Bob Bailey was the senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Concord, NC. He co-wrote the book “Coping with Stress in the Ministers Home” with his wife, Mary Francis. The service begins with a responsive reading (00:00-01:18). The speaker gives community announcements and leads in a time of prayer (01:19-04:02). Bob and Mary Francis are introduced as the chapel speakers (04:03-05:46). The choir sing a song of worship (05:47-09:15). Bob and Mary each take turns speaking on the reality of stress and burnout that a minister’s family faces, and they provide practical and biblical advice to be effective ministers in both the church and the home (09:16-34:57). Bob ends the service with a word of prayer (34:58-35:43).
Lena and Paul Early were missionaries to the Bahamas. The service begins with a word of prayer (00:00-01:09). Lena and Paul Early are introduced as the Missionary Day speakers (01:10-03:28). Lena Early shares of God’s faithfulness throughout her life in her call to missions and her commitment to ministry (03:29-15:14). Paul Early reads from Mark 10:35-45, and he diagnosis a sickness in the Southern Baptist Convention of the sin of self-love and pompous pride (15:15-29:22). The service ends with a word of prayer (29:23-30:13).
Thomas Albert Bland was Professor of Christian Ethics and Sociology. The service begins with a word of prayer and the singing of the doxology (0:00:00-0:01:47). Two speakers deliver the Scripture readings from Isaiah 6 and Acts 26 (0:01:48-0:12:33). President Randall Lolley welcomes all the guest to commencement, and he recognizes two international guests who have come to see their children graduate (0:12:33-0:15:51). Wayne Brown, representative of the senior class, announces the endowment of a fund to help and support students with physical handicaps in honor of Wes Williams, a former student (0:15:52-0:17:25). Thomas Albert Bland is introduced as the commencement speaker (0:17:26-0:17:52). Bland’s commencement address is about God’s call and its relation to missions and ministry, and he challenges the graduate to be faithful to Christ and to the gospel (0:17:53-0:30:44). Lolley recognizes the friends and relatives of the graduates, and he announces the conferment of the degrees (0:30:44-0:32:06). The Associate of Divinity degrees are conferred (0:32:07-0:34:17). The Master of Religious Education degrees are conferred (0:34:18-0:36:21). The Master of Divinity degrees are conferred (0:36:22-0:52:13). The Master of Theology degrees are conferred (0:52:14-0:54:39). The Doctor of Ministry degrees are conferred (0:54:40-0:59:14). The service ends with a word of prayer (0:59:15-1:01:41).
Findley Bartow Edge was the Basil Manley Jr. Professor of Christian Education at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The service begins with a word of prayer (00:00-00:50). Findley Bartow Edge is introduced as the Spring Conference lecturer (00:51-04:25). Edge begins his lecture by speaking about his love for the faculty at Southeastern, and he says that his lecture will be about the complicated subject of “renewal” in the church (04:26-10:13). Edge speaks about the traditionalism of church life in his childhood, and he says that renewal for the church must come through an examination of the church through history (10:14-28:01). Edge identifies seven stages through which renewal movements operate, and they are birth, organizational development, hated sect, toleration & acceptance, popularity, centralization, and institutionalization (28:02-52:31). Edge concludes his lecture with a question about where Southern Baptists are on the continuum of renewal (52:32-54:19). Edge ends the service with a word of prayer (54:20-55:57).
Frank Stagg was Senior Professor of New Testament Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The service opens with a word of prayer (00:00-00:30). Frank Stagg is introduced as the Page Lecture speaker (00:31-02:15). Stagg’s lecture is entitled “Universals & Codes,” and he begins by defining these terms (02:15-05:41). Stagg gives many examples from both the Old and New Testaments where believers have both universalized certain laws of God and also minimized other laws and commands, and he also says that figuring out what God commands for his people to do in Scripture can be a difficult task with what appears to be contradictions, even from the words of the same human author (05:42-39:20). Stagg uses Paul’s letters as an example of how to do proper hermeneutics, and he argues that the readers of Scripture must discern a writer’s prophetic voice and distinguish between universal commands and particular commands given in a certain context (39:21-49:30). The service ends with a word of prayer (49:31-50:17).
