July 14 2014 – another significant milestone
B. H. Carroll has reached another significant milestone in our short history. The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) granted us Associate membership status at its 2014 Biennial meeting last month. ATS is the gold standard for the accreditation of theological schools, and we are honored that the ATS members welcomed us into their fellowship. Our next step is to seek Candidate status that will prepare the way for full membership in the Association. Our desire is to achieve this goal in the next two to three years. Congratulations to our faculty and staff that has worked so hard to make this recognition possible.
I recently participated in the graduation ceremony of the Vietnamese Baptist Theological School (VBTS) in Atlanta during the Vietnamese Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. Carroll Institute, along with VBTS, First Baptist, Midland, and Vietnamese Bible, Inc., has begun to offer courses in Vietnam this year. I had the opportunity to tell of our shared work and thank our brothers and sisters in Christ for their partnership. (You can watch my explanation of our partnership along with some photos of the event) I am grateful to serve with Dr. Daniel Tran, the faculty of VBTS, and our other partners to equip church leaders through theological education in that country. My experience in Atlanta exemplifies the reach and purpose of B. H. Carroll. Through our network of local and global partners we have a “glocal” reach to equip men and women called to serve Christ and his church.
B. H. Carroll is returning theological education back to the local church. We do this through our Nexus of Teaching Churches and partners. We recently received approval from the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), our accrediting agency, to offer courses at First Baptist Church, Saginaw, TX (Danny Howe, Pastor) and First Baptist Church, Muskogee, OK (Lance Sawyer, Pastor). These new Teaching Churches open the doors of theological training to church staff and members who live in those regions of the southwest.
Our 2013-14 fiscal year ended June 30. I am happy to report that we finished $117,000.00+ above our expenses with cash on hand and in reserve. This is only made possible through the faithful giving of our donors, supporting churches, and individual gifts.
A couple recently asked how they could give to Carroll in such a way to impact the life of a local pastor or church. I pointed them to one of our students in Cuba, who will graduate this October with the first cohort of students there. They were excited to have a chance to give to meet his educational needs, correspond with the student and possibly make the trip with us to see him graduate later this year. If you would like to invest in our global mission and make a difference in a student’s life, you can give here.
The most valuable gift you can give us is your prayers. We cannot do what we do without the favor of the Lord and your prayerful support. Please place us on your personal and church’s prayer list and remember to pray for our staff, faculty, and students on a regular basis. We ask you as Paul asked his friends in Corinth, “You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (2 Cor. 1:11)
Learning and Serving with you,
