Two graduates and longtime administrators at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary were recognized today during chapel for their recent elections to the leadership of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, presented gifts and certificates of appreciation to his former colleagues Adam Greenway and Randy Stinson, who in March were announced as the next president and provost, respectively, of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Greenway was previously dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at Southern Seminary, and Stinson was provost and senior vice president for academic administration. Mohler called their elections a “moment of pride” for Southern Seminary.
“This is our opportunity to say ‘Thank you’ to two of our own who have now, in the providence of God, been called to serve a sister institution at a very historic time,” Mohler said. “They have been, for virtually a generation, a part of the Southern Seminary family. Thus, a part of our heart goes every time someone leaves to go to another place of service.”
Mohler said the election of Greenway and Stinson marks an historic moment for Southwestern Seminary and points to “great days ahead” for the school.
“These elections mean such good things for such an important institution — an institution dearly needed by the Southern Baptist Convention at full strength and influence and dearly needed by the whole evangelical world.”
Mohler presented Greenway a certificate on behalf of the school in recognition of his election as president of Southwestern. It included one page, taken from Hebrews 12, from a King James Version of the Bible printed in 1614.
Greenway joined the faculty at Southern Seminary in 2007, shortly after he earned a doctorate of philosophy degree from the Billy Graham School. He served as the William Walker Brookes Associate Professor of Evangelism and Apologetics and became dean of the Billy Graham School in 2013.
“I cannot tell you what Southern Seminary means to me and to my family,” Greenway said. “I would not have been prepared and able to be president of Southwestern Seminary had it not been for my time and experience here.”
Mohler also recognized Randy Stinson, who is the new provost and vice president for academic administration at Southwestern. He previously worked in a similar role at Southern Seminary as provost and senior vice president for academic administration, as well as the school’s Basil Manly Jr. Professor of Leadership and Family Ministry.
Mohler also presented a certificate to Stinson, who first joined the Southern Seminary faculty in 2005. Stinson received a page from Psalm 19, taken from the same 1614 edition of the King James Bible.
“This seminary has shaped us in every conceivable way,” Stinson said. “This institution is not about the buildings and the bricks; it has been and always will be about the people. The people here have been incredible to us over the years, and we’re so thankful.”
Fellow alumnus and president of the International Mission Board Paul Chitwood preached in the chapel service after Mohler recognized Greenway and Stinson.
A reception in the Duke K. McCall Sesquicentennial Pavilion immediately following the chapel service gave members of the Southern Seminary community — faculty, students, and staff — a chance to thank Greenway and Stinson for their service to the school.