William Wallace Finlator was the pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. The service begins with the procession of the faculty accompanied by organ music (00:00-07:19). President Randall Lolley gives a word of prayer, and he welcomes the newcomers to the Southeastern family (07:20-10:22). Morris Ashcraft, Dean of the Faculty, gives the Middler Award for Systematic Theology to Marian Burcky and Loral Link (10:23-11:43). Lolley gives a word of appreciation to Robert Color who endowed the Middler Award, he introduces the Spring 1985 teaching team, he gives a word of thanks to Dr. Fred Sandusky who is up for retirement, he announces the evening classes, and he announces a chapel series on the great texts from the Bible (11:44-16:56). William Wallace Finlator is introduced as the convocation speaker (16:57-18:49). Finlator begins his sermon by giving a good word about Southeastern and the history of his relationship with the seminary (18:50-22:26). Finlator asks the question “can the gospel be preached in America today,” and he quotes Jesus by saying, “What is impossible with man is possible with God (22:27-27:12). He criticizes American society and the government for not caring for the poor, and he gives five methods for sharing the gospel with Americans: the sheep’s clothing method, the future shock method, the more to follow method, the honest slant method, and the extra-curricular method (27:13-51:38). Finlator closes by stating that the gospel can be shared in America hardly by hopefully (51:39-54:51). The service ends with a word of prayer (54:52-55:32).
The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Catalogs are published by Southeastern Seminary to provide information for each academic year. The earliest catalog was published in 1951. Catalogs were sometimes published in connection to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Bulletin and most contain information for one academic year, though some cover multiple years. The catalogs provide an academic calendar and a brief introduction to the seminary, its facilities, and the community. Further information includes curriculum and class offerings, details regarding admissions, and registers of students, faculty, staff, trustees, and graduates. Subcollections for the 1990s and 2000s include CASE catalogs for the college.