October 14, 2026
WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Honoring Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s heritage and pledging to keep the Great Commission at its center, Scott Pace was formally inaugurated and installed as the school’s president during a special service held on campus Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The ceremony took place in a packed Binkley Chapel before family, friends, faculty, trustees, students, alumni, pastors, and ministry leaders. Fellow seminary presidents and leaders from across the Southern Baptist Convention also shared their congratulations with Pace through video greetings.
Pace, just the seventh president in Southeastern’s 76-year history, assumed the helm of both the seminary and Judson College on Aug. 1. He succeeded Danny Akin, who retired on July 31 after a 22-year tenure leading the institution.
The service looked back before it looked ahead, balancing celebration and reverence through congregational singing, prayers, and words of challenge and encouragement to Pace.
Andy Taylor, chairman of Southeastern’s board of trustees, cited the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3 about planting and watering and said Pace was not starting from scratch.
“No president begins with a blank page,” Taylor said. “Every leader receives a stewardship that has been shaped by those who came before. Some planted. Others have watered. Many have sacrificed, served, taught, preached, prayed, and invested their lives in the mission of Southeastern Seminary.”
Taylor thanked Akin for his years of service and then, turning to Pace, spoke of the responsibility he now carries.
“Today you receive a sacred stewardship,” Taylor said. “You inherit a rich theological and missional heritage, and you now have the privilege and responsibility of leading Southeastern into its next chapter.”
Taylor said he and the board are “thrilled to partner with you as you lead us in continuing as a Great Commission seminary.”
Later in the service, Taylor presented Pace with a resolution of appreciation in honor of his inauguration on behalf of the board of trustees and also presented him with a presidential medallion, signifying the stewardship and responsibility of the office.
Akin, now president emeritus and a senior professor of preaching and theology at Southeastern, became the seminary’s president in 2004, when Pace was a doctoral student. He read from 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 and delivered the charge to Pace.
“This morning I have the honor and the joy of bringing a charge to a former student, a colleague, a dear friend and now my boss,” Akin said, drawing laughter from the assembled crowd. “And I especially take delight in that last one. I do consider it one of the great privileges of my life to finish out my time under the leadership of President Scott Pace.”
Akin said his words were less of a charge and more of a challenge for Pace.
“I simply want to encourage you to just keep on doing what you’ve been doing ever since I met you those many years ago,” Akin said.
Akin then gave five challenges to Pace, each beginning with the word “maintain.” Akin urged Pace to maintain his passion for: the exclusivity of the gospel; expository preaching; serving churches; the Bible’s teachings on marriage, family, gender, sexuality and other moral issues; and his love for Jesus, his wife, his family, the church and the school he now serves, in that order.
Trustees unanimously elected Pace to serve as Southeastern’s next president in April. A two-time Southeastern graduate, Pace earned a master of divinity in 2002 and a Ph.D. in 2007. He returned to the seminary in 2018 after nine years on the faculty at Oklahoma Baptist University. At Southeastern, Pace served as dean of the college and vice president for undergraduate studies before becoming provost in 2023. He also holds the Jim Shaddix Chair of Expository Preaching.
Pace opened his inaugural address by calling the day “an unbelievable honor.”
Since being named president, Pace said people often ask about his vision and that behind the question is another — what will change?
While acknowledging his leadership style may differ, Pace pledged that five commitments would remain constant. He said under his leadership Southeastern would be a spiritual, biblical, theological, practical, and missional institution.
“Our identity as the Great Commission seminary is clear, and it’s cemented,” Pace said. “We have our marching orders from King Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20.”
Pace also described the school’s missional commitment as flowing from the other four commitments.
“If we are genuinely a spiritual, biblical, theological and practical institution, what else can we be other than a missional institution?” he asked.
Pace said that commitment should reach into the classroom in a way that blends scholarship and service that produces graduates who possess knowledge and know-how.
“This means that every degree, every course, every assignment must contribute to their training in how to make disciples,” he said. “It’s never been more important for our graduates to live with an unwavering missional passion.”
Pace described following Jesus as a “forever” decision — or a “four-ever” one — he said, because of the four-fold demand it requires: “Wherever He calls you to go, whatever He calls you to do, whenever He calls you to obey and whoever He calls you to serve.”
He also tied the mission to the local church, echoing language he used when trustees elected him in April.
“The local church and the Great Commission are inseparable,” Pace said. “I believe this means for us that we must advance the global church by serving the local church.”
On a day that included congregational singing focused on Christ and the Great Commission, Pace closed his address with an image drawn from music.
“The Great Commission is the beat that keeps everything else in rhythm,” he said. “But it’s not a musical beat, it’s a heartbeat, and it will continue to be the heartbeat of our school.”
___
This article appeared in the Biblical Recorder.
Share with others
