Beeson Podcast, Episode #544 Jim Pounds April 13, 2021 >>Announcer: Welcome to the Beeson podcast, coming to you from Beeson Divinity School on the campus of Samford University. Now your hosts, Doug Sweeney and Kristen Padilla. >>Doug Sweeney: Welcome to the Beeson Podcast, I am Doug Sweeney, here with my co-host, Kristen Padilla. Today on the show we have one of our esteemed Beeson colleagues with us to talk about the wonderful work of Beeson’s Lay Academy of Theology. Before Kristen introduces him, let me remind you that we have a great video library on our YouTube Channel as well. It’s @BeesonDivinity. On this Channel, you can find videos of sermons preached in chapel, lectures, theological forums, interviews, and lots of other things. We hope you will take advantage of these resources. If you want to own hard copies of them you can purchase them as well at BeesonDivinity.com/store. All right, Kristen, would you please introduce today’s colleague to our listeners? >>Kristen Padilla: Hello, everyone. We have with us on the show today, Jim Pounds. Jim is the Director of Operations here at Beeson Divinity School where he has served since 2000. He is also a graduate of Beeson, having earned his MDiv degree. He is also an ordained minister. He maintains an active preaching and teaching ministry. Before joining the staff, Jim worked in the insurance industry for 14 years. He is married to Deborah and they have two children. Welcome to the show for the first time, Jim. >>Jim Pounds: Thank you. >>Kristen Padilla: We always like to begin by giving our guests the opportunity to say more about who you are and where you come from. Can you introduce yourself to our listeners today? >>Jim Pounds: Well, I am from Birmingham. I was born here. We moved one time but moved back. Then finished high school, went to Auburn University for my undergrad degree, and that took me to Fort Worth, Texas. I have a degree in aerospace and was out there during the high times of the early ‘80s where there were multiple defense contractors building three different kind of aircraft, one kind of helicopter, missile technology was going on, and something that everyone denied existed – the development of the stealth fighter and bomber were taking place. But no one would admit it at the time. So, the circumstances brought me back to Birmingham into the insurance business with my father. We operated that business for 14 years and sold it. They invited me to stay on and work there a little while and it was during that time that I began to consider some further study, particularly here at Beeson Divinity School. >>Doug Sweeney: Jim, you joined Team Beeson as an employee a long time before I did, back in the year 2000. Could you tell our listeners how that happened? How did you get from being a Beeson student to a Beeson employee? What has your job been like over the years? >>Jim Pounds: As a student, I started in the spring of 1997, at 35, and pretty well terrified whether or not I could handle school after being out that long. Particularly going from engineering to theological study where the writing was going to be completely different than anything I’d been trained to do. So, I was fairly intimidated by that. But it was while I was here Dr. George and another colleague that was here approached me about taking a student role over a program they had at that time during the summer called The Pastor’s School. It was something that went for 25 years and served a lot of ministers. So, I think they asked me to do that because they picked up on the fact that I had good organizational skills and maybe I could see that thing and maybe no one else agreed to do it. So, I did that for three years. It was at that time when I graduated in 2000 there was an open position on the staff that oversaw a continuing program of education that really reached out to Baptists throughout the state. It was an old program that Samford had called Samford Extension. They had asked Dr. George to house it at Beeson. And he had for several years. So, I was originally hired just to oversee that particular program of continuing education that reached out to ministers, that reached out to lay people. Then as I was here a little bit longer, Dr. George began to ask me to take on another thing. If it had to do with details, if it had to do with administrative things and he didn’t have anybody else to give it to, he began to add it to my sack of goodies that I was responsible for. Until 2013 when he decided that he didn’t want me to handle that theological education program anymore. He wanted me to handle all these things he gave me, plus budget and finance, plus several other things that probably came out of just noticing my business and administrative background. So, the Director of Operations position was born at that time. Ever since then I just kinda do whatever we have to do around here. Kind of like the rest of us. >>Kristen Padilla: We’re so grateful for the work that you do. It is often behind the scenes. One of the things that you oversee that Doug has already mentioned, we want to talk to you about today something that we’re really excited about. That is Beeson’s Lay Academy of Theology. This thriving ministry that Beeson has had for a number of years. So, can you tell our listeners, especially those who aren’t familiar with Lay Academy, what is Lay Academy? What’s its mission and purpose? How did it come to be and what makes it set apart from perhaps other similar programs? >>Jim Pounds: Beeson Divinity School and I believe Samford, even, in the late ‘90s with a very small grant did a study on starting a program to offer theological education to folks in the broader community and whether or not it was feasible, whether or not it would work in the area, how it would work, was there a need? At the end of that study came this name with the recommendation that we move forward on this sort of thing called The Lay Academy of Theology. That was one of those things that Dr. George wanted to do, did not have a place to put it at that time, and so when I came into the role over the other continuing ed program that’s when he said, “We want to start this Lay Academy of Theology program. Here’s what it is. I want you to get it started.” The real focus at that time was they had decided they wanted to offer biblically sound courses to the broader community outside the gates, utilizing the talents and gifts of Beeson professors. So, in spring of 2001, we started with one class. Fisher Humphreys taught an Intro to Theology class. We had a really good response. There might have been 15 or 20 students. He enjoyed it. They enjoyed it. And off we went. Now 20 years later here we are finishing up the spring of 2021 and this year we’ve had nine classes. We typically will have eight to nine, sometimes we work one in there in the Jan term. We have had great attendance at all of them for the last several years. We’ll run these classes in the evenings. We’ll run them in the afternoons. And folks have just really found Beeson and the Lay Academy to be sort of a home for their interests in these areas. >>Doug Sweeney: We’d love for even more of our listeners to enroll in these classes, Jim. Could you tell them just a little bit about what’s going on these days? What kinds of classes are on offer? Who’s teaching them? Maybe even just give them a little teaser about what’s coming up in the fall? >>Jim Pounds: Sure. We’re finishing up the spring classes and we’ve had a really good study. Dr. Padilla has been leading a study in Luke. Dr. Pasquarello did a study in sort of great Christian leaders in the past, and that had a lot of response. We’ve had good classes most every time. Dr. Matthews had a real good response to his class on sacred worship in the afternoons. Let’s see, today is Wednesday, so tomorrow we will have our last class and Dr. Park has been dealing with 2 Corinthians. So, it’s been really good. Coming in the fall we’ll give you a little teaser because we’re hoping that everything will be exactly the way we want it to be, but in the fall we’re going to have Dr. Bray, he’ll be teaching on the Westminster Confession. We’ll have Dr. Malysz and he’s going to take on Revelation. Dr. Webster’s going to offer a course called “Stay in the Story: Understanding the Whole Counsel of God.” This section he’s going to focus particularly on the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Then Dr. Gignilliat is planning a study in Isaiah. >>Kristen Padilla: You mentioned that we are at 20 years for the Lay Academy of Theology. I don’t know the number, but I would imagine hundreds if not thousands of people have come through the Lay Academy over the years. How has God been using Lay Academy in the lives of people in churches? Can you share any stories that stand out to you in particular? >>Jim Pounds: Over the years, we’ve heard many things from folks about how much the program has meant to them, how it’s helped them to understand or want to understand God’s word in a deeper way. These are people who are very involved in their churches, maybe very involved in a Sunday school class, but something inside them wanted something deeper. The line that a lot of people used early on, which sort of got the conversation about Lay Academy started was, “We really would love to come up there and take a class with one of your professors who we even heard preach in our church, but we don’t want to take a test.” So, that sort of really got the boots on the ground idea going. So, we just hear from them that wanting to understand it deeper has then led them to want to study more themselves. So, we’ve seen them say things like ... it’s given them a greater appreciation just for the gift of God’s Word now that they feel like they can understand it and study it better, and appreciation for actually having it. They’ll take these classes where Dr. Bray might sort of pull back the pages on the history of how we got the Bible. Then there’s just a greater appreciation for actually having it to study. The idea to see where God’s at work in the pages of the Bible and then look and they see where God is at work in the pages of their own lives. Then how we’re expected to live in light of the gospel, to borrow the title of one of Colson’s books, “How Now Shall We Live?” Once we’ve been confronted with the gospel, once we’ve really looked at the cross, how does that change us? How are we supposed to live? So, these are the kinds of things that people have come out and said have impacted them so much so that they want to be better students of the Bible themselves. I can share a few stories along the way. I think of one gentleman and later his wife. He was in our very first class with Fisher. He still takes classes now. He was retired then! Now he and his wife, they still come to classes because they say every time they come they feel like they have learned a little bit more. A pastor in Clay, Alabama who is probably a newer student from the last three years or so kinda came across us by looking at the website. He now makes sure he signs up for one every time we offer it. He says it’s his time. It’s his time to get fed. It’s his time to learn, to add to his own spiritual growth. He said then it helps him sort of re-gather his energy as he’s getting ready for Sunday morning. He’s joined us probably since 2017 every time we’ve had something. There’s the retires school teacher. I love her. She usually will take anything that Sydney is taking. But as she has told me before, when she’s been looking at the brochure she always calls to register in person. She says, “I don’t know any of these professor, but I’m gonna take one. What would you recommend?” I said, “You can’t go wrong with any of them.” She’ll pick one out and she’ll come back and say, “I’m so glad. When are they going to teach again?” She’s probably been taking classes for 11 years. We have two ladies who drive from Huntsville once a semester and they say that coming down they begin to talk about what their expectations were, what last week was like, what their week has been like, and then they say they spend the whole drive going home debriefing. So the drive is enjoyable, not a labor to get down here and do it. I can think of three who took Lay Academy classes and then ultimately became Beeson students. These classes and the professors mean as much to our friends as they do to us. A few years back, Peter Malysz received the last minute notice that he needed to be in Montgomery to be sworn in as an American after completing the laborious naturalization process. And he had to reschedule the class very quickly. When the class re-gathered, the following week, a retired federal judge presented him with an American flag. The entire class cheered. They feel like Beeson belongs to them, too. We’re glad that they do. >>Doug Sweeney: We sure are. They are right in feeling like that. Jim, you and I know all too well that when the COVID epidemic struck us last spring we had to get ready real fast to take all our teaching online. Then for most of this year while in the main, we’ve been back in person with masks and social distancing and so on. We’ve also had to offer virtual accessibility to our classes for people who have been sick who are quarantined for one reason or another. This has affected the way we have been doing Lay Academy as well. Could you give our listeners just a little feel for how has COVID and how has our exploration of virtual teaching in the Lay Academy affected the Lay Academy? What’s going to be the future? Will people down the road have access to our Lay Academy classes online? >>Jim Pounds: Like everyone else, we had to figure out what was going to happen. It kind of had to happen from two sides. We had a line up for Lay Academy and we were ready to go, but I had to ask the professors, “Will you still be willing to teach Lay Academy online?” And the ones who were lined up all said, “Sure,” they were still learning how to use the technology, but they said they would do that. Then the one who probably gets the least attention around here, but makes everything go for us, Rob Willis, our media and technology manager, I had to go to Rob and I said, “Can we make this happen?” Rob never says, “No.” So, between his coaching of the professors and recruiting some of our fine students to actually be in the virtual classroom to sort of help troubleshoot things, sometimes some of our friends had trouble getting in, and our students would help them get into the room, and would answer questions sort of off to the side as they needed it. It began to go and after the first couple of weeks, all the little kinks had been ironed out. The professors knew exactly what to do. Our folks were logging in. And we had really good participation back in the fall. We’ve had good participation here in the spring. I know that we have a lot of our local friends who really enjoy not only being in the classroom with the professor, but being with each other. So, I’ve heard from many who’ve called me and said, “Are we going to be back on campus this fall?” That that’s when they want to start coming back. They’ve sort of had all the virtual everything that they want for a while. They’re ready to be in person. So, if the university allows, we’re lined up and ready to go with these four classes on campus in person. If that is approved then you’ll see that in the emails you get from us. You’ll see it in the brochure. But we’re also going to continue now offering the courses virtual. Because we’ve found that some of our friends who liked coming over the years got a few extra years on them and decided they didn’t like getting out in the evenings as much as they used to, and were pretty well delighted that they could still access the classes, that all things considered, they would really like to be here. So, we’re going to keep that going. It’s going to be really interesting, because one of the benefits of that was that we found that folks from a distance wanted to join in. We’ve had folks from all parts of Alabama sign up for classes and participate with us. As well as we’ve got a pastor in Minnesota who found us somehow. And some folks in Miami who had an email forwarded to them. We’ve got parents from Samford University now saying they want to be included in the emails that go out so that they can participate in this. So, both options will exist come fall provided we can be on campus. >>Kristen Padilla: The Lay Academy is a great opportunity and resource for those of you who are listening who want to grow deeper in your faith and knowledge of scripture. So, Jim, for those listening who are very interested in learning more about Lay Academy or signing up for classes in the fall, how can they learn more and register? Perhaps you can also share about the cost for Lay Academy? >>Jim Pounds: You can go to Beeson Divinity School’s website, www.BeesonDivinity.com, and there is a link there. www.BeesonDivinity.com/layacademy. You can also find it right on the front as well. You can go there and it will show you our classes. You can register right online using a credit card. We’ll have the new classes up once I get full descriptions from the professors. We’ll have those new classes up by summertime. The registration will open as soon as they’re up. You can also, for those who like mailing things in, there’s a registration form online that you can print off and mail in with your check. And those of you that are on the website or on our mailing list, will get a brochure and that brochure has a tear off that you can mail in as well. Some folks just like calling me and giving me their information over the phone. We’ll take that, too. You can call 205-726-2338. The on campus in person classes are $89. Those classes run for six consecutive Mondays or Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on the day of the week of the class. The way we’re going to do the online side of it, those classes will be $69. So, $89 for the in person classes. That price hasn’t changed for some time. Then $69 for those off campus. This really just covers our expenses of putting the classes on and promoting them and that sort of thing so that all these folks can participate in them. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun this fall. All four of these classes are going to be great. We’ll look forward to seeing all kinds of folks come join us here and join us electronically also. >>Doug Sweeney: That is a fantastic deal. Listeners, I hope you will take advantage of it and sign up for some of these classes and be in touch with us. We like to end these interviews, Jim, as you know well – by asking folks what the Lord has been teaching them recently. So, we ask you, in your own devotional life, your own prayer life, as you’ve been walking with the Lord in recent weeks and in recent months, what kinds of things has he been showing you and teaching you that you might offer as a way of edifying our audience? >>Jim Pounds: Well, those who know me and know my personality, it’s such that if there’s something that needs to get done I’m ready to get it done. I’m ready to get it done right away. When things don’t move as quickly as I like them to move, I can get frustrated. So, I think many of us have had our own levels of frustration in this last year for all sorts of things. And so I wound up several months back when I realized I needed to take a good long look again, I wound up back in Psalm 46. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve had the opportunity to teach and preach on it over the years. I guess I hadn’t turned to the page in a while. We’re all familiar with how it begins, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” And the psalmist goes on to continue to remind us why God is our refuge. Why God is our strength. And why we should not fear. But then we get to verse ten, which speaks to me, and I have to live on that verse every single day. “To be still and know that I am God.” Or, probably better directed at me is the New American Standard Bible says, “Stop striving and know that I am God.” “Quit trying to do, Jim, what it is you’re trying to do and just be still a minute and know that I am God. Know that I’m in control. Know that you’re not in control. As you much as you want to be, that’s not the way that he put the earth into motion. That’s just not the way that I, your God, am controlling the universe. Be still. Cease striving. And know that I am God.” >>Doug Sweeney: A great word for all of us. You have been listening to Mr. Jim Pounds, Director of Operations here at Beeson. He has been making this school go around for more than two decades now. I sure am grateful to him for his multifaceted ministry here at the Divinity School. And we’re grateful to him today as we feature the Lay Academy on our podcast for his work in leading the Lay Academy of Theology. We invite you to register for classes. We’d love to see you here. We’ll continue to pray for you. We ask you to pray for us. We stay good bye for now. >>Kristen Padilla: You’ve been listening to the Beeson podcast. Our theme music is written and performed by Advent Birmingham of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. Our engineer is Rob Willis. Our announcer is Mike Pasquarello. Our co-hosts are Doug Sweeney and, myself, Kristen Padilla. Please subscribe to the Beeson podcast at www.BeesonDivinity.com/podcast or on iTunes.