NOBTS and Leavell College President Jamie Dew expressed deep gratitude for the ministry and support of Southern Baptists during his report to messengers of the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting.
“Before I share my report about how our wonderful school in New Orleans is doing, I just want to say how personally grateful I am for Southern Baptists,” Dew said during his address Wednesday morning (June 11).
“In five days I will celebrate 30 years of being a Christian. I came to faith through Southern Baptist witness, was discipled in Southern Baptist churches and was educated in your institutions. Everything that I have and everything that I am, I have those things because of you dear people. In addition to all those things, you have given me the very best job in all of the world.”
Dew said the great character of Southern Baptists is reflected in the students NOBTS is training to serve the convention.
“When I think about Southern Baptists, I often say that Southern Baptists are kind, hard-working and faithful,” Dew said. “Southern Baptists love Jesus and they just want to make Him known. When I think about you all that way, I also see that on our campus. That’s who the people of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College are.
“You would be proud of our students if you were to come to our campus and see who they are, what they’re training for and where they’re going. It is a deep and profound joy to serve all of them and by extension all of you. Thank you for this privilege and for your continued faithful support of the Cooperative Program.
“That support is absolutely essential for us as we train up the next generation of servants that are going to come back to your churches and labor there with the Gospel for you.”
Regarding the Cooperative Program, Dew noted the significance of the anniversary of both the CP and the Baptist Faith and Message.
“It’s a big deal to celebrate 100 years of the CP and the Baptist Faith and Message,” he said.
“I can assure you that at NOBTS and the other seminaries, when we hire faculty, we are pressing in hard to make sure that faculty members affirms, teaches and defends what is articulated in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. We press in hard because we understand our stewardship to you. We celebrate these anniversaries today and are grateful to God for it.”
Dew closed by saying this past academic year has been the best year of his ministry career, and NOBTS will continue to train students to be faithful ministry servants for the SBC.
“This has been the best year of my entire career,” Dew said. “I’ve been in higher education in some way for all of my adult life, but this particular year was absolutely fantastic. I can talk about numbers and measurables, but what gives me particular joy is the morale on our campus. It is a sweet place, and our people are bought into what we’re doing.
“We want to train a generation of students that are going to be humble, hard-working and faithful Southern Baptists. We press into them that the most important task on planet Earth is to preach Jesus Christ to a lost, hurting and dying world.
“It has been a great year and we do this work not only for our Lord, but for you. Southern Baptists, you are worth this work. While we do our work, we think about all of you all year long.”
