Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 17:2 (Fall 2020)
Article: The School Of Providence And Prayer: From The Great Depression Through Hurricane Katrina And Beyond
Author: Steve W. Lemke

JBTM 17:2 (Fall 2020) p. 301

The School Of Providence And Prayer:
From The Great Depression Through Hurricane Katrina And Beyond

Steve Lemke

Steve Lemke is vice president for Institutional Assessment, provost emeritus, and professor of Philosophy and Ethics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Difficult Early Days

The year was 1918. Classes began at the new Baptist Bible Institute in New Orleans on October 1, 1918, but a problem quickly arose – a yellow fever and influenza epidemic had struck the city! Health officials declared a quarantine until November 19 and ordered all schools, colleges, and churches to be suspended indefinitely. The United States Health officer also requested the use of part of two of the buildings on the BBI campus to care for the sick, which was granted. The faculty met (a precursor to what a later faculty would do almost a century later after Hurricane Katrina) to discuss how to continue classes despite the quarantine. They made weekly assignments through November and gave tests each week (by mail correspondence, if not in person). As the end of the quarantine neared, yet another unexpected challenge arose. The United States had entered World War I by the declaration of war in April 1917. Although only 14,000 American Expeditionary Forces troops were in France in June 1917, that number had increased to over a million by May 1918 and over 2 million troops in France by the end of the war. In light of these events, War Department officials met with President DeMent and other BBI representatives to seek the use of some of the BBI facilities as a hospital for injured soldiers. The BBI representatives unanimously agreed that it was their patriotic and Christian duty to make the space available. Still, the Armistice was signed on November 11, precluding the military’s need for the facilities. What a challenging first semester!

From that shaky start until today, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has faced many challenging days. The 1920s brought many challenges to the young institution. BBI had initiated

JBTM 17:2 (Fall 2020) p. 302

a fund-raising campaign in Louisiana and had raised $163,000 in subscriptions for that campaign. Even so, Southern Baptists instituted the $75 million campaign in 1919, and these funds were turned over to the $75 million campaign to be allocated.1 Though the $75 million campaign appeared to be a success at first, bringing in pledges of over $92 million, it produced just $58 million as the economy faltered (for example, cotton prices had plunged from 40 cents a pound to 10 cents a pound). BBI had been pledged $500,000 out of the campaign, and BBI faculty and students pledged $37,000 toward the campaign but...