These past thirty days have been truly historic
These past thirty days have been truly historic for Carroll Institute. During this time I have become more convinced than ever that the mission and vision of Carroll are part of God’s plan to equip missional church leaders here and around the world. As I preach in churches, attend conferences and graduate school fairs, I see the eyes of men and women light up when they realize they can be equipped with accredited degrees where they live and serve. I have never been more confident that B. H. Carroll Institute has a place on the landscape of God’s redeeming work in Christ Jesus through the local church and the equipping of its servant leaders.
What are some of the historic events that now are part of our history?
On Friday, October 24, we graduated our first global students at the Primera Iglesia Bautista de Camagüey, Cuba. Carroll Institute has been on the island for seven years equipping a cohort of church leaders in a Master of Arts in Theology program. Twenty-two from that cohort graduated with their MAT. You can read about the events of that historic day here. If you would like to give to ensure the rest of that first cohort can finish their degree work, you can give here.
On Sunday, October 26, four students received their diplomas for their Master of Arts in Theology degrees in St. Petersburg, Russia. You can read about the graduation here, and if you are led by God to build up the church in Russia, you can give here. These graduates from Cuba and Russia bring the number of alumni who live and serve in six US states and four other countries to 115 since our first graduation in 2007.
Upon the retirement of Dr. Budd Smith, one of our founding Senior Fellows and architects of Carroll Institute, the Board of Governors elected Dr. Norma Hedin as Senior Fellow of the Ministry and Formation cluster during their fall meeting on Tuesday, October 28. Norma, a protégé of Dr. Smith, brings years of experience, leadership, and knowledge to this key position at Carroll. We are blessed God has led Norma and her husband Eric to Carroll for this season of growth. You can read more about the election of Norma here.
On Tuesday, November 11 we celebrated the tenth anniversary of Carroll Institute and the 100th anniversary of the death of our namesake, B. H. Carroll. We gathered in the historic First Baptist Church, Waco, TX to celebrate the life, ministry, and legacy of this larger-than-life pastor. You can read about the event here. The event was historic for me personally because I have been part of almost every Baptist work in Texas for which he was a catalyst. I graduated from Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary, both of which he helped launch. I was a member of First Baptist Church, Waco, as a freshman at Baylor where he was pastor for twenty-seven years. The churches I have served have been BGCT churches, which he helped form. But most meaningful to me in regard to Pastor Carrollis the fact that I was a local church pastor for twenty-six years where I taught pastors and church leaders as a Resident Fellow in a Teaching Church of B. H. Carroll Theological Institute since 2005.
The more I have learned and celebrated B. H. Carroll, the pastor’s life and ministry, the more I am honored and passionate to be the lead servant of the seminary that bears his name. I hope you will join me in our vision to deliver accredited theological education to Christ-centered leaders in their context through a network of ministry partners. We need your prayers and support to continue the work of Christ through men and women who felt the call like B. H. Carroll.
As we come to the end of the calendar year, please consider a gift to Carroll in order to equip missional leaders here and around the world. Follow the link here to give on our secure server.
On the plaques we gave to Pastor Abel in Camagüey and to Faye Rees and Buddy’s family to establish the Buddy Rees School of Ministry in Cuba is the reference, Romans 10:14, 15, which reads:
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
May this call to “send and tell” continue to be the heartbeat of Carroll Institute.
Serving with you,
