Two Southwestern faculty holding
out on signing faith statement
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___FORT WORTH--Two of the 89 faculty members at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary are resisting the requirement that they sign the revised Baptist Faith & Message statement.
___Meanwhile, seminary trustees March 6 approved a new dean of students, hired a Texas pastor as associate professor of pastoral ministry, granted promotions to seven faculty members and elected a Fort Worth pastor chairman of the trustee board.
___The names of the two holdouts on signing the 2000 version of Baptist Faith & Message were not disclosed. But President Ken Hemphill said both teach in the School of Theology.
___"They are men of integrity," he said, who are struggling with whether they can sign the faith statement in good conscience.
___Though overwhelmingly approved by messengers to the 2000 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the revised faith statement has been criticized by some Baptists for removing language about Jesus being "the criterion by which Scripture is interpreted" and insisting that females cannot be pastors.
___Hemphill said he discussed the matter with trustees during their March 5-7 meeting on campus and now must go back to those faculty members for further conversation.
___The bottom line, however, is "we will keep good faith with the Southern Baptist Convention" and "we will keep faith with our bylaws," Hemphill said.
___Trustees previously amended the seminary's bylaws to require all faculty to sign the Baptist Faith & Message in whatever form it is adopted or changed by the SBC.
___If the two Southwestern faculty members continue to resist signing the revised faith statement, that apparently would result in their termination.
___Hemphill said all faculty--full-time and adjunct--are required to sign the faith statement and pledge to teach "in accordance with and not contrary to it."
___This requirement applies equally to new faculty, current faculty, adjunct faculty and retired faculty teaching adjunctively, he said. "Nobody is grandfathered."
___However, trustees "do have the ability to permit anyone to teach," Hemphill said in response to a question about whether some retired faculty have been exempted. He did not indicate that anyone has received an exemption from signing the revised Baptist Faith & Message.
___David Crutchley, dean of the School of Theology, said the deadline for faculty signatures is before the start of next academic year, in August. By that point, anyone who will teach at Southwestern must have signed the Baptist Faith & Message, he said.
___During their March meeting, trustees named David McQuitty dean of students. He succeeds Lawrence Klempnauer, who retired in December as vice president for student services. McQuitty will carry the same responsibility, but with the new title that in essence makes him a hybrid between a dean and a vice president.
___McQuitty, 56, is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, Dallas Baptist University and Southwestern Seminary. He has been director of student financial aid at the seminary.
___He and his wife, Marcia, are members of Woods Chapel Baptist Church in Arlington, where he also serves as minister to senior adults. She teaches childhood education at the seminary.
___Larry Ashlock, pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Midland, was elected associate professor of pastoral ministry.
___Ashlock, 46, is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary. He has served five Texas Baptist churches as pastor and has been active in associational and denominational work.
___He currently serves on the board of the Baptist Standard.
___Two Southwestern faculty members were named distinguished professors--preaching professor Al Fasol and theology professor Bert Dominy. Others receiving promotions included Doug Blount, Karen Bullock, Paul Gritz, Stephen Stookey and Allen Lott.
___Trustees also elected new officers.
___Michael Dean, pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, succeeds Miles Seaborn, a retired Fort Worth pastor, as chairman.
___Dean was elected without opposition.
___Seaborn was a founder of the new Southern Baptists of Texas Convention formed in opposition to the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Dean's church, however, remains aligned with the BGCT and is not reported by SBTC to be an affiliated church.
___David Allen, pastor of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving and director of the Jerry Vines Institute of Biblical Preaching at Criswell College, was elected vice chairman. His church broke ties with the BGCT last year and is uniquely aligned with SBTC.
___In January, even though departed from the BGCT, Allen wrote and circulated an "open letter" to BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade taking exception with the BGCT's direction. Allen charged moderate Baptists have distorted the doctrine of soul competency and driven a "wedge between Jesus and the Bible."
___Matthew McKellar, pastor of Sylvania Baptist Church in Tyler, was re-elected secretary of the board. That church also remains aligned with the BGCT and is not listed as affiliated with SBTC.
The Baptist Standard
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