Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president remembered for growing school
Russell Dilday, who grew Fort Worth’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to one of the largest and most influential theological schools in the country, has died.
Dilday, who died June 21 at 92, led the seminary from 1978 to 1994. He was remembered for his work to grow the school and his calls for religious harmony between competing factions of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Those struggles led to his ouster in 1994 when conservatives on the board of trustees accused Dilday of favoring a more moderate wing of the Baptist convention.
His firing sparked protests from students, and an official rebuke from the convention’s governing board.
“Stay close to the Lord and to the task he has called you to perform,” Dilday said in a 1984 sermon at the convention’s annual meeting. He warned that Baptists struggling over political controversies would take the faith away from its mission.
Seminary president David S. Dockery said in a statement Dilday always showed great care for students and worked tirelessly to improve the institution.
“Southwestern continues to be blessed by these faithful efforts,” Dockery said.
Dilday grew Southwestern’s enrollment to the largest Baptist seminary in the world. The seminary was ranked the No. 1 graduate theological school in the United States in 1991, by Christianity Today.
At one point, roughly half of the Baptist ministers in the United States had received their theological training at Southwestern.
After leaving the school, Dilday went on to teach at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University and briefly served as its acting dean from 1995 to 1996.
In a statement on the university’s website, Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone called Dilday a servant leader and an advocate for the role of the Baptist Church.
“His legacy as a pastor and in the preparation of thousands of church leaders will be felt for generations across the denomination,” Livingstone said.
Dilday was born in Amarillo in 1930. He earned a bachelor’s degree in religion from Baylor University in 1952, before going on to earn his Master of Divinity from Southwestern.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Betty, brother Don, and son Robert. He is survived by his two daughters, Nancy and Ellen, six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family has requested memorials be made to The Russell H. Dilday Chair in Baptist Life and Leadership at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary by contacting Jon Sisk at jon_sisk@baylor.edu or calling 254-715-6124. A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. July 8 at 10 a.m. at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.
This story contains information from the Star-Telegram archives.
