NEW ORLEANS (BP) – A spirit of encouragement marked the regularly scheduled meeting of the board of trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, Oct. 10-11. 

“We had a very productive board of trustees meeting this year,” said NOBTS President Jamie Dew. “We are excited about the morale and the time that we had with our trustees to talk about our vision and our mission.” 

Norris Grubbs, provost, reported that he was encouraged by both upward trending enrollment and the faculty’s commitment to the local church. Trustees heard optimistic reports concerning the institution’s academic contribution and activities of the office of spiritual formation. 

“Not only have our faculty excelled in publications and presentations, but they have done so without losing focus on the local church,” Grubbs said. According to his report, more than 60 per cent of the faculty are serving on a church staff in some capacity. 

Thomas Strong, vice president of spiritual formation and student life, said the seminary’s Sept. 28 Serve Day, a once-a-semester event where students share the Gospel and minister in the city, saw a record number of participants and yielded at least one profession of faith. He also reported on the newly established Campus Common Goods, an initiative intended to support students and their families struggling with food insecurity. 

Each of these measurements are encouraging signs on the “spiritual climate” of campus, Dew said. 

“I continue to sense and see that the spiritual influence on this campus is very strong,” Dew said. “We are a people that just want to follow Jesus.” 

On the second day of the meeting, three new trustees signed the Articles of Religious Belief and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000: Daniel Conrades (Indiana), Gregg Phillips (Louisiana) and Katherine Webb (Alabama).