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GALLATIN, TN—Dr. Matthew Barrett, Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, will deliver a series of guest lectures during the 2023 Leroy Forlines Lectures at Welch College, according to President Matt Pinson. The presentations are scheduled for November 9–10, 10:00 to 12:00, in Celorio Auditorium on the Welch campus. Barrett’s topic will be “The Reformation as Renewal.”
The Leroy Forlines Lectures began in 1993 at Welch College as a means of bringing well known speakers to campus who could address challenging issues of the day related to theology, philosophy, worldview, world mission, and other topics. They are named for long-time Welch professor and dean F. Leroy Forlines. The lectureship, which has not been held in the past few years, was reinstated by means of a generous endowment by Professor Forlines’s wife Dr. Fay Forlines.
“What a privilege it is to host Dr. Barrett on our campus to deliver the Forlines Lectures,” President Pinson said. “He is one of the most distinguished young scholars in the conservative Protestant movement, and it will be a distinct honor having him on our campus and learning from him.”
Founder and editor of Credo Magazine and host of the Credo podcast, Barrett has published widely, including books such as Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit (Baker); None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God (Baker); God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture (Zondervan); Canon, Covenant, and Christology: Rethinking Jesus and the Scriptures of Israel (IVP); 40 Questions about Salvation (Kregel), and most recently The Reformation as Renewal (Zondervan). Currently, he is devoting the next several years to writing The Doctrine of God (Baker).
Originally from California, Barrett holds the B.A. from Biola University and the M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Elizabeth have four children.
The Forlines Lectures are open and free of charge to the public. Gifts to help make the Forlines Lectures possible may be made to Welch College by sending a check marked “Forlines Lectures” to Welch College, 1045 Bison Trail, Gallatin, TN 37066, or by giving online at Welch.edu/give with designation to the lecture series.
GALLATIN, TN—Welch College recently received notification that it has been ranked 2nd in social mobility and 17th overall among “Best Regional Colleges–South” in the 2024 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges, according to President Matt Pinson.
The social mobility ranking measures the percentage of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who go on to graduate. The Regional Colleges–South category comprises 98 other colleges and universities in the South.
“We’re delighted that Welch remains highly ranked by U.S. News Best Colleges,” President Pinson said. “This communicates to prospective students, parents, and alumni alike that we value excellence and that the education students receive at Welch is competitive, solid, and recognized in the academic community.”
The Best Regional Colleges category includes institutions that focus on teaching undergraduate students. These schools offer a range of degree programs in the liberal arts and in professional fields.
“Colleges go up and down in these rankings each year,” Pinson said. “When we first entered the rankings thirteen years ago, we were ranked 52nd. Then five years ago we increased to 26th, after which we’ve consistently been in the top 20. Our ranking at 17th is exciting.”
“We are thankful to be ranked in the top 17% of our category,” Provost Matthew McAffee said. “Our faculty and staff work hard to offer students excellence in Christian higher education. This ranking is evidence of their commitment.”
U.S. News rankings judge the relative quality of institutions based on widely accepted indicators of excellence in higher education: what peer institutions think of the institution, how many freshmen return their sophomore year, how many of them go on to graduate, student-faculty ratio, faculty quality, financial resources, how many economically challenged students go on to graduate, and more.
“To put our ranking in perspective,” Pinson said, “the ten institutions ranked directly above us have an average enrollment about three times higher than Welch’s and an average endowment about nine times higher than Welch’s. We’re striving to be good stewards of the resources God has given us.”
Out of the 99 institutions in the category, Welch received especially high marks in four strategic areas, ranking as follows:
1st in student-faculty ratio (tied) 2nd in graduation rate for economically challenged students 3rd in ACT/SAT scores 5th in freshman retention
GALLATIN, TN—Welch College enrolled 393 students for its fall 2023 semester, slightly higher than last fall’s enrollment of 388, according to Matthew McAffee, Provost of Welch College.
“These numbers signal continued institutional stability in our recovery from the pandemic,” McAffee said. “Our campus community especially rejoices over the sizeable enrollment increase of this year’s incoming class. The Lord continues to sustain us in our rebuilding efforts and advancement of Welch’s mission to educate Christian leaders.”
At press time the college reported 148 dormitory students (8 of which are graduate students), 44 commuter students, 35 non-residential graduate students, 27 Adult Studies students, 43 Online Studies students, and 96 dual enrollment students. Full-time equivalency (FTE) was 259 students. Total enrollment statistics indicate students from 24 states, 1 territory, and 7 foreign countries.
This fall, 80 new students enrolled in traditional on-campus programs at Welch, an 11% increase over last fall’s number of new students (72), and a 43% increase over fall 2021 freshman and transfer enrollment (56) during COVID, the lowest number of freshmen and transfers in many years.
“We’re thankful to continue our enrollment recovery after COVID,” Welch President Matt Pinson said. “The latest research shows that enrollment at church-related colleges and universities has declined over the past decade. Thankfully, Welch has been immune to those trends.”
“Even though our full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment plunged by 17% during that first fall semester after the onset of COVID, Fall 2020 FTE enrollment was still 11% higher than Fall 2010,” Pinson said. “And Fall 2019 FTE enrollment, the semester before COVID hit, was 35% higher than Fall 2010. Our new campus here in Gallatin has been a big factor in that upsurge.”
“Small college enrollment is a ‘one-fall-freshman-class-at-a-time’ business,” Pinson continued. “So our rebound back to pre-COVID enrollment is going to take time; those two very small freshman classes during COVID have to cycle out before full enrollment recovery can be achieved. But it’s still good, in view of the across-the-board dip in faith-based college enrollment, that we’re holding our own. The thing that makes it all worthwhile is the quality of our students, not just the quantity, and in terms of spiritual formation, church ministry, and cultural impact, our students are poised to make an amazing kingdom impact.”
GALLATIN, TN—Mrs. Brenda Spruill, longstanding administrative assistant in the Business Office at Welch College, retired in June, according to Mr. Craig Mahler, vice president for Financial Affairs. Mrs. Spruill has served Welch College for twenty-one years.
Mrs. Spruill began working at Welch as secretary for then-academic dean Dr. Charles Thigpen in the mid-1970s for approximately two years. She and her husband Wayne had both graduated from Welch in 1972. Their life’s work took them to work and live in Hawaii and Virginia, then return to Welch in the fall of 2004, when Mrs. Spruill began working first for academic dean Dr. Milton Fields, then began her nineteen-year career working for the Business Office as administrative assistant under Vice President for Financial Affairs Mr. Tom Sass, then Vice President for Financial Affairs Mr. Craig Mahler.
Mr. Mahler said, “Brenda has faithfully served her alma mater for 21 years. Her love for Welch’s mission to educate Christian leaders is evident in her diligent and sacrificial service in the Business Office and her genuine love and support of students, faculty, and staff.”
Mrs. Spruill is well-known and loved by students, employees, and friends as a loving and caring wife to her late husband, four children, and grandchildren. “The college wishes to extend its warmest gratitude to Mrs. Spruill for her longevity and dedication to the mission of Welch College,” Mahler said.
Welch College Press Publishes New Book, Christians in Culture
“I heartily commend this volume as one that will enable readers to think and live in an informed way, grounded in the redemptive work of Christ and the grandeur of our majestic and gracious God.” That’s what David Dockery, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary said in his foreword to Welch College Press’s most recent publication, which can be purchased at www.welch.edu/welchpress.
Christians in Culture was written by ten Welch College faculty to equip readers to engage the spheres of culture in a manner that is equal parts biblical and winsome. This book was edited by Matthew Steven Bracey and Christopher Talbot, each of whom teach courses in theology and culture. Both Bracey and Talbot wrote chapters for the book.
“We’re incredibly thankful to see this book published. My prayer is that it would help readers better and more fully understand how to live faithfully under Christ’s Lordship in every sphere of life,” Talbot said. “We’re also thankful for how this book demonstrates our educational philosophy at Welch. Each discipline works in harmony with every other one, which our various contributors exemplify, as we each confess Christ as Lord.”
“Whether you are interested in the arts and entertainment, sports and recreation, technology and science, politics and economics, labor and vocation, or history and tradition, this book is relevant for you,” the book’s slipcover reads. R. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, describes Christians in Culture as “an incredibly helpful guide and resource. I highly commend it to Christians today. Read every chapter and put it into many hands.”
“In many ways, this book also serves as an introductory text to worldview thinking for Christians trying to make sense of the cultures in which they live,” Bracey said. “It is careful yet accessible, appropriate for high school and college students alike, as well as laypeople and church groups interested in the intersection of their Christian faith and the spheres of culture. I hope and pray that people will find it helpful in their Christian walks.”
Welch President Matt Pinson, who also contributed several book chapters, said, “Christians in Culture represents the sensibilities of Welch College by teaching us that we do not need to withdraw from the culture but also we do not need to be compromised by the culture. As Mr. Forlines once wrote, ‘We don’t need the culture to transform us, but we need to transform the culture.’”
People interested in the book may purchase it at www.welch.edu/welchpress.
GALLATIN, TN—The Welch College Rejoice! Ministry Team will begin their summer tour on Sunday, June 4, according to Todd Parrish, Vice President for Institutional Advancement. The group will hold services in fourteen churches in six states during their four-week tour. The team will also attend Free Will Baptist state meetings in Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Kentucky.
The summer tour’s program will feature hymns, gospel songs, and modern worship arrangements designed to evangelize and encourage. The members of the 2023 Rejoice! Ministry Team are Malena Campis, Joy Green, Camden Lewis, Cheyenne Lewis, Sarah Lovett, Austin Owen, Brook Proctor, Daniel Rodriguez, Jacob Snow, Landon Wolfe, and Stephen Yerby. Rejoice! musical directors are Daniel Webster and Jacob Lute. Karen Owen will chaperone the group.
“God has given us the gift of songs, hymns, and spiritual songs to share His gospel with the world,” Parrish said. “It is our prayer that this team will lead our Free Will Baptist people to worship the Lord and that God will bless and use them as they minister around our denomination.”
June 4 AM – Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church, Park Hills, MO June 4 PM – First Free Will Baptist Church, DeSoto, MO June 10 PM – New Beginnings Free Will Baptist Church, Bryan, TX June 11 AM – Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church, Bryan, TX June 14 PM – Central Free Will Baptist Church, Wise, VA June 18 AM – Evergreen Free Will Baptist Church, Erwin, TN June 18 PM – Shady Grove Free Will Baptist Church, Whitesburg, TN June 20 PM – First Free Will Baptist Church, Marion, NC June 21 PM – Hardin Valley Free Will Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN June 22 PM – Harper Road Free Will Baptist Church, Joelton, TN June 25 AM – Hendersonville Free Will Baptist Church, Hendersonville, TN June 27 PM – Good Springs Free Will Baptist Church, Pleasant View, TN June 28 PM – New Pleasant Grove Free Will Baptist Church, Savannah, TN June 29 PM – Cookeville Free Will Baptist Church, Cookeville, TN
For information on auditioning for future Rejoice! Ministry Teams, contact Daniel Webster at daniel.webster@welch.edu.
