The service begins with prayer (00:00-03:49). A welcome and recognition of certain people from the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) are given (03:50-05:39), and the speaker, Dr. Baker James Cauthen, is welcomed and introduced (05:40-08:06). He was the Executive Director of the Foreign Mission Board (now the International Mission Board). The service continues with choral singing (08:07-09:56). He begins by reminding the congregation of the seminary’s missional purpose from its inception and its level place among the other five seminaries (09:57-13:35). He stresses that the central theme of missions is seeking God in prayer (13:36-19:06). The Scripture text for the sermon is 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, entitled “the Ministry of Reconciliation” (19:07-20:55). Man’s basic need is to be reconciled to God, and we ought to leverage our means which we spend on buildings and programs to advance the gospel to the nations (20:56-34:57). He asks those in the congregation to consider their service to God as extending far instead of staying near, affirming God does call His people to both realms (34:58-53:18). He ends his message by talking about the seriousness of viewing oneself as a missionary, both near and far away (53:19-1:03:11).
