EDITOR’S NOTE: “From the Seminaries” includes news releases of interest from Southern Baptist seminaries.
Southwestern’s Sanchez honored for lifetime impact
By Alex Sibley
FORT WORTH, Texas — Daniel Sanchez, professor of missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, received the Lifetime Impact Award during a meeting of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference on Oct. 13.
The award is presented once a year by the NHCLC, America’s largest Hispanic Christian evangelical organization.
Sanchez has served in numerous positions in missions and academia, from missionary in Guatemala to evangelism director of the Baptist Convention of New York; from academic dean at Panama Baptist Theological Seminary to director of Southwestern’s Scarborough Institute for Church Growth. In addition, he has traveled to numerous countries around the world to teach in seminaries and local churches, devoting special attention to those in Latin America.
Sanchez received the award as a surprise from Andrea Ramirez, executive director of NHCLC’s Faith and Education Coalition, at the end of a one-day conference at Southwestern’s Fort Worth, Texas, campus.
“Dr. Sanchez is such a humble man,” Ramirez said, “but he has a long list of things that the Lord has called him to do and that he has obeyed and is doing. … We want to honor you for a lifetime of being an education advocate and for being a cultural translator wherever you are in different committees that you served on at different institutions.”
Upon accepting the award, Sanchez received a standing ovation. In addition to NHCLC conference attendees, Southwestern President Paige Patterson and his wife, professor Dorothy Patterson, as well as Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising, were among Southwestern leaders present to honor Sanchez.
As Sanchez accepted the award with tears, Ramirez, on behalf of all in attendance, prayed for him. She thanked God for what He has done in Sanchez’s life and for all that Sanchez represents — that is, “all the different individuals that he has helped to equip to love [God] with all of their minds.”
To read more about Sanchez’s ministry, including his worldwide network of ministry relationships and impact on the Hispanic world, see the winter 2015 issue of Southwestern News. For a Spanish-language translation at Baptist Press en Español, click here.
Brown named ‘neighborhood champion’ for post-Katrina work
By Gary D. Myers
NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Kevin Brown, now a social work professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, poured his life into the Hollygrove neighborhood as the director of Trinity Christian Community (TCC) from 1998 until 2013. No time was his commitment to Hollygrove more evident than in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.
While national media coverage surrounding the 10th anniversary of the storm often ignored grassroots recovery efforts by New Orleanians themselves, local publications took notice. Preservation in Print, the official magazine of the Preservation Resource Center (PRC) of New Orleans, called Brown a “neighborhood champion” in its September 2015 edition in series titled “Heroes among Us.”
After Katrina’s onslaught, Brown secured the $2 million in funding needed to deploy 100 AmeriCorps members throughout the city to assist with house gutting and reconstruction. Preservation in Print called the AmeriCorps initiative “game-changing for the city’s recovery effort.”
The article also highlighted the community development work Brown has been a part of in his 15 years at TCC. The efforts include after-school tutoring, youth mentoring, prenatal health programs and assisting in the development of the popular farmer’s market in Hollygrove. Brown also was instrumental in the opening of Dunbar Elementary School in the neighborhood.
“Every positive thing that has happened in Hollygrove in recent memory, Kevin played at least some role in it,” said Jon Skvarka, director of PRC’s Rebuilding Together New Orleans initiative, the magazine reported.
Brown, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in urban studies at the University of New Orleans, left TCC in 2013 to teach in the social work program at NOBTS. However, Brown said TCC will continue in community development efforts aimed at raising incomes and home ownership rates in the neighborhood under the leadership of Jarvain Bingmon, the new TCC director.
Agreement increases understanding between seminaries
By Rebekah Wahlberg
MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) — Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and John Ong, president of Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary, signed an agreement Oct. 8 for students and faculty to have the opportunity to pursue their education or research between the two schools.
The agreement affirms the relationship of the two institutions as fellow Baptist entities and introduces a new way for students and faculty to take advantage of a multicultural experience.
“Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary shares the same vision as us, in that we want to be a blessing to our own nation but also to the nations,” Ong said. “Knowing that Golden Gate Seminary is concerned and is extending the opportunity for partnership is encouraging in that we are not alone and we can work together.”
The memo specifically lays out policies and guidelines for student admissions, faculty relationships and utilization of facilities between the two seminaries, enabling each to “enhance understanding between the two schools and to develop academic and cultural relationships in the areas of education, research, spiritual endeavors, and other activities,” the memo states.
“We are delighted to work in partnership with the Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary,” Iorg said. “It gives us an opportunity to invest ourselves in another school that we think is making a very significant contribution and also receive from them what they can do to encourage and help us develop programs that are more effective in the Chinese community.”
