Posted on

George Whitefield College with Mark Dickson

Mark Dickson, Principal of George Whitefield College

To hear the podcast click here.

George Whitefield College is ably led by its Principal, Mark Dickson.  It is set on the coast in a beautiful part of Africa, not far from Cape Town.  

I had the opportunity to teach a two week intensive, Honours-level course there in fall 2022.  While there, I found time to visit with the Principal.  

Mark Dickson describes George Whitefield as an evangelical Anglican college with a bit of Reformed theology for good measure.  Bottom line: they take the Bible seriously. Since its founding in 1989, it has served as a training ground for clergy members in one denomination.  But it has become clear that their reach must increase to train pastors and teachers from various denominations who want to take the Gospel all across Africa.

There are 1.2 billion people living on the African continent.  That is more than twice the population of North America (USA and Canada).  In addition, there are more Christians in Africa than there are people in the United States.  But few pastors and church leaders have any theological training.  

The biggest challenge now is to “grow their own wood,” that is, raise up from among their student ranks faculty members to perpetuate the mission of the college. 

George Whitefield College offers various degrees accredited in the South African context.  They are also developing more and more online course work so they can reach further north into Africa. 

The president has big designs on a library for a college.  He would like to see a library suitable for the school to offer a PhD.  This means developing their print collection but also their digital collection.  One of the impressive features of the library is that it houses the books of Leon Morris, one of the best known and prolific New Testament scholars in the world.  

If you’d like to know more about George Whitefield College, their website is https://www.gwc.ac.za

Two of their faculty members, Drs. Vuyani Sindo and Nathan Lovell, came to deliver a lecture in the Stone Chapel in November 2021.  To hear that lecture click here. 

For information on upcoming lectures at the library, click here.

Posted on

Spurgeon’s College with Helen Stokley

Spurgeon’s College in London

To hear the podcast click here.

Spurgeon’s College was established 175 years ago in London by young Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  At first it was known as Pastor’s College, but its name was later changed to Spurgeon’s College.

David Capes was traveling to London and met with Rev. Helen Stokley, Deputy Head of Institute, Spurgeon’s College, London.  She agreed to sit down and talk about the college on “The Stone Chapel Podcast.”

Helen had a meeting with God earlier in life and felt God wanted her to step further into church leadership so she trained at Spurgeon’s College.  Her husband is a Baptist minister.  She has been in her current post for 8 ½ years.

C. H. Spurgeon was born in 1834 and grew up around Essex, UK.  He was brought up in a Christian family.  At the age of 15 he had a personal encounter with God and came to Christ.  Not long afterward, someone suggested to him, “you might be able to preach.”

Young Spurgeon accepted that challenge and in a short time he became one of the greatest preachers in the 1800s.  He had an incredible impact upon the UK and the world. 

He had a passion preach, and preach he did to up to 10,000 without any means to amplify his voice. 

In his 20s he started the college and since then Spurgeon’s College has trained thousands who are  serving the church all over the world.

The mission today is the same as it was when Spurgeon started it: to train people to know the Bible, preach, and be ministers and leaders. 

Today they train men and women to gospel ministry.  Courses are offered in London, of course, but also digitally across the world. 

Though it is a Baptist school historically, many evangelically-minded people attend and train there. 

Today there is a rich diversity of students in the college.  And the college even trains some who don’t have a call to ministry; these students want to develop their knowledge and think more deeply about theology. 

Spurgeon’s College now offers an interesting new Master of Arts in Digital Theology (thanks to the Covid pandemic).  They also have a new undergraduate theology degree that a person can finish in three  years full time..  Because of the mental health disorders that have developed due to the isolation in the pandemic, they are offering more course offerings in counseling.

Soon they will begin a large-scale renovation of their campus. 

One famous graduate of Spurgeon’s College was Thomas Johnson, author of Twenty Eight Years a Slave.  Listen to the podcast to learn more of Spurgeon’s stance and actions on slavery. 

Learn more about Spurgeon’s College at www.spurgeons.ac.uk

For more Stone Chapel Podcasts, click here.

To hear the Spurgeon’s College podcast click here.

Posted on

Women in Leadership, Lynn Cohick

Dr. Lynn Cohick, Northern Seminary

Lynn Cohick serves as provost and dean of academic affairs at Northern Seminary in Chicagoland.  She joins David Capes on The Stone Chapel podcast to talk about her spiritual journey and calling.  She discusses the unique niche Northern Seminary has in theological education.  Recently, the school has created a MA in Women’s Studies and Center for Women in Leadership which they believe will inspire many gifted women to seek training for a variety of leadership positions in their churches. For those interested they can go to www.seminary.edu to learn more.

To hear the podcast (30 minutes) click here.

The Stone Chapel is a podcast of the friends and staff of the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas.  It is hosted by Dr. David Capes, Director of the Library and former faculty member at Houston Baptist University and Wheaton College.  The purpose of the podcast is to bring to our audience great conversations from the world’s leading experts in theology, biblical studies, archaeology, Church history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ethics, ministry, and a host of other topics close to the mission of the library.

The Lanier Theological Library is a magnet for scholars, church leaders and influencers.  For the last ten years, it has welcomed hundreds of academics and church leaders from across the globe for public lectures, study, panel discussions, consultations, and encouragement.

These podcasts as well as the Lanier library and the Stone Chapel are generously underwritten by Mark and Becky Lanier and the Lanier Theological Library Foundation.  If you have questions or comments, please be in touch: Email david.capes@lanierlibrary.org

Posted on

George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Todd Still, PhD, Dean of Truett Seminary

Todd Still (PhD, Univ of Glasgow) joins David Capes to talk about the mission of George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University.  Since becoming the dean, Todd Still has watched the numbers of students and the reach of the seminary expand.  While other seminaries are contracting and facing financial difficulties, Truett Seminary is growing and raising more and more scholarship money for its students.  Since its founding in 1991, the seminary has trained 1800 graduates, most of whom are serving in churches in America and around the world.  In days to come, you will likely see Truett Seminary staff and faculty more and more present at the library; but that’s another podcast.  If you’d like to study at Truett or if you know someone who would, contact Dr. Todd Still (Todd_Still@baylor.edu).

To hear the podcast click here.

The Stone Chapel is a podcast of the friends and staff of the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas.  It is hosted by Dr. David Capes, Senior Research Fellow at the library and former faculty member at Houston Baptist University and Wheaton College.  The purpose of the podcast is to bring to our audience great conversations from the world’s leading experts in theology, biblical studies, archaeology, Church history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ethics, ministry, and a host of other topics close to the mission of the library.

The Lanier Theological Library is a magnet for scholars, church leaders and influencers.  For the last ten years, it has welcomed hundreds of academics and church leaders from across the globe for public lectures, study, panel discussions, consultations, and encouragement.

These podcasts as well as the Lanier library and the Stone Chapel are generously underwritten by Mark and Becky Lanier and the Lanier Theological Library Foundation.  If you have questions or comments, please be in touch: Email david.capes@lanierlibrary.org