B. H. Carroll Theological Institute
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#if:|Template:Main other }}{{#if:|Template:Main other }}{{#if:|Template:Main other }}{{#invoke:check for unknown parameters|check |unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox university with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|mapframe_args=y | academic_affiliation | academic_affiliations | academic_staff | accreditation | address | administrative_staff | affiliation | affiliations | athletics_affiliations | athletics_nickname | athletics_nicknames | budget | campus | campus_type | campus_size | canton | caption | chair | chairman | chairperson | chancellor | city | closed | colors | colours | coor | coordinates | country | dean | director | doctoral | embedded | endowment | enrollment | established | faculty | footnotes | former_name | former_names | founder | founders | free | free1 | free2 | free_label | free_label1 | free_label2 | head | head_label | image | image_alt | image_name | image_size | image_upright | language | latin_name | location | logo | logo_alt | logo_size | logo_upright | map_size | mascot | mascots | module | motto | mottoeng | motto_lang | mottoeng | name | native_name | native_name_lang | nickname | nrhp | officer_in_charge | other | other_name | other_names | other_students | parent | postalcode | postcode | postgrad | prefecture | president | principal | province | provost | pushpin_label_position | pushpin_map | pushpin_map_caption | rector | region | religious_affiliation | sporting_affiliations | sports_free | sports_free1 | sports_free2 | sports_free3 | sports_free_label | sports_free_label1 | sports_free_label2 | sports_free_label3 | sports_nickname | sports_nicknames | state | students | superintendent | top_free | top_free1 | top_free2 | top_free_label | top_free_label1 | top_free_label2 | total_staff | type | undergrad | vice_chancellor | vice-president | vice_president | visitor | website | zipcode }}{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check | template = Infobox university | cat = Template:Main other | image; image_name | other_names; other_name | former_names; former_name | founders; founder | academic_affiliations; academic_affiliation | academic_staff; faculty | campus_type; campus | other_students; other | location; address | location; city | location; address | location; canton | location; prefecture | location; province | location; region | location; state | location; country | location; postalcode | location; postcode | location; zipcode | postalcode; postcode; zipcode | coordinates; coor | colors; colours | free_label; free_label1 | free; free1 | athletics_nicknames; sports_nicknames; athletics_nickname; sports_nickname; nickname | athletics_affiliations; sporting_affiliations | affiliation; affiliations | mascots; mascot | nrhp; embedded; module }} B. H. Carroll Theological Institute is an accredited Christian Baptist institution in Irving, Texas with multiple sources of funding and a self-perpetuating board of governors. It is named after Benajah Harvey Carroll and teaches Baptist principles and practices.<ref name="postnuke">Three schools claim part of B.H. Carroll's legacy, The Baptist Standard, December 19, 2003.</ref> It operates in cooperation primarily with Baptist churches,<ref>Theology education taken to churches, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 1, 2004.</ref> and also cooperates with other Great Commission Christians. The institution offers classes in both conventional classroom settings and by innovative means. It trains students in "“teaching churches” located in multiple Texas cities, as well as through interactive lessons taught over the Internet",<ref name=ABP>Unconventional seminary begins second year of instruction Template:Webarchive, Associated Baptist Press, January 13, 2006.</ref> with 20 such "teaching churches" in operation throughout Texas as of November 2006.<ref name=FWST1106>Without a campus, seminary is still going strong, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 25, 2006.</ref> The school plans to focus on the use of distance education to make it easier for students to obtain theological education.<ref>New Baptist seminary aims to open in '04: Church officials say school to make it easier to get theology degrees, Dallas Morning News, November 5, 2003.</ref> As of 2006, the school's second year of operation, B. H. Carroll Theological Institute had 300 students taking courses and an additional 300 students auditing courses.<ref name=FWST1106/> Bruce Corley was Carroll's first president;<ref name=FWST1106/> Gene Wilkes is Carroll's second president.<ref name="baptiststandard1">Ken Camp, "Carroll Institute President Faces Challenges",The Baptist Standard, January 2, 2014.</ref>
In January 2007, the institute was certified to grant degrees by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,<ref name=THECB/> and was later exempted from such certification through a ruling of the Texas State Supreme Court. In late February 2012, B. H. Carroll Theological Institute received accreditation status from the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE).<ref name="Association for Biblical Higher Education ABHE Directory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Carroll is listed among Institutions and Programs accredited by recognized U.S. Accrediting Organizations by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation(CHEA).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, Carroll received accreditation as a member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).<ref name="Member Schools B. H. Carroll Theological Institute">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
History
The institute's founding chancellor is Russell H. Dilday, a former president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dilday was fired from Southwestern in March 1994 by what had become majority conservative-leaning board of trustees during the Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence.<ref>Staff. "SBC seminary president fired - Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Russell H. Dilday", Christian Century, March 23, 1994. Accessed January 16, 2009.</ref>
Dilday wrote of a 'lively renaissance of Baptist theological education at the edge of a new millennium' prior to the launch of the institute.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At the 2006 installation of the institute's president and first administrators, Dilday indicated that 'the time is right for such a school as the Carroll Institute.'<ref name=ABP />
The four inaugural faculty members at Carroll all formerly taught at Southwestern.<ref name="Wingfield">Mark Wingfield, "Carroll Institute hires first faculty, denies competition with Southwestern" Template:Webarchive, Biblical Recorder, November 7, 2003.</ref> including Corley, who was a professor of New Testament and Greek and the Dean of the School of Theology there.<ref>Four leave Southwestern Baptist to join new seminary, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 5, 2003.</ref> Corley was awarded both a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Doctor of Theology (Th. D.) from Southwestern.<ref>Bruce Corley, 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. Accessed January 1, 2019.</ref> The institute's representatives express no competition existing between the residential-model of education exemplified by Southwestern and their own non-residential model.<ref name="Wingfield" /> In a guest post for the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion Southwest Region NABPR-SW blog, Corley suggests schools like the Institute can help 'bridge the gap between where the seminaries are and what their publics need.'<ref>Corley, Bruce. "Songs in a Strange Land". The NABPR-Southwest Blog: a place for Baptist Professors in the Southwest USA to share a few ideas (March 10, 2012). https://www.nabpr-sw.blogspot.com/2012/04/songs-in-strange-land-by-dr-bruce.html (accessed May 15, 2012).</ref>
Corley stepped down as president in October, 2013; Dr. Gene Wilkes of Legacy Church of Plano, Texas, was elected as Carroll's 2nd President in October 2013 and was inaugurated in February 2014.<ref name="baptiststandard1"/> With both Baylor and Southwestern's historic links to the man, some contention developed over the adoption of the name of B.H. Carroll by the institute, as Carroll was the founding president of Southwestern Seminary.<ref name="postnuke" /> Writing long before the controversy, Leon McBeth testifies to the importance of Benajah Harvey Carroll's legacy to Baylor University and Southern Seminary as well as to modern Baptist history, describing the man as 'the John Wayne of Texas Baptists.'<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
After headquartering in Arlington, Texas for several years, the Institute moved to its "first permanent location" in Irving beginning in May 2015.<ref>Teri Webster, 'Theological Institute makes Irving home,' The Rambler, July 18, 2015. [www.ramblernewspapers.com]</ref>
Academics and Accreditation
According to the Carroll Institute's website, "the institute is a graduate-level community of faith and learning dedicated to equipping men and women called to serve Christ in the diverse and global ministries of His church".<ref>B. H. Carroll Theological Institute: Mission, 2015-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. Accessed January 1, 2019.</ref> Carroll applied for accreditation with the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and was accredited by ATS in 2017.<ref name="Member Schools B. H. Carroll Theological Institute"/> Previously, Carroll applied for accreditation with the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE)in 2010, and was accredited by the Association in 2012.<ref name="bhcarroll.edu">B.H.Carroll Theological Institute, http://www.bhcarroll.edu/accreditation/accreditation.html Template:Webarchive, accessed March 4, 2012.</ref> Prior to this step, the institute was granted a Certificate of Authority to offer master's and doctoral degrees by state of Texas'Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) in 2007.<ref name=THECB>History of Certificate of Authority Actions Template:Webarchive, accessed March 5, 2007.</ref> With its THECB certification, the school began offering programs leading to a Master of Divinity degree with major in Christian Ministry, Master of Music degree with major in Christian Ministry or a Master of Arts degree with majors in Theology, Education, and Music.<ref>Guidelines Template:Webarchive, B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, updated May 9, 2007. Accessed June 11, 2007.</ref> When THECB ceased regulating degree-granting religious institutions in 2008, Carroll was granted exemption from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.<ref name="bhcarroll.edu"/>
Library
The institute's library received a donation of nearly 5,000 volumes from Eddie Belle Newport, widow of John Newport, longtime academic vice president at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An additional 500 volumes were donated by Lois Hendricks, widow of longtime theology professor William Hendricks.<ref name="Wingfield" /> In addition to its print materials, the Carroll webpage discusses a 'NexLearn Online Library' consisting of electronic resources available to students via their online classroom environment.<ref>B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, 'Online Library', http://www.bhcarroll.edu/support/ask-the-librarian.html Template:Webarchive, accessed March 20, 2012.</ref>