Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR)

We received word today that Henry Mugabe and his son died in a car accident in Zimbabwe. Please keep Hermina and the family in your prayers.

Alumni

BTSR transcripts can still be requested at https://BTSR.edu/alumni. BTSR will continue to fulfill requests until Mercer University completes processing of electronic transcripts.

btsr.edu Transcript Request Update, July 2019: Transcripts continue to be available from BTSR. After the transfer to Mercer University is completed, a link will be posted here to guide you to the appropriate Mercer website. Submit a transcript request here Please Note: Due to BTSR having very limited pers....

After an extensive process to verify the transcripts of BTSR attendees and graduates, Dr. Tracy Hartman safely delivered hard copies to Mercer University today. Many thanks to Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology, dean Greg DeLoach and registrar Diana Hill for their support of BTSR alumni/ae by providing a new home for these important records. Thanks also to Donna Rhaney, BTSR’s most recent registrar, and John Fuller for all their work to prepare for the transfer.

All BTSR transcripts have been checked and processed. Ready to transfer to Mercer University!

Alumni

The process of transferring BTSR transcripts to Mercer University is continuing. During the interim, as well as after the transfer is completed, you may continue to visit the BTSR website at www.btsr.edu/alumni to request copies of your transcript.

btsr.edu Transcript Request Update, July 2019: Transcripts continue to be available from BTSR. After the transfer to Mercer University is completed, a link will be posted here to guide you to the appropriate Mercer website. Submit a transcript request here Please Note: Due to BTSR having very limited pers....

Liberty University cuts divinity faculty

insidehighered.com Divinity is chopping faculty slots and has lost students steadily in recent years at evangelical university, which has long said religion is central to its programs.

Victoria Atkinson White: Institutional fragility calls for holy friendships | Faith and Leadership

Good words from Victoria Atkinson White, M.Div. '00.

faithandleadership.com Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond held its final graduation -- its final ceremony of any kind -- on May 25, 2019. It was not exactly a funeral or a memorial service. It’s hard to describe the experience of watching an institution close. Technically, BTSR closed Jan. 31. Legally, I suppose, ...

NEW PHOTOS! Many more grad photos, including wonderful portraits, posted today in the BTSR gallery. Check them out and download at https://btsr.smugmug.com

More photos of the graduation banquet and breakfast are available at https://btsr.smugmug.com

Graduation 2019 - BTSR

Graduation photos are here! Thanks to the generosity of Sterling W. Severns and volunteers from Tabernacle Baptist Church, these beautiful pictures are available for free download.

btsr.smugmug.com BTSR graduation ceremonies 2019

BTSR Alumni/ae and Friends - a good word from Greg DeLoatch, acting dean of McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University: "Twenty-three years ago BTSR welcomed our school when we were established. In this emerging season for BTSR, I hope you know that we stand with you. We would love for you to be our guests at this year's CBF Assembly for a mixer. We all need space to share, practice hope and look to future. You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/friends-and-alumni-gather-at-cbf-general-assembly-tickets-61956377192"

Virginia Seminary Leaves Behind 30-Year Legacy of Towel-Bearers

ethicsdaily.com Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond has closed its doors. During its long, tumultuous 30-year run, one image has consistently reflected the Virginia seminary. A servant’s towel.

Profiles in Goodwill: Linda McKinnish Bridges

Ethics Daily features Linda Bridges in its profiles series.

ethicsdaily.com Linda McKinnish Bridges was a founding faculty member of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond as well as the seminary’s president from 2017 to 2019.

BTSR graduates 21 in its final commencement ceremony

baptistnews.com In a bittersweet and poignant setting, 21 members of the final graduating class at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond were awarded degrees and certificates in commencement exercises May 25 in Richmond, Virginia. The graduating class was larger than usual, as faculty and students condensed a

Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR)'s cover photo

The Essential Skill for a 21st Century Pastor

From BTSR board chair Bill Wilson, founder of the Center for Healthy Churches.

mailchi.mp Bill Wilson describes how being a turnaround leader is an essential skill for a 21st century pastor

View Recording: Commencement 2019

The recording of the graduation service is now available on the BTSR website (through 6/30)!

https://www.btsr.edu/view-graduation2019/

btsr.edu

Congratulations to the BTSR class of 2019, who received their degrees and certificates yesterday! You Are BTSR.
More photos coming soon...

Remembering and giving thanks for BTSR at our Benediction breakfast.

The annual graduation banquet was a great time, as graduates received the BTSR towel of service.

JOIN US for graduation on Saturday! If you can't make it in person, the service will be livestreamed, and the recording will be posted for later viewing. Find the link at https://www.btsr.edu/commencement2019.

If you need a copy of your BTSR transcript, it's available through June 30 via the BTSR website (see link below; we'll start fulfilling orders next week, after graduation is over). After June, BTSR transcripts will be available through Mercer University; we'll share details soon about how to request from Mercer.

https://www.btsr.edu/alumni/

Give thanks for BTSR

Thank you Paul Baxley, we are proud to call you one of our own. - Tracy Hartman
https://cbfblog.com/2019/05/22/give-thanks-for-btsr/?fbclid=IwAR1ew4L7k_QqZ8SKEEeRzjOGA2FrnzmEiUDBT5uqDhoujFv1pjKmjf6mgpc

cbfblog.com By Paul Baxley As the final graduation approaches at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond this weekend, my mind has been on that night 16 years ago when I completed my Doctor of Ministry progr…

If you can't make it to graduation in person, the service will be livestreamed. Find the link at https://www.btsr.edu/graduation2019.

At the suggestion of alumni and with leadership from Deb Loftis, the commencement ceremony this Saturday will conclude with a choir singing the traditional "Clare Benediction." All singers are welcome; there will be a brief run-through Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in the choir room at First Baptist. To help Dr. Loftis know how many singers to expect, please message her at her personal email address (or if you don't have her contact info, just private message BTSR on Facebook). Thanks to Dr. Loftis and all singers for this grace note to the service and blessing to the graduates.

Have a BTSR towel? Bring it to graduation ceremonies on Saturday (10:30 a.m., Richmond's FBC) for the "blessing of the towels."

The first BTSR board of trustees; looks like this was the meeting where Tom Graves was selected as president. Thanks to Brenda Lee for posting this; Brenda, Frank Goare and Morris Ashcraft were the entire seminary staff starting in 1989!
Front row: Lynda Weaver-Williams, Alan Neeley, Mary Strauss, Tom Graves, Morris Ashcraft, Ross Shearer; Back row: Frank Goare, Heath Rada, Jeanette Holt, Ron Crawford, Anne Thomas Neil, Elmer West, Sue Fitzgerald, Basil Manly IV, Clint Hopkins, John Trotti, Brenda Lee. (Not pictured: Stan Hastey, Allix B. James, John W. Kinney)

BTSR Commencement is less than two weeks away, and we are so pleased that our own Elizabeth Mangham Lott (M.Div. '08) will be our speaker.

Join us at First Baptist Richmond on May 25. At 9 AM we'll offer a light breakfast and Gathering of Bene•diction where we'll speak a "good word" over BTSR's history. Commencement is at 10:30, honoring the 21 members of the Class of 2019.

We are most grateful for the gifts of friends, alumni/ae, and other supporters, and BTSR continues to accept donations through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2019.

As of February 27, we are closing out the ability to receive online donations on the BTSR website. This is a way to minimize costs in our final months of limited operations. Should you wish to give after that date, you can simply send your donation to our new P.O. Box address: BTSR, P. O. Box 3066, Richmond, VA 23228.

We are thankful for your continuing partnership as we finish well and provide the 20 students in the BTSR Class of 2019 with a meaningful graduation.

Help the Class of 2019 cross the stage on May 25! Our student support fund, as well as our faculty fund, will benefit from the auction of equipment and furnishings from the BTSR Villa. Want to learn more or see what's available? Start here:
http://tinyurl.com/y73262tg

Bids close on Wednesday, February 27, and pickup is Friday, March 1.

(Photo: BTSR Class of 2018)

Next Steps at BTSR • Looking Toward Graduation • Feb 8 2019

mailchi.mp The last few weeks have been difficult for the family of BTSR students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae and friends as we moved through the process of finding new paths forward for students and winding down day-to-day operations for our much-loved seminary. The transition has brought deep grief and adjust...

My seminary has closed. But churches are closing too, and it’s time to face some hard questions

From BTSR alumna Elizabeth Mangham Lott (M.Div. '08), pastor of St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans.

baptistnews.com “I bet they didn’t teach you that in seminary,” folks say when the pastor springs to action responding to a flooded bathroom or a leaky roof. “I bet they didn’t teach you that in seminary,” as the pastor enters the world of grant-writing and creating sustainable revenue streams for a cen

Since the Faculty Severance Fund launched in December, individuals and churches have given just over $155,000 – just $5,000 away from meeting the matching challenge gift! Many thanks to everyone who has given. The fund will be receiving contributions through February, and your gifts are welcome, by mail or online at https://btsr.edu/give

20 grads reach finish line before BTSR closes its doors

In this grief-filled week, we are grateful for the 20 who are slated to receive BTSR degrees in May. And thanks to Art Wright for his good reminder as he led our Service of Closure: "BTSR is not a failed experiment or unsuccessful as an institution. It is a pioneer, a visionary, a trailblazer that served and taught so many of us well. It has at least 750 successes, and my hunch is we could count many, many more."

baptistnews.com Twenty graduates await diplomas in May as the last graduating class of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Jan. 31 marked the final day of operation for the moderate Baptist seminary closing its doors after more than 30 years due to financial pressures. Members of the BSTR Class of 2019

Art Wright planned and led a wonderful Service of Closure on Tuesday for the final chapel at BTSR, along with other members of the seminary community.

Read his sermon - https://tinyurl.com/yarnkxvz
Watch the recording: https://tinyurl.com/yampxhqt

In the midst of wrapping up final details, the BTSR staff paused for a last group lunch and a word of thanks for their work. Linda Bridges presented BTSR throw blankets to George Muricken and Ivy Haga in gratitude for their years of service (George, 12 years, and Ivy, 8 years).