SEBTS and P4CM partner to increase diversity in seminary education
January 19, 2017
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) seeks to train students from all ethnic backgrounds to reflect the beauty and diversity of the Kingdom of God. In line with this goal, SEBTS has partnered with The Passion for Christ Movement (P4CM) in an effort to increase diversity in seminary education, particularly among women and minority students.
“With the current state of racial tensions in the country, it is important that we lend our ear to voices that differ from our own in order to fully understand how to engage varying contexts,” said Maliek Blade, Kingdom Diversity coordinator at SEBTS. “We’re taking two almost polar opposite cultures and exposing them to each other because what unifies them is the pursuit of Christ.”
P4CM is a ministry that uses poetry, blogs, television, podcasts and more to spread the gospel message and address current social and cultural issues from a biblical perspective. SEBTS will use the messages created by P4CM to provide the SEBTS community with perspectives from urban ministry. P4CM plans to expose their audience to possibilities for them in seminary education and encourage them to pursue it.
P4CM quoted SEBTS Special Advisor to the President for Diversity Walter Strickland saying, “This is in the scripture. I believe that iron sharpens iron most acutely across the lines of difference…To be able to…come alongside your brother and sister and just really get into their shoes…I think that is actually a wonderful picture of what the body is supposed to be.”
The partnership between SEBTS and P4CM is a step in crossing racial lines to encourage understanding and grow closer as the body of Christ. P4CM plans to promote the Kingdom Diversity Scholarship through their media channels and at live events with the goal of encouraging minorities and women to consider what impact they could have with a theological education.
On October 29, 2016, SEBTS will host the “Poets in Autumn” tour where Christian poets share the message of the gospel through their art. For more information about the event and to buy tickets, click here.
The Kingdom Diversity Scholarship is a fund created by SEBTS donors specifically for minority students at any level of study and women students at the doctoral level. For more information, visit kingdomdiversity.sebts.edu.