Reaching Southwestern's newest student population takes a little effort and a criminal background check. The journey begins with a drive south from Houston along a small farm-to-market road lined with fields of livestock and crops managed by some of Texas' most violent offenders.
After taking a lonely road to Darrington prison's front gate, Southwestern Seminary professors must pass through a series of security checkpoints, past gates topped with razor wire, through a metal detector and pat-down, and down a hall to the education wing.
Housed in this maximum security unit, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's new bachelor's degree in biblical studies gives inmates the opportunity to experience life transformation through studying the Bible as well as share that transformation with others.
Southwestern, in its first convocation inside Darrington's chapel, signified an innovative venture between the seminary and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Celebrating the launch of the new program, seminary administrators joined state Sens. John Whitmire and Dan Patrick as well as TDCJ leadership, special guests and the 39 inmates who compose the inaugural class.
Ben Phillips, associate dean at Southwestern's Houston campus and director of the extension program, welcomed everyone to the convocation at the Darrington unit of the Texas penal system.
"We are here to celebrate what God is going to be doing and how God is going to use these men and the lives they touch to bring honor and glory to His name," Phillips said, "because we believe above all else that God uses His Gospel, given in His Word, to change people's lives, to take the worst of the worst, to take sinners and transform them into Christlike saints."...read the rest of this Baptist Banner article here.
After taking a lonely road to Darrington prison's front gate, Southwestern Seminary professors must pass through a series of security checkpoints, past gates topped with razor wire, through a metal detector and pat-down, and down a hall to the education wing.
Housed in this maximum security unit, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's new bachelor's degree in biblical studies gives inmates the opportunity to experience life transformation through studying the Bible as well as share that transformation with others.
Southwestern, in its first convocation inside Darrington's chapel, signified an innovative venture between the seminary and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Celebrating the launch of the new program, seminary administrators joined state Sens. John Whitmire and Dan Patrick as well as TDCJ leadership, special guests and the 39 inmates who compose the inaugural class.
Ben Phillips, associate dean at Southwestern's Houston campus and director of the extension program, welcomed everyone to the convocation at the Darrington unit of the Texas penal system.
"We are here to celebrate what God is going to be doing and how God is going to use these men and the lives they touch to bring honor and glory to His name," Phillips said, "because we believe above all else that God uses His Gospel, given in His Word, to change people's lives, to take the worst of the worst, to take sinners and transform them into Christlike saints."...read the rest of this Baptist Banner article here.
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