By Mason Crymes
CBC will host a retirement party for Dr. Joel Slayton on Thursday, April 25, at 3 p.m. in the Mabee Student Services Building Dining Hall, and we encourage people to come and attend as we honor Dr. Slayton for his service to the school over the years.
As Dr. Slayton prepares to retire at the end of the current school year, he looks forward to having more time to dedicate to other areas. “Most of my time here, I have taught at the college and pastored, filling two or more roles. Even though I will not cut my ties to the college since I’ll be teaching a couple of online classes in PACE, my responsibilities will be less stressful,” he said.
Since its inception, Central Baptist College has been blessed to have many great professors, and we are very proud of them and their impact on students’ lives throughout the years. Dr. Joel Slayton is one of those professors.
Dr. Slayton came to CBC in 1976 and has served our school for over 48 years. He has held various positions, including instructor in Bible, professor of Bible and Biblical Languages, vice president for Graduate Affairs, interim president, vice president for Academic Affairs and chair of the Bible Department. Recently, Dr. Slayton reflected on what brought him to CBC:
“In November 1975, the Bible instructor who was teaching Greek resigned. At the time, I was pastoring a church in Huntsville, Ala. I received a call from then-President Wassell Burgess that they needed a Greek instructor. He had heard that I had majored in Biblical Languages in seminary, so he asked me if I would be interested in coming to teach Greek and Bible,” Dr. Slayton said.
He emphasized that the students have been the biggest highlight of his time here.
“Many of my students are now involved in churches, missions and associational work. It is my joy to see how God has used them in ministry. Then to visit churches and see former students who are now involved in lay ministry, teaching and serving the Lord is a tremendous blessing,” he said.
Dr. Slayton then went on to talk about some of the memories he has made throughout the years and the people he has worked with at CBC:
“I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest faculty in the world. When I first came here, I was the Bible faculty. Others like Dr. Harold Cooper and Dr. Jesse Thomas taught a few Bible classes, but their degrees at the time were in areas other than Bible. As I moved into various positions at the college, Dr. Thomas later became chair of the Department. Dr. Ron Mitchell came along and taught theology, church history and Bible. As Dr. Thomas moved toward retirement, I became department chair. Now, Drs. Porter, Jameson and Brewer (who were all my students) serve the department well.
“I have also had the opportunity to work with faculty in all departments of the college. CBC has been blessed through the years by having faculty who were gifted to teach, excelled in their fields and loyal to Christian education.
“I have also worked with college Presidents Wassell Burgess, Harold Cooper, R.B. Hoshaw, James Ray Raines, Charles Attebery and Terry Kimbrow. Each one contributed to the college in their own way, and all have been a blessing.”
Above all else, Dr. Slayton wants people to recognize the role of Scripture at the college. “CBC provides a biblically-based worldview, which is so needed in this post-modern world. We believe and teach the Bible as the inspired Word of God,” he said.
