Faith Baptist Theological Seminary

Thirty years ago this summer, Lynnette and I set out to visit Faith Baptist Theological Seminary.

When I was investigating seminaries, a trusted pastor friend told me that Faith must be good, as Dr. John Hartog II was teaching there. When we went for a visit, I asked about meeting with some of the faculty, and they called Dr. Hartog first. He left his beloved garden and yard projects and put on a shirt and tie just to meet with us in his office. There he regaled us with tales from his years of training at Dallas Theological Seminary, as well as his time in the doctoral program at Grace Theological Seminary.

“You could go to seminary!”

I will never forget those words from my wife Lynnette—and she won’t either.

They were uttered as we were eating lunch one day in the spring of 1994, watching The Coral Ridge Hour from Dr. D. James Kennedy and Coral Ridge Ministries. The segment at the end of that particular episode highlighted the new Knox Theological Seminary, which Dr. Kennedy had begun and was promoting to his national television audience.

I was ending the second year of my first pastorate, in a small church in a small town in northwest Illinois, and had completed two graduate classes during that school year.