Willson Lectures to feature Canadian seminary president
Dr. Robert Blackaby will be the featured speaker March 5-6 during the annual Willson Lectures, Wayland Baptist University announced today.
Dr. Blackaby is president of Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, where he regularly teaches Christian Ethics, Spiritual Leadership, and Effective Ministry Management. He has a passion for preparing God-called men and women for 21st-century leadership in tough places.
The two-day 2024 Willson Lectures include public, private, and classroom lectures at Wayland’s Plainview campus. Following a private dinner lecture for Wayland faculty and staff, as well as local Baptist pastors, on Tuesday, March 5, Dr. Blackaby will be featured at the Willson Lectures Chapel at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 6, in Harral Memorial Auditorium. He also will be speaking in select classes during the day.
Strength for Today; Hope for Tomorrow is the title of chapel lecture, which is free and open to the public. His lecture is based on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-18 in the Bible. A question-and-answer session with Dr. Blackaby is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 6, in UC-211 in McClung University Student Center. Lunch may be purchased in Wayland’s cafeteria immediately following the chapel lecture and brought upstairs to the question-and-answer session in the upper-level meeting room.
Dr. Blackaby has served on the board of Christian Higher Education Canada since 2021 and on the board of International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities since 2023. He also served on the board of North American Mission Board Canada from 2013 to 2019. A pastor and church planter for many years, he served as president of the Canadian National Baptist Convention from 2003 to 2006. He was on the organization’s National Leadership Board from 1999 to 2003.
A 1989 University of British Columbia graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History, Dr. Blackaby earned a Master of Divinity degree in Theology in 1992 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Christian Ethics in 1998 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
Dr. Blackaby has served at Gateway Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he served as an assistant professor from 1991 to 1995. He was an associational strategy consultant for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1999 to 2004.
In speaking, as well as in his role as an educator, Dr. Blackaby says he seeks to “build strong leaders, schools, organizations, families, and communities through Christian higher education, promoting leadership development within a twenty-first century context.”
The Willson Lectures were established in 1950 with a gracious gift from Floydada residents Dr. James M. and Mavis Willson. It was the intent of the couple for the annual lectureship to feature topics related to “Applied Christianity” and “Christian Home and Family Life.” Wayland has remained true to their wishes through the years. Like the outstanding speakers brought to the campus through the years, the presentations by Dr. Blackaby will focus on applying Christianity with emphasis on home and family life.
The Willsons were successful businesspersons and active community residents. Dedicated Methodist laypersons, they were active in their local church. Dr. Willson served as a trustee at McMurry University, Southern Methodist University, and Methodist Hospital in Lubbock, which is now known as Covenant Health. Dr. Willson received a merit award from Wayland and was the recipient of several awards and honors. Wayland also nominated Dr. Willson for the Freedom Foundation Award in 1960, which he received in Valley Forge, Pa. He participated in numerous civic organizations, including the West Texas Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, the Masons, and the Shriners.
The Willsons’ legacy at Wayland is the outstanding speakers who have been brought to the Plainview campus through the years. At the invitation of the university, many of the Willsons’ descendants attend the private dinner lecture as well as the chapel lecture, where students, faculty, staff, and the public get an opportunity to hear high-caliber national and international speakers.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Willson Lectures to feature Canadian seminary president
