McKissic Stirs it Up at Southwestern Seminary

Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist in Arlington, Texas, is a Southwestern Alum and Southwestern Trustee. Tuesday he spoke in chapel. Not since the John Avant chapel in the mid-90s has so much buzz followed a SWBTS chapel service.

McKissic spoke on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Most of his message was straight down-the-middle Southern Baptist theology. However, McKissic ruffled some feathers, dropped some jaws, and raised the temperature in Truett Auditorium when he confessed to receiving the gift of tongues in the Fort Worth dormitory as a student in 1981. He went on to express great concern with any effort of Southern Baptists to make the tongues issue a litmus test for serving in Southern Baptist life.

Here are his exact words:

But I think it’s tragic in Baptist life when we take a valid, vital gift that the Bible talks about and come up with a policy that says people who pray in tongues in their private prayer lives cannot work in certain positions. That to me is contrary to what many of our foremost Baptist thinkers and leaders think. (for the whole transcript of the message, go here)

His words did not settle well with the administration at the Seminary. The decision was made by President Patterson to not post the message in the website archives. One must purchase the message through Roberts Library. A statement concerning this decision was posted on the seminary website.

PastorMcKissicc responded to this censorship with an open letter to Dr. Patterson. In the attached notes to the letter, McKissic quotes Dr. Patterson's own words: "It would be a mistake for evangelicals to forbid others to speak in tongues".

The event set the internet abuzz with discussion and quickly drew the attention of local and national news.