Fort Worth seminary to end archeology program

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth is closing down its biblical archaeology program as part of campus-wide budgetary reductions necessitated by the financial challenges associated with COVID-19 and in line with a, “institutional reset” to focus on core commitments.
The seminary had offered a doctor of philosophy degree in the field.
Christianity Today called the program the nation’s leading evangelical archaeology program and said it will shut down in May.
A spokesman for the seminary declined to comment on whether faculty members will be terminated but did say that the graduate program currently has 26 students.
“This outcome was unavoidable,” the seminary said in a statement. “As part of our institutional reset, we will no longer offer degrees in archaeology because they are incongruent with our mission to maximize resources in the training of pastors and other ministers of the Gospel for the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Former seminary Paige Patterson was removed as head of the school May 22, 2018, following allegations of mishandling of reports of rape and abuse of students.
The new president, Adam W. Greenway, said the seminary needed to “recalibrate” and return to its core commitments.
“As part of campus-wide budgetary reductions necessitated by the financial challenges associated with COVID-19, we are working with accrediting agencies to discontinue the archaeology program,” the seminary said in the statement.
“Archaeology is a worthy vocation for evangelical ministers and will continue to be valued as part of the seminary’s biblical backgrounds courses, and we will make every effort to offer future opportunities for students to engage in archaeology within our core academic programs, especially the Master of Divinity degree,” the statement said. “We are communicating with current archaeology students underscoring our commitment to them, and we are working with accrediting agencies to present to them options for degree completion.”
This report includes material from Fort Worth Business archives.
– FWBP Staff