April 7, 2003

Hemphill resigns at Southwestern
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___FORT WORTH--Ken Hemphill announced his resignation as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary April 8.
___Hemphill, 54, told a packed chapel audience of students, faculty, staff and trustees he will take "early retirement" from the seminary to become national strategist for the Southern Baptist Convention's Empowering Kingdom Growth initiative.
___He becomes the first president in the seminary's 95-year history to voluntarily leave the post for another position. His six predecessors either died in office, retired or were fired.
___Hemphill will complete the current academic term before moving to Nashville, Tenn., where he will be jointly employed by the SBC Executive Committee and LifeWay Christian Resources. Empowering Kingdom Growth is a new national initiative to promote church health and growth and mission. It has no specific goals but has been touted as an inspirational ideal.
___ Hemphill came to Southwestern in 1994 from a positio

Ken Hemphill

n similar to the one he soon will assume. From 1992 to 1994, he directed the Southern Baptist Center for Church Growth, a strategy role funded jointly by the SBC's Home Mission Board and what is now LifeWay.
___Prior to that, Hemphill built a reputation as an effective pastor at First Baptist Church of Norfolk, Va., where membership grew from 800 to 6,000 in 11 years.
___Southwestern trustees turned to Hemphill for leadership after firing President Russell Dilday. Fundamentalist trustees criticized Dilday for not getting on board with the conservative political and theological changes occurring within the SBC at the time.
___Hemphill has enjoyed more favorable relations with SBC leadership during his tenure, but some trustees privately have expressed frustration that he has not moved fast enough or far enough to make sweeping changes at the Fort Worth seminary, the SBC's largest.
___At the April 8 meeting, trustees gave no outward appearance of dissatisfaction with Hemphill. Those who spoke about his departure declared the change to be "God's will" and positive transition.
___Asked if Hemphill felt any pressure to leave, trustee Chairman Michael Dean responded by quoting Hemphill's own words: "Circumstances inform our decisions, but only the word of God and will of God determine our decisions."
___ Dean is pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, where Hemphill is a member.
___In the chapel service where Hemphill announced his plans, Dean urged students, faculty and staff not to despair over Hemphill's departure but to understand it as God's will.
___"Nothing important has changed," Dean said, emphasizing the certainty of God's reign.
___ Although this may be a "time of disappointment, discouragement, grief," Dean said, such "can be times when we see the Lord."
___The bottom line, he declared, is that "God is still on his throne."
___Hemphill tearfully read from a prepared text, emphasizing his love for the seminary and its people.
___"I will always be grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to serve the greatest seminary on the face of the Earth," he said.
___He recalled the first time he heard former President Robert Naylor's first-of-year ritual of pronouncing new students "Southwesterners." And he recalled Naylor's admonition never to do anything to "defame the name."
___In an apparent appeal to students not to protest his departure, Hemphill said: "Remember that your actions on this day reflect on (God) and his kingdom."
___Hemphill reported that he and his wife, Paula, feel a strong call from God to move to the new role, even though the decision is painful. Making this change, he added, is "in the best interest of the seminary and the Southern Baptist Convention."
___"Southwestern's future is bright," he declared, as are the possibilities of his work with Empowering Kingdom Growth.
___The chapel audience gave Hemphill three standing ovations, including one for Mrs. Hemphill when her name first was mentioned. The final ovation at the conclusion of Hemphill's statement lasted several minutes.
___Both Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, and Jimmy Draper, president of LifeWay, spoke to the chapel audience via video.
___Chapman noted that Hemphill's move is not unprecedented. In 1920, Southwestern President L.R. Scarborough was loaned to the SBC to lead a national campaign to raise $75 million.
___After Hemphill's announcement, Dean appointed a presidential search committee to be chaired by Denny Autrey, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale. The vice chairman will be Dean Gage, associate dean for academic programs in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University.
___Other members of the search committee are David Allen, professor of expository preaching at Criswell College and pastor of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving, who also was elected chairman of the board; David Galvan, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida in Garland, who was elected vice chairman of the board; Royal Smith, a retired psychologist and layman from First Baptist Church of Dallas, who was elected secretary of the board; David Jett, associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Gardendale, Ala.; Mike Marshall, a layman from First Baptist Church of Upper Marlboro, Md.; Matthew McKellar, pastor of Sylvania Baptist Church in Tyler, who has served several terms as board secretary but was defeated by Smith in a re-election bid, the only contested officer race; and Dan Schrider, a banking executive from Olney, Md. One other member is to be named by Allen as incoming board chairman.
___As currently configured, the nine-member committee includes representatives from three states. Its members include one Hispanic, eight Anglos and no African-Americans or Asians. The committee members are all male. It includes five clergy and four laymen.
___Dean said the search committee will be given no time frame to complete its work. "We're setting the beginning point, not the end point," he said, urging the committee to take "however long it takes to find God's man."
___Hemphill's last day as president will be July 31, but no plan was announced for an interim president should the search committee not conclude its work before then.
___In other business, Southwestern trustees:
___Voted to give the L.R. Scarborough Award next October to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Eklund and Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm McDowell. McDowell will become the first faculty member to receive the award, which is given to individuals who either contribute or lead others to contribute large amounts to the seminary. Eklund is former stewardship director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas who now works with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The seminary also plans to name an academic chair for the Eklunds.
___Adopted a new student fee structure that moves from a matriculation fee to a tuition-based system. Provost Craig Blaising said the tuition rate will be comparable to other SBC seminaries, but he would not reveal the approved amount until he holds a meeting with students. The trustees' work on budget and many other matters was done in closed-door committees and then approved in the plenary sessions through common consent.
___Adopted a $30.8 million budget for the next academic year, although details of the budget were not discussed in open sessions. The new budget was reported to be a 1.5 percent increase over the current year.
___Heard an update on renovations at the seminary's Houston campus, which has been relocated to property donated by Park Place Baptist Church.
___Learned that negotiations are under way between Southwestern, Criswell College and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to provide expanded educational opportunities for Hispanics in San Antonio and Houston.
___Elected four new faculty members. Elias Moitinho, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Ennis, was elected assistant professor of psychology and counseling. John Moldovan, chairman of the missions and evangelism department at Criswell College, was elected associate professor of evangelism and intercultural studies. Greg Welty, a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, was elected assistant professor of philosophy. Malcolm Yarnell, dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was elected associate professor of systematic theology. Yarnell also was named to lead a new center for theological research.
___Learned that the typical age of entering students is getting younger. According to data presented to trustees, 51 percent of Southwestern's entering students are younger than 25. More than half are single, also a change from previous years. Students are most likely to come from suburban churches with more than 1,000 members, the report also said.
___Learned that pastoral ministry is not the primary vocational intent of most seminary students. Among males and females combined, more than half indicate plans to enter foreign missions, compared to 28 percent who plan to enter some type of local-church ministry. Among males, youth ministry ranks first as a vocational destination, followed by missions and then pastoral ministry.
___Agreed to write resolutions of appreciation for board members who were ending terms of service, including a special commendation for retired Fort Worth pastor Miles Seaborn, who previously served as chairman of the board and has been a highly influential figure on the board.
___Ended their meeting in executive session to discuss terms of Hemphill's departure.


___(Updated at 11:30 a.m. April 9).




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