RICHMOND -- Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond launched a two-and-a-half-year celebration of its 20th anniversary March 12 with a banquet and shared memories on the school’s campus.

The event -- which drew current and former faculty, staff and trustees as well as current and former students -- commemorated the decision taken in March 1989 to create the seminary. That year the Southern Baptist Alliance -- now the Alliance of Baptists -- voted in Greenville, S.C., to establish the school.

Seminary student Robert Brown (left) and recent graduate Greg Harrell examine a timeline of events in BTSR's life, added by participants at the 20th anniversary banquet.

Several key players in the establishment of BTSR shared memories of the events 20 years ago.

“Something new and wonderful was being shaped,” said Ron Crawford, a Richmond pastor 20 years ago and now the seminary’s president. “No one quite knew what that was going to be. The enthusiasm was contagious. … I remember a phone conversation with [first seminary president] Tom Graves. He said plans were moving forward and Richmond was one of the possible locations. He asked me if I would be willing to send out letters to area pastors for a meeting to discuss it.”

The meeting of pastors that occurred in January 1989 was a significant event in the seminary’s eventual establishment in Richmond, Crawford said.

Steve Fitzgerald, the first student to be accepted by the BTSR, recalled his first visit to campus. An investment banker for 10 years, Fitzgerald left his business to pursue vocational ministry and his father- and mother-in-law, who lived in Raleigh, N.C., suggested the new school. “I met Tom Graves and he captivated me,” said Fitzgerald.

He drove to Richmond to begin the admissions process and found his way into the basement of the building in which the seminary was located. “There was this guy there trying to figure out how to create an application form on a computer,” Fitzgerald laughed.

Tom Halbrooks, the seminary’s first dean and professor of church history, recalled the request from Graves to join the faculty. “It was easy for me to say yes,” said Halbrooks, then a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. “He said half-jokingly I promise you we have money to pay you for three months. Then you’re on your own.”

Graves said BTSR owes its existence to courageous leaders like Halbrooks, as well as Alan Neely and Morris Ashcraft who were willing to take risks to join the school. “My part was easy,” said Graves. “I was the cheerleader. Halbrooks was the heavy lifter. My smile was seen around the country a lot. It was Tom’s sweat that put it together.”

Elmer West, a retired Richmond pastor and one of BTSR’s first trustees, recalled the vigorous leadership of the board’s first chair -- Mary Straus, a Maryland laywoman. “Everyone around the table said, ‘Oh, no, not me,’ ” said West. “But Mary said, ‘O.K., I’ll do it.’ ”
Britt told the banquet participants that they “have a chance to reclaim that vision, energy and excitement that was at Greenville. … Will you take that with you and share it with the world?”

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