Campbell University Divinity School

When I lived in Raleigh, several friends of mine from the Singles group @ Forest Hills Baptist were students there. I visited the school on several occasions, and got a pretty good feeling about it. The thing that bothered me the most about it, though, was not its CBF affiliation, but rather their perceived partiality towards Baptists who spent their entire lives in North Carolina and who intended to spend a good part of their post-seminary lives in North Carolina.

 

It is my understanding that they recognize this impression they have given and have made a concious decision to diversify the faculty (to get faculty from outside the Carolinas) and attract students from outside the region.

 

Baptist Believer, an SWBTS PHD grad Steve Harmon has been a Theology prof there for a couple of years. He created a firestorm @ SWBTS when he defended his dissertation and shared some views about women in ministry that his committee didn't like. Dr Harmon also married the director of admissions @ the Campbell Divinity school in late 1999.

 

Yes. I am very aware of that.

I am pretty sure you are mistaken here. His dissertation had nothing to do with women in ministry.

I believe you are referring to the incident when he was nominated by the faculty and the theology department dean, Tommy Lea, to join the faculty. He met with Dr. Hemphill and Hemphill supported his nomination. He faced opposition from the trustees because he did not agree with the firing of Dr. Dilday and because of a letter written to the editor of the Baptist Standard in the wake of the Dilday firing and the hiring of Dr. Hemphill that contrasted contradictory statements from the board of trustees and what Dr. Hemphill publicly said that the trustees told him. Ollin Collins, former pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Watauga, accused him of being an "unrepentant sinner" for daring to write the letter comparing those public statements. Dr. Harmon was also quizzed at length about SBC political matters which violated the trustee rules for hiring. A number of false charges were made against Harmon regarding his alleged views during this time and he was not given an opportunity to respond to them. At the very last minute before the trustee meeting, aides quickly replaced the page of the order of business for the trustees where Dr. Harmon's name appeared as Dr. Hemphill dropped support for the nomination. The story came to light because the seminary sent a copy of the agenda to the Baptist Standard and then sent the Standard a revised agenda at the very last minute.

Yes. I am aware of this.

 

He's a very nice man and an outstanding scholar. I'm sure you will enjoy his class.

[ January 05, 2003, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: Baptist Believer ]

 

BB, didn't mean to get my facts crossed up. But I do remember that he had some issues with the "Presslerites" on the SWBTS Board of Trustees.

 

Yup. He did. You are certainly right about that.

I know the facts very well because I was close to the situation.

It got really ugly.