I am saddened by the decision of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administrators and trustees to close the School of Church Music and Worship at my alma mater, and move the remainder into a lesser role in a different division of the seminary.
Let us celebrate the 65-year life of this wonderful School of Church Music and Worship, and the many ministers who were nurtured by it, and who left equipped to serve as musicians, ministers, missionaries, denominational leaders and fellow servants. Its music faculty served not only on campus, but they came to our churches, associations and state convention events to provide leadership, inspiration and skill development for our volunteer and bi-vocational leaders. Also, their writings and compositions inspired us to be better ministers and gave us additional tools to use.
The statement that 80 percent of ministers of music in Southern Baptist churches also have another staff assignment, and that combining the music and church leadership programs will help the seminary look more like the churches it serves is misleading, for that figure was probably even higher in earlier years. However, it was possible for me to come to Southern Seminary and get outstanding training in the area of my calling — church music — while at the same time electing to take many classes in the schools of theology and religious education; and when I graduated, I felt well-equipped to serve our Lord in multiple ministry areas.
Southern Seminary has for many, many years been providing outstanding training for ministers who felt a calling — and a willingness — to serve in more than one ministry area. Now, however, it appears to be reducing its commitment to church music ministry.
It is my personal belief that as Christians we must be patrons of the arts, and not merely parasites of popular culture. It takes money to train musicians for our churches, but it can be a worthy investment.
I thank all Southern Baptists for my seminary education, and I grieve that those entering my alma mater from now on will probably not receive the same quality and quantity of church music ministry training that I received.
James Allcock, Farmville