Russell H. Dilday is a pastor, educator, former seminary president, and chancellor of
B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. He is best known for his tenure as President of
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
until his abrupt dismissal in 1994 during the
Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence
Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgenceHefley, James C.''The Truth in Crisis: The Conservative Resurgence in the ...
.
Career
He served as President of
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
starting in 1978. During his sixteen-year tenure, the seminary annual enrollment exceeded 5000 students, making it the largest in American theological education nhistory. In 1990, ''Christianity Today'' released a poll of its readers ranking the effectiveness of American seminaries. Southwestern Seminary was ranked “number one among the top 33 graduate theological schools in the nation.
He was fired in March 1994 by what had become majority conservative-leaning board of trustees in a 26-7 vote during the
Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence
Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgenceHefley, James C.''The Truth in Crisis: The Conservative Resurgence in the ...
. Dilday described the resurgence as having fragmented Southern Baptist fellowship and as being "far more serious than a controversy". Dilday described it as being "a self-destructive, contentious, one-sided feud that at times took on combative characteristics".
Since 1979, Southern Baptists had become polarized into two major groups: moderates and conservatives. Dilday has been labeled a moderate, but prefers the term "constructive conservative." Reflecting the hyper-conservative majority votes of delegates at the 1979 annual meeting of the SBC, the new national organization officers and committees replaced all leaders of Southern Baptist agencies with presumably more conservative people (often dubbed "fundamentalists" by dissenters) who would carry out the takeover agenda.
[Humphreys, Fisher. ''The Way We Were: How Southern Baptist Theology Has Changed and What It Means to Us All''. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2002. . The era of conservative resurgence was accompanied by erosion of more traditional Baptist members (see, ''e.g.'', G. Avery Lee).]
In August 1994, Dilday was hired by
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
to serve as a distinguished professor of
homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...
at the
George W. Truett Theological Seminary
George W. Truett Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological seminary in Waco, Texas. The seminary, named after Southern Baptist preacher George Washington Truett, was founded in 1993 as part of Baylor University and is affiliated with the Ba ...
and to be a special assistant to Baylor President Herbert Reynolds. He also served as Acting Dean of Truett Seminary.
He served as interim President of
Howard Payne University
Howard Payne University is a private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Howard Payne College was founded by Reverend Noah T. Byers and Dr. John David Robnett in 1889. The institu ...
from 2002–3.
He was pastor of Texas Baptist churches including First Church in
Antelope, Texas
Antelope is a small unincorporated community near the intersection of Loop 187, U.S. Highway 281, and Farm to Market Road 175, twenty miles northwest of Jacksboro in northwestern Jack County, Texas. The population is 65.
History
Antelope is one ...
, a rural congregation
First Church in Clifton and he led Tallowood Church in Houston "from a mission to one of the strongest missions churches in Texas Baptist life." His only non-Texas pastorate was at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, a large urban congregation.
Dr. Dilday has received honorary degrees from
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
(L.L.D),
Mercer University
Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...
(D.D.),
William Jewell College
William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...
(L.H.D.) and
Dallas Baptist University (D. Hum.).
Education
He earned degrees from
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...
(B.A.) and
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
(M.Div., Ph.D.).
Writings
''You Can Overcome Discouragement'', 1977
''The Doctrine of Biblical Authority'', 1989
''Personal Computer: A New Tool for Ministers,'' 1985
''Communicator's Commentary: I & II Kings'', which was a Gold Medallion Award finalist for the “Best Commentary,” 1988,
''Columns: Glimpses of a Seminary Under Assault'', Oct. 2004, that revisits Dilday's monthly presidential columns at Southwestern.
''Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility'', 2007.
Honors
Dilday is highly respected for his denominational leadership and has been recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the "Texas Twenty" – persons across the state who "have proved to be pivotal forces in their respective fields – and, by extension, in Texas." He was also named by ''The Baptist Standard'' as one of the "ten most influential Texas Baptists in the twentieth century."
Family
A native Texan, Dilday grew up in a Texas Baptist minister's home. His father, Hooper Dilday, served a number of Texas churches, and was on the staff of the
Baptist General Convention of Texas for 20 years in Sunday school, discipleship training and church services, and was longtime minister of education at First Church in Wichita Falls. His mother Opal Spillers Dilday was born in Memphis, Texas, and was a children's educational specialist in Baptist churches in Amarillo, Port Arthur, Port Neches, Wichita Falls and Dallas.
Sources
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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...
"In 1994, the seminary experienced a sudden change in leadership with the dismissal of Russell H. Dilday as president and the appointment…"
*
B. H. Carroll Theological Institute "The institute's founding chancellor is Russell H. Dilday, a former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who launched…"
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Southern Baptist Convention Conservative Resurgence
Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgenceHefley, James C.''The Truth in Crisis: The Conservative Resurgence in the ...
: "Dr. Russell H. Dilday, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1994, has analogized what he calls "the…"
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Southern Baptist Convention "Dilday, Russell. Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility. Macon, Georgia: Smyth and Helwys…"
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Howard Payne University
Howard Payne University is a private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Howard Payne College was founded by Reverend Noah T. Byers and Dr. John David Robnett in 1889. The institu ...
"Dr. Russell H. Dilday (Interim President) 2002–2003"
*
Baptist Faith and Message
The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spi ...
"Russell H. Dilday. An Analysis of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000."
References
External links
July 29, 2012 Sermon at Tallowood Baptist Church, Houston, TX*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilday, Russell H.
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Baylor University alumni
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni
Southern Baptist ministers
American Baptist theologians
Seminary presidents
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty