Liberty holds dedication ceremony to mark launch of seminary

The Liberty University Theological Seminary, relaunched this fall, was officially dedicated on Sept. 24 with a reception on the ground floor of the Freedom Tower.

Dr. Troy Temple, dean of the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, and Chancellor Jonathan Falwell spoke at the event attended by divinity faculty, staff and guests, including pastors of area churches.

The seminary leads the School of Divinity’s existing master’s, postgraduate, and doctoral degree programs. The third floor of the Freedom Tower has been converted to host students and faculty of the seminary.

“It’s an honor to be able to be here to celebrate what I’ve had the opportunity to watch from the time I was a little kid,” said Falwell, son of Liberty’s co-founder, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, who noted he was 7 years old when the early seminary program was started.

“This is a party that started 53 years ago, and we’re just going to keep going,” he added. “God is doing some amazing things here.”

Temple acknowledged the seminary’s history, dating back to the university’s founding in 1971. He noted that the School of Religion and the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary united to become the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity in 2015.

“This is nothing new, but it is a recommitment and … God has given us such a huge blessing and an opportunity to do something very special,” he said. “We have to be stewards of the resources God has placed in our hands in this moment, in this place, for this season.”

He said the School of Divinity and Liberty Theological Seminary represent the rudder that will guide graduates to churches around the United States and destinations around the world.

“(We have) a huge vision to see leaders, men and women who are part of the body of Christ, who are trained and equipped at Liberty University, in all of our programs, to serve to the end of the Gospel mission in various and almost any area of public life,” Temple said, noting that the mission of the seminary is the same as that of the university, to Train Champions for Christ who will assist the local church in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Temple said the seminary plans to re-envision its Master of Divinity and doctoral programs to better meet the needs of the Christian faith and practically apply its foundational truths in today’s culture of chaos and uncertainty. These changes will be seen in both residential and online degree programs.

“We will continue to do more and more to increase in our excellence for the glory of God,” he said, citing the Apostle Paul from 1 Thessalonians 4. “The Liberty Theological Seminary will expound upon that and go even further, to shape a new breed of ministry leader who will be prepared for whatever a church may face next.”

Falwell said the heart of his father was to institute an action-oriented curriculum that would equip students with practical skills in counseling, leadership, management, and pastoral care and send them out to serve and lead in the local church. His legacy lives on today.

“My prayer, and I know Troy’s prayer and (Liberty President Dondi) Costin’s prayer, is that we would end up seeing the Church of tomorrow stronger than it is today because this is a place that has done everything that it possibly can to feed, to strengthen, to grow, and to engage the local church in world evangelization,” he said.

Falwell reminded those in attendance of his father’s exhortation that if Liberty ever strayed from its founding beliefs and commitments to the inerrancy and the infallibility of Scripture and to boldly preaching the Gospel, then we should “Burn the place down.”

“I know for certain that as long as we are alive, that’s never going to happen. Why? We are more committed today to that message and that mission than we have ever been.”

The John W. Rawlings School of Divinity remains the world’s largest school for religious studies and ministerial training. A member of the Association of Theological Schools, the Liberty University Theological Seminary stands on a solid, biblically based foundation and a firm commitment to conservative evangelical theology.