SEBTS Celebrates Seven Longstanding Professors

President Danny Akin expressed his deep gratitude for the Great Commission legacy these men have left at SEBTS. “These seven men have made an incredible contribution to the Southeastern family,” said Akin. “Words are truly inadequate to express my gratitude for each one of them. They have left their stamp upon this institution, and we are the better for it. They will be missed but they will not be forgotten for their faithful service to our Lord and his Church.”  

Retiring professors for the 2020-2021 academic year include David Black, who began teaching at SEBTS in 1998 and served as Senior Professor of New Testament and Greek and the Dr. M.O. Owens, Jr. Chair of New Testament; Mark Rooker, who came to SEBTS in 1995 and served as Senior Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew; Chip McDaniel, who began teaching at the seminary in 2005 and served as Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew; Jim Porowski, who came to SEBTS in 1995 and served as Professor of Child and Family Development; Daniel Heimbach, who began teaching at the seminary in 1993 and served as Senior Professor of Christian Ethics; Ant Greenham, who began teaching at SEBTS in 2001 and served as Professor of Missions and Islamic Studies; and Charles Harvey, who came to SEBTS in 2011 Professor of Christian Education. 

“Southeastern Seminary has been blessed with an unusually gifted faculty,” said Akin. “They are not only excellent scholars in their particular disciplines; they are faithful churchmen and Great Commission disciples of King Jesus.” 

Most of the faculty retiring at SEBTS this spring have been teaching at the seminary and college for at least two decades, training hundreds of students to serve the Church and reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. These professors came to the seminary on the heels of the Conservative Resurgence, a crucial theological turning point in the life of the institution. Their commitment to biblical theology and doctrinal fidelity in the midst of controversy cannot be overstated in the impact that commitment has had on generations of students.  

All of these men have trained students in a variety of fields with the one goal of making disciples of all nations. Through studying ethics, missiology, biblical theology, counseling, and more, students have been trained to think both critically and missionally as they are sent out to serve. That’s the heartbeat of SEBTS, and it’s the heartbeat of each of these men retiring this year. 

“We leverage everything—all of our knowledge, all of our experiences—we leverage it for the gospel,” said Dr. Black, who expressed the heartbeat of what it means to teach at SEBTS. “I’m preparing people to be full time missionaries and full-time ministers.” 

Watch the video below to hear about the legacy of these beloved faculty members and their heartbeat for training students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.