Here - Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Noted author,
alumnus added to Lead School
School of Leadership and Church Ministry
By Garrett E. Wishall
The School of Leadership and Church Ministry
at Southern Seminary has taken another
step toward building a family ministry focus
in the field of Christian education with the
recent hiring of Timothy Jones as assistant
professor of leadership and church ministry.
Randy Stinson, dean of the School of
Leadership and Church Ministry, said pastoral
experience and a vision for unified, family
ministry make Jones the right fit for the position.
Jones is a graduate of Southern, having
completed his doctor of education from the
seminary in 2003.
“Through the interview process, it became
clear to me that Dr. Jones is going to be an
important part of the School of Leadership
emphases in the coming decades,” he said.
“He is an experienced pastor and a disciplined
author. His classroom instruction will
be informed by his experience and his multiple
books and articles add to our academic
influence and credibility. He will also be able
to help us coordinate some key writing projects
over the next few years.
“The fact that he is a product of this
seminary means he is already wholeheartedly
committed to its vision and direction and will
be able to hit the ground running as soon as
classes start.”
Jones co-authored The Da Vinci Codebreaker
and has written several books,
including Christian History Made Easy,
Prayers Jesus Prayed, Finding God in a
Galaxy Far Far Away and Misquoting Truth.
Above all, Jones said he desires to help students
prioritize ministering to their families
and leading churches in a way that emphasizes
spiritual growth.
“There is a point that the people in
my previous congregation heard over and
over during my time there: What you do
for God beyond your home will not typically
be greater than what you practice with
God within your home,” he said. “There is
a deep need among men and women for a
focus on their home lives, training them
how to guide their families and how to
relate to family members in constructive
and godly
ways.
“Too often, churches have expected fami-
lies somehow to become integrated at home,
even as we “dis-integrate” their families at
church, attempting to lead them to spiritual
maturity as isolated individuals without
modeling for them how to work together as
families. I believe that Dr. Stinson’s familycentered
focus will help to accomplish that.”
Jones said lessons learned from 14 years of
ministerial experience would help him equip
students for local church ministry. Jones
served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church
of Rolling Hills in Tulsa, Okla., from 2003-
2007 after serving as the church’s minister to
students. Previously, he served for six years
as pastor of Green Ridge Baptist Church in
Green Ridge, Mo.
Having enjoyed his time as a student at
Southern, Jones said he looks forward to mov-
ing into the
role of professor at the seminary.
“Ever since the first moment I set foot
on this campus, I have absolutely loved this
place,” Jones said. “It has been a place of
joy for me and my wife. My passion is to
equip students to guide church ministries
in ways that are rooted first and foremost
in the Scriptures and in biblical theology,
then in compassion for people’s real
needs and in awareness of their cultural
contexts.”
Jones directed the Tulsa Extension
Center of Midwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary from 2002-2005
and taught there as adjunct profes-
sor of Greek.
Jones completed his master of divinity at
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
in 1996. He and his wife Rayann married in
1994. In 2003, they adopted Hannah Rachel
Jones, who is now 11.
New Orleans trip refocuses church’s mission vision
By Marilyn Stewart
With eleven of their fifty plus regularly attending
church members on mission in New Orleans,
chances are Clifton Heights Baptist Church’s
vision for missions will be impacted. That’s
exactly what the Louisville church is hoping for.
“This mission trip has opened the world
to our youth,” said Brett Gibson, the church’s
youth and music minister. “I hope it will be the
start of something we can do year after year.”
The team of six Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary students, a grandmother and
four youth, worked with Baptist Crossroads,
a partnership of First Baptist Church of New
Orleans and Habitat for Humanity. Crossroads
has a five-year goal of building 300 new homes
in a low-income neighborhood with forty
homes completed since the summer of 2006.
With Cooperative Program giving at 11%,
pastor Michael Galdamez said the focus on
missions in the church has broadened recently
Timothy Jones
as those with mission experience – including
SBTS students – have encouraged others to
take an active role.
“As far as anyone can remember, this is the
church’s first mission trip,” Paul Hudson, a
retired Canadian air force navigator and a first
year SBTS student said. “This trip has been
as good for the church as it has been for the
people in New Orleans.”
Kristen Tannas, a
SBTS student from
Alberta, Canada, said the
hurricane has encouraged
Christians to put
their faith in action by
doing things they didn’t
think possible before.
“Many who had
never left home before
are down here building
houses,” Tannas said.
“They are realizing ‘I can
Kristen Tannas Southern Seminary
student from Canada, works on a roof
with another worker.
do this.’”
Galdamez said the Crossroads partnership
with Habitat presents opportunities to talk
to non-believers and share the gospel as they
work side-by-side, adding that the trip was also
an opportunity to demonstrate to the younger
team members “what it means to serve others.
“This trip has encouraged our team members
to do more for missions,”
Galdamez said.
“Not only are we hoping
to come here again,
but are thinking about
an international trip as
well.”
Marilyn Stewart is the
New Orleans correspondent
for the Louisiana
Baptist Convention
Communication Team,
John L. Yeats, director.
Southern Seminary Magazine | Fall 2007 page 27