October 1, 2026
FORT WORTH, Texas — President David S. Dockery encouraged faculty, staff, students, and friends of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College during Fall Convocation on Tuesday to pursue unity and truth, as Jesus prayed for believers throughout the centuries in His prayer recorded in John 17.
During the service, held in the historic Truett Auditorium and marking the beginning of the new academic year, the occupant of a new academic chair was installed, three faculty signed the seminary’s Book of Confessional Heritage, and three new faculty were introduced.
In opening remarks, Dockery said initial enrollment data for the fall semester is encouraging, as are early reports of giving for the month of August. With accreditation issues resolved, Dockery said, “There is a great spirit across the campus; there is much for which to be grateful.”
Dockery said the prayer found in John 17 “is Jesus’s own prayer, where we see Him pouring out His heart to the Father for His followers. It is the greatest prayer recorded in Scripture. More than one commentator has described this chapter as ‘The Holy of Holies’ of the gospel record as Jesus prayed not only for His immediate followers, but for all true believers through the ages, including those of us gathered on the Southwestern campus.”
In the first five verses of the chapter, Dockery pointed out that Jesus first prayed for Himself, acknowledging to the Father that He had completed His earthly work and asking to be returned to His glorified state. But the remainder of the chapter, Jesus prays for His current disciples and all future believers.
As stated in Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25, Dockery said today Jesus continues to pray for believers from His position at God’s right hand.
“I believe that John 17 provides a window for us to know how Jesus is praying for His Church even today,” Dockery said.
Dockery listed seven key themes from the passage that Jesus prayed for believers: to know the Father, be protected and kept secure, experience true fellowship, have true joy, be different from the world, be consecrated and sanctified by the Word of God, and evidence oneness, love, and unity.
“What an amazing prayer,” Dockery said. “Seven powerful applications for all of us who are here this morning, for all of the Southwestern community, for us to be different and distinct from the fractured, polarized, and conflicted world all around us, reflecting a genuine unity based on the unity between the Father and the Son.”
That theme of unity is one of two major emphases of the prayer, Dockery said, pointing out that Jesus prayed for His followers to be united just as He and the Father are united, with a unity that is not just outward conformity but authentic unity.
“Followers of Christ at Southwestern are different and diverse,” Dockery said, adding that those differences range from appearances to histories, preferences to social status, among other differences. “… But, despite our many differences, which could be even further amplified, we belong to the same Lord, and thus we belong to each other. We need to remember that at the heart of the Southwestern comm-unity is a call to unity. To live in unity in community is to enjoy the life provided by and in the one, true, living God.”
Unfortunately, Dockery said believers often instead exhibit spirits of pettiness, selfishness, competition, and disunity—characteristics of a worldly person that he said would break Jesus’s heart. While some fights are necessary when they are for the sake of the gospel, arguments over lesser matters should be avoided in order to promote unity and love between believers, as a witness to the world.
“One of the things that impresses the world and authenticates the gospel message is the way that Christians love each other and live and serve together in harmony,” Dockery said. “I often pray that the Southwestern community would be known not only as the place of ‘the bowed head,’ but also as ‘the place where Christ followers truly love one another.’”
Dockery said believers can be united despite differences when they hold to the confession that they share the same Savior, same hope, and same grace, belonging to the same Father, even if they disagree in other areas. Confessional statements such as the Nicene Creed and the Baptist Faith and Message allow for a range of beliefs in those secondary areas while holding to the primary convictions of the Christian faith.
Just as Jesus’s prayer emphasized the need for Christian unity and love, Dockery pointed out the second emphasis in John 17 as the foundational truths and convictions shared by believers, leading to holiness, “for ultimately true unity cannot exist without true truth,” he said.
“The followers of Christ are to be in the world, bearing witness to the truth in Christ,” Dockery said, saying that truth is revealed in Scripture. “This truth is needed to sanctify us to become more like Christ, reflecting a holy uniqueness and a unique holiness.”
Tension can be present for believers between the desire to walk in love and truth, unity and conviction, leading to the need to find balance, Dockery said.
“In this prayer, Jesus makes clear that unity and truth go together,” Dockery said. “Truth, without a concern for loving unity, seems harsh. A unity that exists without truth is mushy and misguided, and ultimately false and meaningless.”
Dockery quoted 20th-century theologian Carl F. H. Henry as saying that the church’s witness to the world is stronger when believers are united, adding they must be united on the truths of Scripture.
“Let us make every effort across this campus to love one another while seeking to balance these important markers of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ,” Dockery said.
Dockery pointed to early leaders of Southwestern, including founding president B. H. Carroll and second president L. R. Scarborough, who exemplified how to remain firm in faith and conviction, countering wrong teaching, while also promoting cooperation and unity, such as by joining the Southern Baptist Convention and championing the Cooperative Program.
In following the examples of unity and conviction set by past shapers of Southwestern, Dockery encouraged current Southwesterners to seek the Spirit’s help in applying Christ’s prayer to their lives—in their studies, service, teaching, relationships, and other areas. And not just internally at Southwestern, but also in their interactions with the world, so they can represent Christ well.
“Let us ask God to help us commit ourselves afresh to a life of love and joy expressed corporately in visible Christian unity, even as we recommit ourselves to building this theological community on the truthfulness of God’s inspired and infallible Word,” Dockery encouraged. “May the Lord help us all in the year ahead to be agents of unity, agents of cooperation, agents of reconciliation across this campus and beyond.”
During the service, Terri Stovall, dean of women and professor of educational ministries, was installed as the Ina Crosby Parnell Dean of Women Endowed Chair.
Signing the Book of Confessional Heritage were recently elected faculty Coleman M. Ford, associate professor of humanities, TBC; Andrew Jennings, assistant professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics; and Blake O. McKinney, assistant professor of history and humanities, TBC.
Armando Hernandez, instructor of theology, and Stephanie Litton, assistant professor of educational leadership, TBC, and K. Lawson Younger, senior professor, were introduced as new faculty members.
Dockery also welcomed new students to Seminary Hill, pronouncing them “Southwesterners” in keeping with the tradition started by Robert E. Naylor, the seminary’s fifth president.
The service constituted the first chapel of the 2026-2027 academic year. Chapel services will continue to be held in Truett Auditorium each Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Services can also be viewed live at swbts.live.
Share with others
