LOUISVILLE — Trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously approved the installation of Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines to a visiting professorship honoring former SBC President Herschel H. Hobbs during their April meeting in Louisville.

Trustees established the Herschel H. Hobbs Visiting Professor of Christian Preaching post to honor the life and legacy of Hobbs, a two-time graduate of Southern Seminary.

Hobbs was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1961-1963, served as chairman of the committee that revised the Baptist Faith and Message in 1963, and pastored several Southern Baptist churches.

“One of my encouragers all along the way was Dr. Herschel Hobbs — he was so committed to this institution, so committed to Southern Baptists,” Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr. told trustees. “Very regularly we will have a visiting professor in his name come to this campus in order to educate students and honor Dr. Hobbs.”

Gaines, installed as the inaugural Hobbs professor, opened the trustees’ plenary session with a devotional message. He has served as senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., since 2005 and holds Ph.D. and master of divinity degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he wrote his dissertation on Hobbs and his preaching on “The Baptist Hour.” (SBTS)