Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Support independent, faith-based journalism. Donate
Search Search this site

Liberty University rescues two windows honoring SBC’s rightward shift scrapped by Southwestern Seminary

NewsBob Allen  |  May 14, 2019

Two of the stained-glass windows removed in April from the chapel of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have a new home in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the Jerry Falwell Museum at Liberty University.

University President Jerry Falwell Jr. unveiled windows depicting his late father and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines at the school’s baccalaureate service on Friday.

Jerry Vines window by Don Young Glass Studio (dyglassstudio.com)

Introducing Vines, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, as the baccalaureate speaker, President Falwell criticized removal of a series of windows designed to honor heroes of the SBC “conservative resurgence” from MacGorman Chapel at the seminary located in Fort Worth, Texas.

Falwell said Vines, a longtime Liberty University trustee, “was instrumental – along with several others like Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, Bailey Smith – in reforming the Southern Baptist Convention in the late 1980s to make it more accurately reflect the conservative values of the members of most Southern Baptist churches.”

“Unfortunately, a new generation has taken the convention away from those values in many ways,” Falwell said.

Falwell said Liberty University paid for the window honoring the senior Falwell – the university’s founder – a few years ago at the request of Dorothy Patterson, at the time First Lady at Southwestern Seminary.

Patterson, whose tenure ended abruptly last year with the firing of her husband, Paige Patterson, as seminary president, said at the time she intended for the windows designed by Don Young Glass Studio to document the 20-year history of the movement spearheaded by her husband and Houston layman Paul Pressler to steer the denomination sharply to the right.

Falwell said members of First Baptist Jacksonville donated funds to include a window honoring Vines, who served as SBC president in 1988 and 1989 during a succession of leaders committed to using the office’s appointive powers to advance goals of the conservative resurgence.

“Well, now both of those windows have been removed by the new regime,” Falwell said. “I guess Southern Baptists have their own deep state.”

Jerry Falwell window by Don Young Glass Studio (dyglassstudio.com)

Falwell said he sent a plane to Fort Worth to retrieve the windows and is asking the seminary to return the donations that bought them.

“They’re going to be displayed in the museum here on campus and will continue to honor the conservative leaders who reformed the Southern Baptist Convention,” Falwell told the graduating class. “We place our hope in your generation to be the ones to step up and provide better leadership for the future.”

Jerry Falwell Sr. was not a Southern Baptist when the conservative resurgence kicked off in 1979, but he and a number of other independent fundamentalist Baptist leaders shared many values with the new SBC leaders.

In 1996 Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church gave $1,000 to the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia – a breakaway group from the Baptist General Association of Virginia recognized by the SBC. Two years later Falwell and seven members of Thomas Road Baptist Church registered as messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Salt Lake City.

When Falwell died in 2007 at age 73, Vines preached at his funeral.

Jerry Falwell Jr. – an evangelical defender of President Donald Trump – tweeted on Monday that since Friday he has been told the new president of Southwestern Seminary, Adam Greenway, is not part of the “SBC deep state regime trying to subvert the will of the church members.”

“Deep state” is a term used in political messaging to describe collusion and cronyism in the political system. Early in his term, Trump supporters began using it to describe government workers leaking information in an attempt to sabotage his administration.

Falwell identified his SBC deep state equivalent with Russell Moore, head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who in the past criticized evangelical leaders for supporting Trump.

Southwestern Seminary officials did not say why the windows, in place just a few years, were removed.

Previous story:

Seminary removes stained glass windows celebrating conservative takeover of SBC

 

Tags:Jerry FalwellLiberty UniversityConservative ResurgenceJerry Vinesstained glassAdam Greenway
Bob Allen
More by
Bob Allen
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      Opinion

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      News

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      Opinion

    • What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic

      Analysis


    Curated

    • Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      February 26, 2021
    • Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      February 26, 2021
    • Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      February 26, 2021
    • Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      February 26, 2021
    Read Next:

    Free Lenten daily devotionals offered

    NewsBNG staff

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • Rural churches need to understand the cultural capital of their communities

      AnalysisBrian Foreman and Justin Nelson

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • What I learned by listening to women pastors during the pandemic

      AnalysisSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why vote to fund something you won’t ever use?

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth

      OpinionJordan Conley

    • Some Methodist churches finding greater mission results with simplified governance

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Diverse religious coalition urges Congress to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Canada labels Uyghur repression ‘genocide,’ but that’s not as exemplary as you might think

      OpinionRay Mwareya

    • She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • About disfellowshipping churches based on the ‘clear’ teaching of Scripture

      OpinionDalen Jackson

    • What the SBC should learn from the Ravi Zacharias tragedy

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • LGBTQ inclusion and clergy sexual abuse treated equally in SBC expulsions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • The Black church and the salvation of the world

      OpinionPaul Robeson Ford

    • The two Georges, the world and American leadership

      AnalysisErich Bridges

    • As people walk away from the church in droves, Russ Dean hopes to tell the old story in a new way

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Son’s legacy lives on through Kansas City ministry for children with special needs

      NewsHelen Jerman

    • New study finds affirmation of Black church experience even as attendance declines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Christian nationalism deeply embedded into American life, Tyler warns

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Faith community nurses ‘carry the hope’ during COVID-19 pandemic

      NewsLiam Adams

    • Coronavirus challenging denominational summer conventions yet again

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Some Methodist churches finding greater mission results with simplified governance

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Diverse religious coalition urges Congress to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • She’s Gen-Z, became leery of the church but practices faith with fitness

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • LGBTQ inclusion and clergy sexual abuse treated equally in SBC expulsions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • As people walk away from the church in droves, Russ Dean hopes to tell the old story in a new way

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The strange saga of the Riley Foundation lawsuit now forces SBC to figure out who has the right to remove a seminary trustee

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • In-person worship dropped in January as more churches were directly affected by COVID

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Caldwell succeeds Anderson as chair of BNG board

      NewsBNG staff

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Final vote sounds the death knell for capital punishment in Virginia

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Reeves to lead Fellowship Southwest

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Three years later, Leah Sharibu is still held captive, reportedly for refusing to renounce her faith

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Wake Forest Divinity gets $5 million grant to help combat HIV/AIDS

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Making the case for why Black History Month is necessary

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Baylor regents ‘accept’ racial history report, will release findings by end of March

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Pay attention to what’s happening in Myanmar, Baptist pastors plead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 2-19-21

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • With Invictus Howard Goodall tells Christ’s Passion mainly through texts written by women

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • On religious liberty views and other issues, there’s still a wide gap between evangelicals and the rest of America

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • How slavery still shapes the world of white evangelical Christians

      OpinionRichard T. Hughes

    • Faith leaders call for an end to racial bullying in the Indiana legislature

      OpinionIvan Douglas Hicks

    • One year later: Some musings on post-COVID culture and social ethics

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Why vote to fund something you won’t ever use?

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth

      OpinionJordan Conley

    • Black History Month: Remembering, waiting, watching

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Canada labels Uyghur repression ‘genocide,’ but that’s not as exemplary as you might think

      OpinionRay Mwareya

    • About disfellowshipping churches based on the ‘clear’ teaching of Scripture

      OpinionDalen Jackson

    • What the SBC should learn from the Ravi Zacharias tragedy

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • The Black church and the salvation of the world

      OpinionPaul Robeson Ford

    • St. Benedict and a two-fold path for the church In America

      OpinionH. Stephen Shoemaker

    • What if we cared about Black History Month as much as Lent?

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Prophecy is obedient imagination

      OpinionAlan Bean

    • How much wealth does America need before we’ll address homelessness?

      OpinionMichael Chancellor

    • Why we need to talk about abortion

      OpinionRuss Dean

    • How travel and food break through barriers that divide us

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Is the church only for ‘good Christians’?

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • Raging at God after my 67-year-old father died of COVID

      OpinionCarol McEntyre

    • Why I wrote about hope in disarray

      OpinionGrace Ji-Sun Kim

    • ‘For fear of the Jews’: Confronting Christian anti-Semitism

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • What do we do now? The blessing and curse of COVID to the church

      OpinionKeli Rugenstein

    • Loving my neighbor by being an ‘active bystander’

      OpinionBecky Ankeny

    • A lesson from Texas: Winterization of power stations and the Golden Rule

      OpinionJonathan Davis

    • ‘Hour of decision’? Evangelicalism in a post-church, post-Trump era

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Texas church helps mosque damaged after snowstorm

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Vaccinated for virus, Jimmy Carter and wife back in church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Black Church Group Offers Its Best Shot at Closing Vaccine Gap

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Man who played Duke Chapel bells for 50 years dies

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ravi Zacharias’s Denomination Revokes Ordination

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Disinformation Fuels A White Evangelical Movement. It Led 1 Virginia Pastor To Quit

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Rush Limbaugh, who shaped conservative Christian politics on the radio, has died

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Dallas faith groups help shelter homeless Texans during deep freeze

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • SBU Trustees Reverse Some Tenure/Promotion Denials

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • U.S. Supreme Court sides with Alabama death row inmate, declines to lift stay of execution over state’s refusal to allow clergy in chamber

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survey: Black Americans attend church and pray more often

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Christian Bookstores Survived 2020

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Celebrating Ash Wednesday in a pandemic? There’s an app for that

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • From ‘Lent-in-a-box’ to ‘ash n dash’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • No execution: Courts side with inmate wanting pastor present

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New Arkansas Law Exempts Churches from Pandemic Restrictions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survey: More than a quarter of white evangelicals believe core QAnon conspiracy theory

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Evangelical Colleges Consider the Future of Online Education After COVID-19

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Law firm details sexual misconduct by global ministry leader

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nation’s first human-composting funeral home is now open in the state of Washington

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texas gambling opponents ready for battle

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Leonardo’s ‘Last Supper’ reopens to public with short wait

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Faith and the COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I’m a member of a community with duties’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Safety Net Programs Have Reduced U.S. Poverty, Disparities Remain

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2021 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS