— Friends & Donors —
Donors won’t regret gifts to Southern, Harris says
• • • • •By David Roach
Michael Harris has taught Sunday School, served as a deacon, sung in his church’s choir and practiced orthodontics for more than three decades.
But one service opportunity in his life trumps all the rest for Harris: being a Southern Seminary trustee.
Harris served on the board of trustees from 1989-1999 and helped bring about the seminary’s return to its conservative theological roots.
“I will always feel like if I have had no other purpose in this life but to have had the opportunity to have been a part of the change that took place in our seminary and our denomination, I feel that God will look at me and say, ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant,’” he said.
Coming on the board of trustees the first year conservatives gained a majority, Harris saw changes begin to happen immediately. He became increasingly passionate about the seminary during his time as a trustee and joined the Southern Seminary Foundation Board in 1999 upon completion of his term.
Several years ago, Harris and his wife, Rose, attended a chapel service and became overwhelmed at how much God had blessed and changed Southern through the service of people like them, he said.
“My wife and I just looked at each other, and both of us had tears streaming down our faces,” Harris said. “It was magnificent. The feeling in the room, watching the students and seeing the look on their faces and feeling the atmosphere that was there was just overwhelming.”
Because of his gratefulness to God for Southern, Harris cannot help but give his financial resources to the seminary, he said.
“I’ve come to believe that the change at Southern Seminary has the potential of changing our denomination, and our denomination has the potential of changing our country,” he said. “So if you believe those things, you would have to feel like you would want to financially support an institution that was truly seeking to spread the Word of God around the world.”
Along with his service to Southern, Harris since 1973 has been active as a member at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., where he lives. He opened an orthodontics practice in Elizabethtown in 1973, eventually expanding to open offices in Radcliff, Ky., and Bardstown, Ky., as well.
Nearly a decade ago he sold the Elizabethtown and Radcliff offices. Today he works three days each week out of the Bardstown office.
Through all his ministries and activities, Harris has maintained an ongoing enthusiasm for Southern and advises prospective donors that any investment they make in the seminary will pay eternal dividends.
“I don’t believe that I have talked to or met a teacher or student at Southern right now who is not totally and completely dedicated to the purpose of the seminary, that being to raise up pastors to go out and reach the lost of the world today,” he said.
“And the Lord knows there is a great need in our country and the world around us. Money that is spent there is money that will come back many many many times over in rewards in the number of people that are saved and the opportunity to change the world in which we live.”
Truth. Legacy. Vision. Southern Seminary Sesquicentennial
Announcements
RSS- Seminary Wives Institute
Registration is open for the spring semester of Seminary Wives Institute. Course descriptions and a child care request form are posted here. New students also register at that Web page, while returning students register on Moodle.
- The Attic
The Attic is now open Mon-Sat from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. All students and their families are welcome to make free selections from this collection of clothing, home goods and furniture located in Fuller Hall, rooms 10-11. Details are posted on the Attic Web page.
- Financial aid opportunity
The Financial Aid Office will implement a new financial aid application for the 2011-2012 academic year. The new application, Financial Aid Profile, is now available for Southern Seminary and Boyce College students to complete. To be eligible, applicants must be a full-time (SBTS: 8+ credit hours, Boyce: 12+ credit hours) master’s level or undergraduate student at the Louisville campus and must be in good academic standing. Applicants will be required to pay a $25 fee in order to submit the Financial Aid Profile. Eligible students will receive a $25 credit on their tuition account to offset cost when payment opens for Fall term. The application deadline for continuing students is June 1. More information and instructions on how to apply are available at www.sbts.edu/finaid. Questions should be directed to the Financial Aid Office at financialaid@sbts.edu or (502)897-4206.
- SBTS begins green-friendly food take-out program
Man shall not live by bread alone, but when life gets busy, one sometimes finds it difficult to make time for bread. Even at a seminary, many students, faculty members and staff can feel hard-pressed to allocate time for dine-in meals. With Pioneer College Caterers’ “Green on the Go” program coming to campus, the Southern Seminary community need no longer go short on food when short on time.
- IMB contact
Jon Clauson, an M.Div. graduate and current PhD student at SBTS, is now working with the International Mission Board to assist people in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana who are considering service overseas. If interested in talking with him, contact Jon at jsclauson@gmail.com
Blogs
RSS- What makes evangelicalism evangelical? A new book joins the argument
- by – Sep 6
The evangelical movement in America emerged in the twentieth century as conservative Protestants sought to perpetuate an intentional continuity with biblical Christianity. While the roots of the movement can be traced through centuries prior to its emergence in twentieth century America, its organizational shape appeared mainly in the years after World War II. And, as anyone who considers the movement with a careful eye understands, evangelical definition has been a central preoccupation of the movement from the moment of its inception.
- Is God a Problem? Modern Theology Faces its Alternatives
- by – Aug 24
The Christian Century, the venerable voice of liberal Protestantism, juxtaposed two significant obituaries in its August 23, 2011 edition — and both on the same page. The magazine published a respectful obituary of evangelical titan John R. W. Stott, identifying him as “a renowned and prolific author credited with shaping 20th-century evangelical Christianity.”
- The Culture of Death Grows Desperate: War Declared on Crisis Pregnancy Centers
- by – Aug 5
The U.S. Supreme Court’s declaration of war upon the unborn in its infamous 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, caught most conservative Christians unprepared and unaware. This shock to the nation’s conscience required Christians and other pro-life activists to develop arguments, strategies, and organizations in order to confront the Culture of Death and the legalized killing of the unborn.
- Reparative therapy, homosexuality and the gospel of Jesus Christ
- Jul 19
Each U.S. presidential election cycle brings its own set of unexpected issues, and the 2012 race already offers one topic of controversy that truly sets it apart — a debate over forms of therapy that attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation.
Known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy, these approaches seek to assist individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The cultural and political debate over reparative therapy emerged when a clinic run by Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, was accused of offering treatment and counseling intended to change sexual orientation.