Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions . . .

Let the sun shine in.

It is our standard policy at The Baptist Blogger not to direct our readers’ attention to another blogger’s musings. This is not some law of Medes and Persians, mind you, nor because we eschew the consideration of other bloggers’ thoughts.

Rather, we are aware that The Baptist Blogger boasts the most literate, informed, and intelligent readers in the Baptist blogosphere.

Which is to say, if it’s worth reading, you’ve probably already read it.

But as anyone familiar with the Patterson era at Southwestern Seminary knows: rules are made to be broken.

So without further ado, we direct your attention to the following:

Surviving SWBTS- Life As A Female Employee and Student In A Pattersonian Culture — by Diane Montgomery

Coming into seminary, I naively believed that we would all be unified spiritually and everyone would be kind and godly since we were all called to ministry. But, I was desperately wrong, and my first year at SWBTS was difficult to say the least. The leadership and administration reminded me of all the characteristics of “church people” that turned me off of the gospel in my younger years. Arrogance, hypocrisy, narcissism, and the “Good Ol’ Boys” club mentality permeated most every part of the SWBTS culture to which I was exposed. It was then that bitterness, hurt, and anger began to take root in my heart towards the leadership at Southwestern which embodied all of these distasteful characteristics.

Thankfully, God rescued me from that bitterness and introduced me to wonderful and godly students and staff who helped shape and mold me into the person I am today. Nevertheless, the environment continued to be filled with toxic air stemming from its toxic leadership. The Patterson’s were to be feared and obeyed – or risk suffering the consequences. You were either in line with Patterson’s 100% or you were the enemy. It was an environment of fear and intimidation.

Click here to keep reading . . .

(Note: Any number of the claims made in the post above could trigger an accreditation review for Southwestern Seminary.)