sponsored by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Mississippi College. As part of Mississippi College's annual Evangelism Lectures, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley and Ken Weathersby, vice president for convention advancement with the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, spoke on unity for the sake of the Gospel in the morning chapel service. "We very naturally seek out people like us. Division, separation is natural," Kelley said during a panel session with Weathersby.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Rear Admiral Endel Lee, a Navy Reserve chaplain officer and North American Mission Board church planting catalyst in military communities, challenged a chapel audience at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to "Do your part" for the Kingdom. The Feb. 8 service included the commissioning of a new Navy chaplain. NOBTS President Chuck Kelley encouraged the audience in opening remarks to consider the varied service opportunities available to chaplains.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Many believers struggle to "find" God's will, David Platt said in chapel Feb. 1 at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. But he added, "God's will is not something to be 'found.'" Platt spoke at the NOBTS Missions Emphasis Day and referenced 2.8 billion people who have little or no knowledge of Jesus. "God has [already] clearly revealed His will to us. He has made it clear what He wants us to do," Platt said. "He wants us to take the Gospel to them."