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By Gary D. Myers
NEW ORLEANS -- Cleanup efforts at New Orleans
Seminary have caught the attention of the New Orleans media.
WWL-TV, the local CBS affiliate, aired a five-minute segment about
the seminary Nov. 17.
Veteran New Orleans news anchor Sally Ann Roberts interviewed NOBTS
President Chuck Kelley during one of his recent visits to campus.
The segment also was broadcast over the Internet on the station’s
website, www.wwltv.com
During the segment, Roberts showed the damage to campus housing
caused by Hurricane Katrina. She also focused on the trustee
board’s decision to return to New Orleans and the ongoing efforts
to restore the campus to normal operation by August 2006.
During the interview, Roberts asked Kelley about the role of the
seminary in the recovery efforts of the city. Kelley’s answer was
unflinching -– the seminary will offer help and hope to the
community in the name of Jesus Christ.
“I know our students and faculty will be out in the neighborhoods
helping people rebuild their lives and their homes,” Kelley
said.
On offering hope, he said, “It’s sometimes difficult to look up
when everything around you is pulling you down ... but we know we
have hope through Jesus Christ. We know our hope in Christ assures
us that no matter how bad the present chapter is, that last chapter
is going to be good.”
Kelley told Roberts he is excited about the opportunity to rebuilt
and renew the city and the eagerness he senses among the faculty
and students.
“I can’t imagine a more exciting time to come to New Orleans and be
a part of shaping one of the major cities of the world,” Kelley
said. “Those who are here and those who come back are going to get
to do something nobody has every done before -– start a city over
again.”
Roberts said she had noticed the seminary’s lighted Leavell Chapel
steeple surrounded by darkness in the early days of the recovery.
She asked Kelley about the steeple’s significance.
“People have commented about what an encouragement it is to be
driving along in this ocean of dark ... and seeing that steeple,”
Kelley said. “That’s why it’s there –- to be a sign of
encouragement.”
Roberts concluded her interview by announcing the seminary plans to
begin spring commuter classes on the New Orleans campus starting
Jan. 23.
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