Five years into his tenure as president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, Jamie Dew said serving there has been “the greatest honor and the greatest joy” of his family’s life.
“We are so grateful that we get to serve you and to work with those fine people down in the city of New Orleans, doing what you put us there to do, which is to train up the next generation of missionaries, pastors, preachers and teachers. … We’re very excited about doing the work that you’ve given us to do,” Dew said.
Presenting his report during the June 12 afternoon session of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Dew highlighted several areas he and his team at NOBTS have focused in recent years, including:
- Expanding undergraduate degree programs at Leavell College and increasing student life activities and enrollment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
- Highlighting the unique identity of New Orleans as a location for theological preparation and evangelistic outreach and reengaging Southern Baptists with the campus and city.
Bucking that trend
Dew noted that fewer men and women are answering a call on their lives, and as a result, theological education in North America is in crisis. Southern Baptist seminaries are bucking that trend, he said.
“Your six (seminaries) are thriving. They’re flourishing,” Dew said.
He credited Southern Baptists for their commitment to the Great Commission and said face-to-face meetings remind him that “Southern Baptists are kind, they’re gracious, they’re hard-working, they’re humble. They love Jesus and want to make Him known.
“It is with all of that in mind … that we recommit ourselves to the work that God put us there (in New Orleans) to do.”
To view more photos from the seminary reports, click here.
