Exactly five years after voting to close its Logsdon Seminary, trustees of Hardin-Simmons University voted Feb. 6 to make the Logsdon School of Theology its own college within the university.
The Abilene, Texas, university made national headlines Feb. 7, 2020, when trustees made the surprise decision to close the Baptist-affiliated seminary. University administrators and trustees said the decision was necessary for financial reasons. Alumni, faculty and donors said the financial crisis was fabricated and the real reason was pressure from a few conservative West Texas pastors.
For conservative West Texas, Logsdon was an anomaly, fully supporting women in ministry and mainly — if not officially — LGBTQ Christians. The seminary boasted a devout alumni base that remains active in critiquing the closure to this day. On social media Feb. 7, the group Save Hardin-Simmons spread reminders of the anniversary of the trustee decision.
Organizationally, Logsdon Seminary was part of the Logsdon School of Theology, established in 1983 with a $3 million gift — at the time the largest in the university’s history — from Koreen Logsdon of Abilene in memory of her husband, Charles, who graduated in 1928, served 15 years as a trustee and died in 1981. The school began offering master of divinity degrees in 1995 and eventually offered master of divinity, master of arts in family ministry, master of arts in religion and doctor of ministry degrees.
Exactly what will change with the School of Theology becoming its own college is not clear.
Founded at a time when Southern Baptist Convention seminaries were turning away women called to be church pastors, Logsdon Seminary from the start fully affirmed both men and women in all positions of vocational ministry. In its final year, 35% of masters-level students were female, 30% were nonwhite and about 17% came from countries other than the United States.
The seminary was affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a group of “moderates” who broke away from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1991.
After the seminary closure, Logsdon School of Theology became part of the Cynthia Ann Parker College of Liberal Arts.
Logsdon Seminary chapel window
Exactly what will change with the School of Theology becoming its own college is not clear from university media releases and website posts.
A news release said the change is being made “for a stronger focus on ministry education, deeper connections with churches and a continued emphasis on HSU’s Baptist heritage.”
Degree offerings will not change. After closing the seminary, HSU stopped offering graduate degrees in theology and ministry. It currently offers an undergraduate Christian Studies major and minor, as well as a concentration in worship leadership for music majors. Faculty in the theology school also teach the introductory Bible courses all students are required to take.
In a FAQ section on the university website, this question is posed but not answered: “What are the current enrollment numbers for Logsdon, and how do those compare with the last five years?”
No enrollment numbers are given in the answer. Instead the posted answer says: “The Logsdon School of Theology has maintained steady undergraduate enrollment over the past five years. However, with churches across the state and nation expressing a growing need for well-equipped leaders, the goal is to expand our reach and cultivate even more high-quality candidates for ministry and service.”
The university has experienced a 30% decline in enrollment over the past five years.
Overall, the university has experienced a 30% decline in enrollment over the past five years, from 2,324 to 1,665.
HSU is one of eight universities affiliated in some way with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The largest of those, Baylor University, has its own self-perpetuating board of regents, while the BGCT continues to have more control over the trustee boards of HSU, East Texas Baptist University, Houston Christian College, University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, Dallas Baptist University, Wayland Baptist University, Howard Payne University and Baptist University of the Americas.
Both Baylor and Houston Christian have seminaries within the universities — George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor and Houston Theological Seminary at Houston Christian. Last year, ETBU acquired B.H. Carroll Theological Seminary.
At first, the Logsdon Seminary name was attached to a startup seminary in San Antonio, but that school eventually changed its name to Fletcher Seminary in honor of former HSU President Jesse Fletcher. It offers online degrees.
Southern Baptists also operate their own seminary in Texas — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. The proliferation of university-based seminaries in Texas began after the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s turned the six SBC seminaries rightward.
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Hardin-Simmons trustees stand by decision to close Logsdon Seminary
Hundreds of supporters seek answers about closing of Logsdon Seminary in open letter