New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College celebrated more than 250 graduates during its fall commencement ceremonies Friday, Dec. 12.
Jamie Dew, president of NOBTS and Leavell College, began the ceremonies by reminding graduates of the unique nature of the seminary’s work as evidenced by the service itself.
“Today we open the Scriptures, and that in itself is different from most graduation ceremonies around the country,” Dew said.
“This is a worship service in which we will also confer degrees because this institution is very different from all other kinds of institutions in higher education. We don’t exist to do education for its own sake. By our very nature, we have a very niche focus; we train men and women for Gospel ministry. Everything that we do is about that.”
Dew congratulated the 271 graduates receiving degrees and certifications.
“Graduates, we are incredibly proud of you,” Dew said. “You’ve studied hard, worked diligently and given yourself to your assignments.
“You did all of this work ultimately because the Lord called you. He called you not just to get a degree. A degree is a means to an end, and that end is to serve Jesus Christ with every fiber of your being. Today we celebrate the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new chapter as you go into the world to serve Jesus Christ.”
NOBTS conferred 159 degrees, while Leavell College graduates received 112 undergraduate degrees and certifications. 58 of those Leavell College degrees came via the seminary’s prison education program.
Dew offered a message to the graduates out of 2 Timothy2, speaking about the truths of Scripture the graduates will need to rely on when ministry gets tough.
“What do you do when you want to quit?” Dew asked the graduates.
“You’ve probably already had some of those moments. These are moments in life that those of us called to do ministry will inevitably face. In these moments, you won’t be able to white-knuckle it in your own strength
“We have to be disciplined of mind and heart to reset ourselves and bring ourselves back from the lies and towards the truth of the Scriptures. We must put our minds and souls in the Scriptures and let its truth refresh us again and give us just enough courage to press on in this work.”
Dew identified four truths from the passage for graduates to remind themselves of.
Following his message, Dew briefly stopped the flow of the conferring of degrees to recognize one notable graduate.
Robert Hyde, graduating with a Doctor of Ministry degree, spent 24 years incarcerated, 10 of which at Angola Penitentiary in Louisiana.
While in prison at Angola, Hyde accepted Christ and earned three degrees through the newly-established NOBTS prison education system. One of the professors who taught him during those years was NOBTS Provost Norris Grubbs.
Years later, Grubbs would serve as project mentor for Hyde’s Doctor of Ministry project, for which he now accepts his degree. Hyde is the first ever graduate of the NOBTS prison education program to earn a doctoral degree.
Hyde now serves as the director of the NOBTS Parchman (Miss.) prison education program, a Mississippi department of corrections program supervisor and pastor of Drew Baptist Church in Mississippi.
Dew noted this incredible accomplish as a reminder of God’s grace.
“This moment is worth pausing to note something significant,” Dew said. “Each of us know people in this world that we would estimate as being beyond hope, perhaps as someone that God cannot reach. But we now can call Robert, Dr. Hyde.
“Would you praise God for what he has done in Robert’s life?”
The crowd then honored Hyde with a standing ovation. 
Dew closed out his message by charging the graduates to remember these Scriptural truths and that God will never forget them.
“There are moments where it seems like God’s Word isn’t doing what it's supposed to and God’s promises to us have been forgotten,” Dew said. “But God never forgets His people or His promises. This means that God is faithful, and we can remember these truths in hard moments.”
Graduation ceremonies for NOBTS and Leavell College can be viewed here.
