Midwestern Seminary presents awards to campus minister, director of missions
--By Joni B. Hannigan
     ATLANTA, June 16--Weathering a tough "battle for the Bible," Bob Anderson did not give up on his denomination. Honored at the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's National Alumni Association annual luncheon June 16 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Bob Anderson, who earned a master of divinity degree from MBTS in 1986, received the 1999 Alumni of the Year award.
     Anderson was lauded for his 27 years as Baptist Student Union director at Kansas State University, Manhattan, and for wanting to stick with Southern Baptists even when others like Michael Whitehead, now a professor at MBTS, grew skeptical. "This is a faithful man who has reproduced reproducers," said Whitehead, presenting the award to Anderson. "His more than four generations of disciples have literally touched the world for Christ." Also honored at the luncheon was Jim Queen, director of missions for the Chicago Metro Baptist Association. Illustrating Queen's mission in the multicultural urban environment of Chicago, MBTS President Mark Coppenger called Queen a "tall oak in Baptist life."
     Coppenger and Queen have been working together on projects to assist ministers to develop a love for the city and the ability to minister to the unique needs presented in an urban church environment. Queen, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky, said he hopes MBTS will continue to train pastors as evangelists in the urban context, necessary when ministering in urban areas. "Jim is at the eye of the hurricane," Coppenger told those gathered. "He is a Southern grad, but stepping up today," he joked.

top of page

back to newsroom