NEW ORLEANS — Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) and Leavell College, challenged new and returning students to strive for godliness during his convocation address Aug. 19.

The service, held in Leavell Chapel, marked the official start of the 2025-2026 academic year. Dew began the service by recognizing new students and noting the significance of the moment.

“This marks a moment that is genuinely special and important for us,” he said.

“The things we do here are not just the normal things of higher education. There are hundreds of great schools around the country, but our work is different. We are training for the Lord’s work. We are training you to go into the darkest places in the whole world and bring the only message of hope that the world has.

“This will require everything you’ve got. I want to challenge you to not be lazy, but to give this everything you have and everything that you are because the Lord Jesus is worthy.”

Speaking from Psalm 1, Dew explained to students and others in attendance that seminary can turn into a place where sin grows in the shadows.

“Does it really matter how we live?” Dew asked the audience.

“I think all of us in a place like this would immediately say ‘Of course it matters how we live. We should be godly and not ungodly,’ and we would kind of check that off and move on in our minds.

“But actually, a seminary can be the kind of place where sin comes to hide. Everything about your life has the veneer and the trappings of godliness. The fact that you’ve taken a certain type of degree in a place like this or answered a call to ministry, if we’re not intentional, gives us a sort of pass while sin and corruption and darkness grow underneath this facade.

“So, does it truly matter how we live? The Bible seems to think so.”

Using the passage, Dew juxtaposed the godly who walk with God and the ungodly or “wicked” who do not walk with God.

The differences between the two involve their entire way of life and the quality of life they end up with because of the path they take.

Dew challenged students to make daily choices which will lead them down the path of godliness and a quality of life as outlined in the psalm.

“Throughout the Bible, God promises that if you build your life on Jesus Christ and do what He tells you to do, He will hold you up,” Dew said. “When you don’t build your life on Christ, your life crumbles apart.”

In addition to Dew’s address, the service also included a welcome to new faculty and a celebration of several faculty service anniversaries. 

William “Ted” Williams, assistant professor of expository preaching, signed the NOBTS Articles of Religious Belief and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, signifying his official appointment as a trustee-elected faculty member. 

The articles were written by the seminary’s founding faculty in 1917 to serve as a document outlining their theological beliefs before the penning of the 1925 Baptist Faith and Message.

Faculty members recognized for service anniversaries were:

10 Years

• Jeff Farmer, professor of church ministry and evangelism
• Bo Rice, professor of evangelism and preaching (ministry-based)

15 Years

• Ian Jones, professor of counseling (ministry-based)

20 Years

• Kristyn Carver, professor of counseling
• David Lema, professor of theology and missions (ministry-based)
• Preston Nix, professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching

25 Years

• Lloyd Harsch, professor of church history and Baptist studies
• Norris Grubbs, professor of New Testament and Greek
• Laurie Watts, professor of educational technology

35 Years

• Bill Warren, professor of New Testament and Greek

Dew closed his message by reminding students that Psalm 1 speaks of a different ending for the godly and the ungodly, with the ungodly in hell and the godly being in the presence of the Lord. Therefore, turn to Christ.

“My brothers and sisters, it matters how you live,” he said. “Seminary can be a place where sin comes to hide, so run to Jesus Christ. Cleave to Him with everything you are and everything you have.”

The full convocation service can be viewed on YouTube and Facebook.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Timothy Cockes is news editor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.)