I have been in the classroom since the late 1990s. During my graduate studies, I felt the Lord leading me to the halls of academia. There were no classes to guide a person through the steps to become–and thrive as–a seminary professor. I watched what was modeled in front of me and asked many, many questions.
I started teaching as an adjunct professor at the now defunct Lexington Baptist College (Lexington, KY) and part-time professor at Crossroads Bible College (Indianapolis, IN), now merged with College of Biblical Studies. Following the completion of my doctorate, I joined the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY). Presently, I am a professor of Christian Ministry at Samford University (Birmingham, AL), and also serve as an adjunct professor at Beeson Divinity School (Birmingham) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, NC). My journey has allowed me to work with undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students over the years.
I share these two paragraphs to say that unfortunately there still remains little “how-to” instruction when it comes to becoming and growing as a professor in theological education. And, sadly, many of us seasoned veterans give little thought to developing the next generation of professors.
While this post will not come close to solving all the challenges, here is my next giveaway to help a little with the matter. Maybe some of you profs will do something similar? My semester begins at the end of this month and then things will get wonderfully crazy once again! So, between now and September 1, I want to make myself available, for an hour, to three different people who want to talk about becoming and developing as professors in theological education. I wish I had more time for more people. First come, first served.
If you are sensing the Lord may be leading you into the academy, send me an email and let’s set up a one-on-one, hour conversation. You bring the questions, and I’ll attempt to provide some answers and guidance. If I don’t know the answers, then I’ll attempt to find them for you. Here is my email: jd.payne@samford.edu
POST UPDATE: AS OF THIS TIME, THREE PEOPLE HAVE CONTACTED ME. HOPEFULLY, I WILL BE ABLE TO OFFER THIS AGAIN IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
