Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, is “standing strong, serving faithfully and once again enjoying another year of record enrollment,” President Jason K. Allen said.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19, enrollment grew at Southern Baptists’ youngest seminary during the pandemic, he said during Midwestern’s report to messengers on Wednesday (June 16). Last year, the seminary enrolled 4,374 students, up from just over 1,000 students a decade ago, and had 1,600 full-time equivalent students, up from around 400 a decade ago.
Out of approximately 300 institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, only seven have reported enrollment growth for all of the past five years, and of those seven, Midwestern has grown the most, Allen said.
Reasons for growth
He said he believes that growth can be attributed to two things — the vision of Midwestern to be “for the church” and the seminary’s theological convictions.
“Our ambition is to be the most faithful seminary on the planet when it comes to serving the local church,” he said. “To put that in sharper focus, it is here to serve Southern Baptist churches.”
Allen also shared thoughts on the seminary’s growth and success at an Alumni and Friends Luncheon hosted by Midwestern the same day. He also presented Michael Catt, retired pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, with the Distinguished Service Award during that luncheon. Catt is a Midwestern alumnus.
