By Terry Goodrich
When the 1,000th graduate of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary receives a diploma Dec. 14, it will mark a milestone for an institution that began 18 years ago with small classes that met in an education wing of First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas.
From its low-profile beginning and an initial class of 51 students, Truett has grown to an enrollment of 356 students housed in a three-story building on Baylor’s campus.
“Truett has come a long way,” said Brian Brewer, the first student to complete his theological education at Truett.
“It’s great to see where we’ve all gone and spread across the nation and the world,” said Brewer, a former pastor of two churches and now an assistant professor at Truett. “But even though it’s much more of an institution, it has maintained the spirit it had, which is the one that attracted me back here.”
The identity of the 1,000th graduate will not be known until shortly before graduation, when the seminary will have final information on all who have completed requirements, seminary leaders said.