MBTS announces Fusion: Masters, a new graduate-level missions program
By Michael S. Brooks/MBTS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has announced Fusion: Masters, a new graduate-level missions program aimed at equipping students for Gospel ministry in overseas contexts. Midwestern Seminary Assistant Professor of Missions, Joe Allen III, has been tapped to lead the program.
“We cannot be more pleased to announce the Fusion: Masters program,” said MBTS President Jason Allen. “Much thought, planning, and effort have gone into bringing this concept to reality, and we are very much looking forward to the ways it will benefit local churches and ministry contexts overseas. God has raised up generous financial partners, which has enabled Fusion: Masters go from a dream to a reality. We believe God will use this new initiative for His glory among the nations.”
“We are grateful to the IMB for their ongoing partnership with us in training the next generation of faithful Gospel missionaries. That partnership will continue to flourish in this new, graduate-level iteration of Fusion. Our shared goal is to instill in our students a heart for a lifetime of serving Jesus Christ and proclaiming the Gospel to the lost.”
Fusion: Masters is a year-long graduate-level program designed to train men and women desiring to make disciples in overseas contexts.
The program includes the completion of a 36-hour Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies, on-the-ground mentorship and training with the faculty at Midwestern Seminary, and an extensive, overseas summer missions practicum in partnership with the International Mission Board. Those admitted into Fusion: Masters students will also receive substantial scholarship assistance toward the cost of their studies, living expenses and deployment overseas.
Though Fusion: Masters is technically a year-long program, it’s designed to fit seamlessly within Midwestern Seminary’s 81-hour Master of Divinity degree. Furthermore, students currently enrolled in other Masters programs at Midwestern Seminary may also take part in the summer missions experience and enroll in the fall and spring Fusion: Masters courses.
Joe Allen expressed his excitement over the new initiative, saying, “We’ve worked hard to design a program that is comprehensive enough to provide the very best training available for future missionaries, while also ensuring we go deep enough to help students mature in their faith while they are in the program.
“Fusion: Masters students will be embedded in a community of like-minded students who want to pour out their lives for the sake of the nations. This, along with mentorship from our faculty and an optimally structured curriculum, will provide an ideal environment to train men and women desiring to serve overseas.”
Richard Land, SWBTS leaders meet to discuss Land Center plans
By James A. Smith Sr./SWBTS
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – Long-time Southern Baptist leader Richard D. Land returned to the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Tuesday (Dec. 7) for meetings with President Adam W. Greenway and other seminary leaders to discuss plans for the Land Center for Cultural Engagement.
“It was great to be able to welcome back to Seminary Hill Dr. Richard Land for productive conversations about the future of the Center that honors his legacy of leadership among Southern Baptists in Christian ethics and public policy advocacy,” Greenway said. “We deeply value Dr. Land’s ongoing commitment to Southwestern Seminary and the institution’s role in helping our students and other Christians understand the times and know how best to engage the culture with the timeless truths of the Bible. I am excited about plans for the Land Center that we will soon be able to announce.”
In addition to Greenway and Land, Interim Provost David S. Dockery and recently named Land Center director, Daniel Darling, participated in the meetings.
“I am delighted at the major investment Southwestern Seminary is making to the Kingdom of God through the Land Center for Cultural Engagement,” Land said. “I’m excited about our plans for the Land Center because I believe its initiatives, research, and academic programs will help believers engage our society more effectively with biblical truth.”
He added: “In God’s providence, we have been called to serve our Lord and Savior in an America that more and more mirrors the amorality of first century Corinth. America has never been more in need of the remarkable people called Southern Baptists to take up the Lord’s challenge to be the salt and light Jesus has commanded them to be. I look forward to seeing how God uses Southwestern and the Land Center to restore our nation through Gospel salt and to transform our people through Gospel light.”
The seminary leaders reviewed a prospective new mission statement for the Land Center, which is an academic center of the seminary organized to study and provide research on ethics, public policy and other cultural and philosophical issues. The Land Center will produce both scholarly and popular resources on ethical and public policy issues, host events, provide academic programs for Texas Baptist College (TBC) students, engage in research, and convene gatherings for candid conversations about important issues.
