As you know, we have been training servants for church work since 1978. It has been said that Southwest trains more than just preachers, and that is true. We have trained missionaries to Asia, Africa, South America, and Oceania. We have trained Bible Class teachers who labor week-in and week-out to teach in local congregations across Texas and other states. We have trained elders from San Angelo to San Antonio, from Texarkana to Burnet, and many places in between. We have trained evangelists and domestic missionaries who do not focus on the pulpit each Sunday but focus on the lost of their respective communities.
Yet, while we do train more than just preachers, preacher training remains our focus. We expect that the men who graduate SWSBS will be ready in season and out of season to preach the Gospel. He will be able to construct a sermon, courageously step into the pulpit, and confidently deliver God’s message. He is also expected to give careful attention to his own life, to pray diligently, and to preach humbly.
SWSBS success training preachers is evident in the graduates that fill so many pulpits around the state of Texas and beyond. We have been so successful training preachers that many of our graduates are called upon to work in other schools of preaching training the next generation of preachers. Our philosophy on training preachers is simple: if a man wants to be a preacher we work to mold him into the image of Jesus Christ, to build upon his knowledge, to stoke the fire in his bones, and to help him present God’s word with accuracy and clarity. However, we do not turn men away who do not want to be preachers; instead, we help them learn how to preach and encourage them to develop as servants of the Lord.
If you want to be an elder, a deacon, a missionary, a minister, an evangelist, a Bible class teacher, a preacher, or a knowledgeable servant in God’s Kingdom, SWSBS might be the right place for you.