SBC seminaries see new generation of leaders with R. Scott Pace installed at Southeastern

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WAKE FOREST, N.C. (RNS) — Standing in full academic regalia on the stage of Binkley Chapel on Tuesday (Oct. 13), R. Scott Pace was inaugurated president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, promising that “in everything we do, it’s all going to be about one name”: Jesus.

The change of the guard, following the retirement of Daniel Akin earlier this year, signals a new chapter for Southeastern, which has grown to be the fifth largest theological school in the U.S., with nearly 1,600 seminary students this year.

Pace, 51, who completed his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from Southeastern, and most recently served as provost and chief academic officer, is one of three new seminary presidents at the Southern Baptist Convention’s six seminaries.

The new cohort is succeeding an older group of leaders, many of whom, like Akin, were key champions of the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1980s.

In his 23-minute address, Pace promised to remain faithful to the vision of what Southern Baptists call the “conservative resurgence.”

“I want to say as…