Congratulations to Two Extraordinary Women!

This was a significant month in the lives of two Baptist ministers.

Mary Beth Dunbar-Duke, Chaplain at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, was recognized as a Board Certified Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains at their meeting Orlando, Florida, on June 25. (Pictured at right--Rev Raye Nell Dyer, Rev. Mary Beth Dunbar-Duke, and the Rev. Dr. Cordell Simpson.)

LuAnne Nickell Prevost, chaplain at Park West and Peninsula Psychiatric Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, was endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and commissioned at the CBF General Assembly in Greensboro, NC, on June 24. She is also a Board Certified Chaplain. (Pictured during commissioning service at left.)

What these women have in common is that they are both graduates of Central Baptist Theological Seminary and completed their work for the Master of Divinity degree at the seminary’s site in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Their commitment to prepare for ministry has resulted in significant ministry roles for both.

During her studies, Beth was also working full-time as a nurse while parenting two young adults with her husband, Cliff. LuAnne commuted two hundred miles one-way from Knoxville, Tennessee, while working as a physical trainer and being the single parent of teen-agers. This is clear evidence of their individual commitment to the task!

Thanks to the cooperation of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, First Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, and Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, seven students were able to complete their theological education without relocating geographically and could continue to be involved in family, work, and church.

Although the program has now moved to Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, the opportunity continues for women and men to follow the path to a theological degree that LuAnne and Beth pursued. For more information about this program, contact Nathan Huguley at Nathan.huguley@cbts.edu.

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