October 2, 2026
FORT WORTH, Texas — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College welcomed new and returning students to campus with Welcome Week events and New Student Orientation on Aug. 15 as the seminary kicked off the 2025-2026 academic year on Aug. 18.
In welcoming new students, Madison Grace, provost and dean of the School of Theology, noted some are attending school for the first time while others are returning after years away.
“We are excited about our new semester,” he said. “… We’re glad that you’re here. We’re glad you’re part of this community.”
New students attended a Lunch & Learn where they were able to eat their meal alongside faculty from their respective schools before visiting those schools around the campus.
Aaron Solomon moved to Fort Worth from the Houston area to enter the Master of Divinity program in pastoral ministries. He said his wife’s father, grandfather, and currently her brother are all Southwesterners, and he knew it would be a good place for him to study as well.
Solomon said he looks forward to the opportunity to receive a “deeper education and set aside time to study the Word.”
Hugo Martinez of Fort Worth is also entering the MDiv program. Having served in youth ministry and young adult ministry for 10 years, this year he was called to be the pastor of the church he grew up in, located just blocks away from the seminary.
“I grew up in this area and knew about Southwestern for a long time,” Martinez said, adding he was encouraged to come to the seminary “to get a little bit more prepared” for his current ministry.
“I think one of the first classes that I’m taking is called pastoral ministries,” Martinez said. “They say it’s a lot of hands-on type of thing, so I think that’s really going to help me, especially this year.”
The dorms welcomed 54 male students to the Fort Worth Hall and 47 female students to Barnard Hall during move-in day on Aug. 14, with about 40 of those residents being incoming freshmen who had recently graduated from high school.
Abigail Ammons, a freshman from Rockdale, Texas, and a second-generation Southwestern student, said she is excited to begin her own journey on campus.
“I’m just looking forward to having a community where everyone here has the same goal, everyone is here to share the gospel,” Ammons said. “And to have that community that is encouraging each other and helping each other, and that small family connection.”
Ammons is pursuing her Bachelor in Intercultural Studies with the goal of being an English teacher.
Hannah Miller, a returning sophomore from Silver City, New Mexico, said she is looking forward to the upcoming semester as well.
“This is such a sweet community here, especially the girls in the dorm. Just like a big sisterhood,” said Miller, who is part of the five-year program at Southwestern, pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies and her master’s in Christian Education. “And so just being back with everybody and being back in the classroom, I’m just really looking forward to it. This really feels like home.”
Joe Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship, addressed new music students during the orientation, when students were introduced to SCMW faculty and received other information.
“You could go to any music school in the country and have greatness, right? But you came here because you love Jesus,” Crider said. “…And one of the things I hope that you’ll realize and recognize and experience really quickly in this building is that there’s a real love for one another.”
Michael Spencer of Fort Worth, a second-generation Southwesterner, begins his freshman year in the Bachelor of Music in Worship Studies program and said he is grateful for the opportunity to be around “people who are better at music than me” that he can learn from.
New students were also able to visit the ministry fair in West Commons of the Naylor Student Center, where campus organizations such as the World Mission Center, Southwestern Women, Student Life, Southwestern Music Academy, and the Campus Clinic shared information about campus opportunities and services.
Jacob Hanratty of Las Vegas and Nuno Mendonca of São Paulo, Brazil, recently graduated from Texas Christian University, and both decided they would continue their education at Southwestern, which Mendonca said was just 10 minutes down the road. Both are entering the MDiv with Mendonca focusing on evangelism and missions, while Hanratty plans to continue into the doctoral program in the future.
Isaac Baker of Houston recently graduated from Baylor University and is now pursuing an MDiv in pastoral ministries.
“I was looking to further my education in ministry and then also in apologetics,” Baker said. “Honestly, Southwestern is really straight to it with the Bible and unapologetic about who they are and holding to the inerrancy of the Bible.”
Elizabeth Hordyk of Ontario, Canada, became interested in studying at Southwestern when she heard Stephen Yuille, professor of church history and spiritual formations, who is also from Canada, speak at her church not long before he came to teach at Southwestern. Hordyk recalled Yuille mentioning the scripturally grounded nature of the seminary, which appealed to her. She is starting her Master of Divinity in Biblical Counseling with a focus in chaplaincy.
“I really want to read the Bible in the original language … but I really have a heart for biblical counseling,” Hordyk said of her reason for choosing the MDiv. She currently works with individuals in hospice care, which she said allows her to share the gospel with a people group near the end of their life.
Friday evening, the Riley Center hosted the annual Church Fair and Block Party, where students could connect with representatives from local churches and gain information as they look for a church to join and serve.
“While you’re here at Southwestern and Texas Baptist College, we don’t want you to supplant your spiritual life by the classes that you’re taking,” Grace encouraged the students. “We do study the Bible, we talk about theology, we talk about ministry in almost every single class. But you need to be involved with the local church. You need to be plugged in in the way in which God wants to engage the world.”
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