Here - Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Southern donors won’t
regret one dime,
Dooley says
Bob and Patricia Dooley
“You can’t come
[to Southern] without being
inspired and feeling like your
donation is well spent. You’re
giving to the Lord.”
photo by Mark Kidd Studios
By David Roach
Anyone seeking for a reason to give to Southern Seminary needs only
to look at the impact the seminary’s graduates are having on the world,
said Bob Dooley, a seminary donor and member of the Southern Seminary
Foundation Board.
“If they would just look and see and listen to the men that come
out of the seminary and their passion for the ministry and for God’s
love and just listen to them and see what they have in their heart and
the energy they have for the Lord, they would just be so astonished,”
Dooley said. “It just amazes me the people that come out of there now
and the love they have for the Lord and the passion they have.”
Dooley is more qualified than most people to make such an assessment
because he has seen firsthand the type of ministers Southern
produces. His son, Nathan, graduated in 2005 with a master of divinity
and currently serves as associate pastor for high school ministry at First
Baptist Church in Naples, Fla. He credits much of Nathan’s success and
progress in ministry to the training he received at Southern.
“We had seen the progress that our son had made at the seminary,
and we were so proud of that,” he said.
Dooley was first introduced to the possibility of donating to the
seminary between six and seven years ago when Douglas Walker, Southern’s
senior vice president for institutional relations, served as interim
pastor of Dooley’s church in Lexington, Ky., Southern Heights Baptist
Church. Information from Walker combined with Nathan’s experience
to turn Dooley’s attention toward the seminary.
“We had seen the turnaround in the seminary because we had seen
the way the seminary had been in the past,” he said. “And to be truthful
about it, we had seen some negative points about the seminary in the
past. Going up there and seeing the positive points now, we were just
thrilled about it.”
Visiting chapel services on campus cemented in Dooley’s mind
Southern’s status as a place where doctrinal orthodoxy and passion for
God’s glory combined.
“I don’t think anyone can come to chapel with the speakers they
have there — Dr. Mohler, Dr. Moore and some of the others — and
hear the singing and the choir and the orchestra and everything,” he
said. “You can’t come there without being inspired and feeling like your
donation is well spent. You’re giving to the Lord.”
Professionally, Dooley is co-owner of Landmark Sprinkler Inc., a
company that installs fire sprinkler systems in residential and commercial
buildings. Some of his work has included installing sprinklers
in buildings at Southern. Dooley has owned part of the company for
twenty years.
In addition to his work, Dooley is also an active churchman at
Southern Heights. He currently serves as a deacon, as chairman of the
church’s pastor search committee and works extensively with church
finances.
“I’ve been on the finance committee for a number of years. I’ve
been treasurer since the early ‘90s. That’s been one of my major ministries,”
he said, adding, “That’s probably been my main interest.”
With his experience in church financial ministry and in business,
Dooley has a great concern for whether ministries use donors’ money
effectively and efficiently. At Southern, he said, donors can be confident
that their money is used responsibly and to advance God’s kingdom.
If potential donors could see the daily work of the seminary, “they
would see that what money they give, they would not regret one dime
of it,” Dooley said.
Southern Seminary Magazine | Fall 2007 page 31