FORT WORTH—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees tapped key administrators from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., for top posts, electing Adam Greenway as the Fort Worth seminary’s ninth president and Randy Stinson as its provost and vice president of academic administration.
At the called meeting Feb. 26-27, the board elected Greenway, a Southwestern Seminary alumnus and Southern Seminary dean, both as president and as professor of evangelism and apologetics. Trustees also elected Stinson, 51, who was provost and senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Seminary for a comparable role at Southwestern Seminary.
“Just to dispel some who may be fearful of this, I have no intention of coming here and trying to create a miniaturized version of Southern or a caricature of Southern here” at Southwestern, Greenway said at a news conference following his election. He added Southwestern Seminary has no need to “import another institution’s legacy.”
Greenway, 41, has been dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at Southern Seminary since 2013. During his time in that role, he led the Billy Graham School to become the largest graduate school at any Southern Baptist seminary with more than 2,100 students enrolled, including 994 in the Master of Divinity degree program.
He succeeds Paige Patterson, who was president of Southwestern Seminary from 2003 until May 2018. The board removed Patterson as president in response to Patterson’s comments about spousal abuse and women but initially named him president emeritus. The board’s executive committee subsequently stripped Patterson of all titles and benefits after new information emerged about how he handled rape allegations at a seminary where he served previously.
Serve churches ‘in every right way’
Responding to reporters’ questions following his election, Greenway called Southwestern Seminary “the crown jewel seminary of Southern Baptists,” “the original Great Commission seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention” and “the big tent seminary” of the SBC.
“My vision is for a Southwestern Seminary that leads and serves our Southern Baptist Convention of churches in every right way. … My passion and priority as president is to serve pastors and to serve churches—to equip the next generation of pastors and missionaries and evangelists and church staff members, to see a more faithful ministry everywhere,” he said.
Greenway expressed his desire to see Southwestern Seminary students “engaged in ministry and missions right here and right now” in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, adding he hoped the seminary will be “a positive force for everything that is right in Southern Baptist and Texas Baptist life.”
“We are committed to doing everything we can to build bridges and to bring people together, because we recognize the task God has given to us is greater than any one of us could ever accomplish,” he said.
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Reflecting on similarities and differences between the Kentucky seminary where he has been dean and the Fort Worth seminary, he praised founder B.H. Carroll’s vision for taking the best of Southern Seminary’s legacy of theological scholarship and combining it with evangelistic zeal.
He praised Southwestern Seminary’s historic legacy as a “big tent seminary” that has been able to bring together people who differ on secondary and tertiary theological issues but share a common commitment to the local church and the Great Commission.
Greenway is a past president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, former board chair of LifeWay Christian Resources and current chair of the Southern Baptist Convention Committee on Order of Business.
He also served as pastor and/or interim pastor of a dozen churches across Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and Florida.
Greenway earned his undergraduate degree from Samford University, a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Seminary and a doctorate in evangelism and apologetics from Southern Seminary. He also holds a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
Greenway met his wife, Carla, when they both were students at Southwestern Seminary. They have been married since 2003 and have two children, Wade, 9, and Caroline, 3.
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