SWBTS announces chapel speakers, new chapel location
By Karen Garcia/SWBTS
FORT WORTH, Texas – Fall chapel services at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will include different facets of ministry, but with an overall focus on Old Testament texts that tell God’s redemptive story as chapel services transition to Truett Auditorium in the B.H. Carroll Memorial Complex.
“We are excited about the fall 2026 chapel schedule at Southwestern Seminary,” President David S. Dockery said, noting the schedule “has features on missions, youth ministry, the chaplaincy, and the overall work of Texas Baptist College, in addition to the overall theme focusing on great Old Testament texts that will help us better understand God’s overall providential plan for His people.
“The fall chapel focus will prepare us for a similar look at great New Testament texts in the spring, allowing us throughout the year to better grasp the unfolding of the redemptive story from Genesis to Revelation,” he added.
Dockery also expressed excitement for fall chapel services to be held in the newly renovated Truett Auditorium, “where generations of Southwesterners worshiped as students. We are immensely grateful for the hard work of Jimbob Brown, director of audio-visual production; Joey Cruse, director of facilities maintenance; Adam Snead, director of facilities planning; and their teams, who have worked tirelessly since late spring to renovate this cherished space on our campus.”
Chapel services begin Aug. 25 with convocation led by Dockery. The Chancellor’s Chapel will follow on Aug. 27 with Chancellor O.S. Hawkins.
Services continue with a focus on missions during Global Missions Week, with Todd Lafferty, executive vice president of the International Mission Board (IMB), speaking Sept. 1, and David Page, currently on special assignment developing theological education for Central Asian peoples, on Sept. 3.
Other guest speakers include Alan Chan, pastor of Mandarin Baptist Church in Los Angeles and a Southwestern Seminary alumnus; Douglas Carver, executive director of chaplaincy for the North American Mission Board (NAMB); Shane Pruitt, national NextGen director for NAMB and an affiliate professor of student ministries at Southwestern; and Benjamin Bolin, lead teaching pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church and PhD student at Southwestern Seminary. Tommy Kidd, research professor of church history at Midwestern Seminary, will present the Day-Higginbotham Lectures on Sept. 24.
The schedule also includes a Texas Baptist College panel discussion on Sept. 17 and prayer time for trustees on the day of prayer, Oct. 20.
Chapel services begin at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Truett Auditorium. Services also will be broadcast live at swbts.edu/live.
See the full story, including calendar, here.
Jared C. Wilson releases ‘Pastoral Mentoring: For the Care of Souls’
By Jonathan Lumley/MBTS
KANSAS CITY – Midwestern Seminary is pleased to announce the release of Pastoral Mentoring: For the Care of Souls by Jared C. Wilson, associate professor of pastoral theology at Midwestern Seminary.
In Pastoral Mentoring, Wilson provides pastors and ministry leaders with biblical foundations and practical guidance for cultivating a culture of pastoral development within the local church. Drawing from years of experience training men for ministry, Wilson encourages churches to embrace their responsibility to disciple and equip future generations of pastors.
“Pastors should be, more than anyone else, attentive to the command in 2 Timothy 2:2 to develop faithful men who will become faithful pastors,” said President Jason Allen. “Dr. Wilson’s experience doing this at Liberty Baptist Church here in Kansas City has so capably and faithfully given us a model for how this can take place at any church. I am certain this new release will be of great help to pastors and churches seeking to develop the next generation. Dr. Wilson is a blessing to our students, and I congratulate him on the release of his newest book.”
Developing pastors through local church discipleship
Wilson said the book developed from his experience training men for ministry over the past decade, particularly through his work at his local church.
“My time at Midwestern Seminary has been influential, of course, but it’s especially been my time directing the Pastoral Training Center ministry residency at Liberty Baptist Church that has really inspired wanting to put down some thoughts to help others at the local church level interested in raising up the next generation of pastors,” Wilson said.
Written primarily for pastors and ministry leaders, Pastoral Mentoring encourages churches to embrace the biblical model of spiritual fatherhood and intentionally invest in men who may be called to pastoral ministry.
Wilson explained that many churches recognize the importance of theological education but may unintentionally view the development of future pastors as something that happens primarily outside the local church.
“I want to honor the role of educational institutions but encourage pastors and churches to see that the development of future pastors shouldn’t be an outsourced project,” Wilson said.
While affirming the value of formal theological education, Wilson believes churches have a unique opportunity to shape future pastors through intentional discipleship, relationships, and ministry experience.
Another misconception Wilson hopes to address is that pastoral training requires significant resources or an elaborate program structure.
“I’d like churches to consider that the discipleship component of rich pastoral training doesn’t take a lot of money or overhead to accomplish,” Wilson said. “You just need the heart and time to give.”
Prioritizing character in pastoral formation
Throughout the book, Wilson emphasizes that faithful pastoral development must be grounded in both gospel centrality and spiritual formation. While churches should seek to cultivate preaching ability, leadership skills, and ministry competence, Wilson argues that character remains foundational.
Travis Montgomery, Joseph Lanier release ‘Every Perfect Gift’
By Jonathan Lumley/MBTS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Midwestern Seminary is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of Every Perfect Gift: Classical Virtues for Christian Formation, a new book by Travis J. Montgomery, assistant professor of Christian Studies and dean of the Global Campus at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College, and Joseph Lanier, a Midwestern Seminary alumnus and adjunct instructor.
Published by B&H Academic, Every Perfect Gift offers a biblical, theological, and historical account of seven classical Christian virtues: faith, hope, love, justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. Written from an evangelical perspective, the book aims to help Christians understand how these virtues contribute to their formation into the image of Christ.
“I am grateful for another outstanding contribution to the church from Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Lanier,” said President Jason Allen. “In an age marked by confusion, Every Perfect Gift points readers back to the all-sufficient Scriptures and the timeless wisdom of the Christian faith. This book will help believers cultivate the virtues that mark a life increasingly conformed to the image of Christ.”
A Framework for the Christian Life
Montgomery said the idea for the book grew out of his experience teaching and pastoring. While he could offer students and church members practical principles for leadership and Christian formation, he found himself searching for a broader framework that could bring those principles together.
“After some years of pastoring and teaching classes in leadership and Christian formation, I found that I could share lots of good advice and general principles but did not have an overall paradigm for a meaningful and fruitful Christian life,” Montgomery said.
Lanier, who was working at Midwestern Seminary and pastoring in Kansas City at the time, became a valuable conversation partner. As Montgomery began studying the seven virtues, he discovered that Lanier had already been reading many of the same works and teaching the framework within his church.
“We both wanted the members and students we were discipling to have deeper roots in Scripture and the rich history of Christian theology,” Montgomery said.
That shared concern became the foundation for Every Perfect Gift. The book draws its title from James 1:17 and explores the virtues as gifts from God that shape His people into faithful, wise, and holy.
Bringing Theology and Formation Together
At the heart of the book is a desire to reconnect theological reflection with personal transformation. Montgomery noted that Christians interested in doctrine and Christians interested in spiritual formation can sometimes approach the Christian life as though these were separate concerns.
“Those who love theology and those who love spiritual formation are sometimes in two different corners of the Christian room,” he said. “We want our readers to contemplate the deep things of God in the Scriptures not merely for their intellectual satisfaction but for their personal transformation.”
Rather than treating Christian character as a collection of helpful habits or techniques, Montgomery and Lanier connect the Christian life to the character and work of God. Christians grow in virtue as they know God through His Word and are increasingly formed into the likeness of Christ.
