RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) –Thomas Graves, president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond since 1991, has announced plans to retire next year.
Citing health reasons, Graves, 58, will step down July 1, 2007. He announced his plans during a special called meeting of BTSR's board of trustees Aug. 29.
“I would have wished to work well into the next decade before considering a normal retirement, but my physical condition alone prevents me from doing so,” Graves said in a statement to the board of trustees. Graves has multiple sclerosis.
“This is not an optional early retirement. The timing is entirely due to the issue of my physical disability of multiple sclerosis,” continues the statement. “I am now able to get about only with the help of a walker or wheelchair. I am losing the ability to use a computer keyboard and I am having more and more difficulty driving.”
The statement added that Graves hoped his announcement would allow BTSR's board to “begin the process of planned and orderly transition in the president's office.” Trustees currently are considering a strategic plan that calls for a presidential search when Graves' health no longer allows him to continue. Graves said his announcement puts into motion this process of succession.
The seminary is near the end of a capital campaign to raise $19 million to renovate campus buildings and endow faculty chairs and student scholarships. Graves announced he would use the remainder of his tenure to engage in “fundraising and friendraising for the seminary.” He also said he was committed to teaching Philosophy of Religion until his retirement.
Susan Rucker, chair of BTSR's board of trustees, expressed appreciation for Graves' tenure at BTSR. “Tom Graves' vision and dedication have helped bring BTSR from a fledgling institution to the thriving campus it is today. Tom is truly an outstanding leader and educator. We appreciate all that he has done for BTSR and Baptist life and wish Tom and his family the best in this transition.”
BTSR was founded when the Southern Baptist Alliance — now Alliance of Baptists — voted to establish a theological seminary in Richmond as an alternative to growing theological conservatism in Southern Baptist seminaries. Graves, a North Carolina pastor and former professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was elected the school's first president in 1991.
That year, 32 students enrolled in classes in space leased from Richmond's Presbyterian School of Christian Education. During Graves' 16-year tenure, BTSR has grown to 333 students, with 15 full-time faculty and 19 visiting or adjunct professors, and has an annual budget of $3.8 million. Students from 19 states and eight foreign countries are currently enrolled at BTSR. Over the past several years, the seminary has purchased most of the former campus of the Presbyterian school and additional land and buildings for dormitory space.
Under Graves' leadership, BTSR became one of the first seminaries to require coursework in spiritual formation and its students to participate in a mission immersion experience. The school has been successful in securing numerous grants that allow it to participate in on-line courses for clergy and laity, an on-campus sabbatical program for ministers and a creative venture to encourage calling to vocational ministry.
In 2004, the seminary's board named BTSR's administration and classroom building Graves Hall in the president's honor.
Graves grew up in Louisville, Ky., where his father taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He completed his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University, and received his master of divinity and doctor of philosophy degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also received the master of sacred theology degree from Yale Divinity School.
Graves taught Religion at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Fla., and was professor of Philosophy of Religion at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served pastorates in Kentucky, Florida, and came to BTSR from the pastorate of St. John's Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. Graves and his wife, Wendy, have two grown daughters.
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