The History of the Seminary The vision and desire to provide ministers of the gospel with a sound theological education, was foremost on the mind of Dr. Conrad N. Glover as he witnessed the closing of the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan, Arkansas in May of 1934. It was at this time he, with the collaboration of Dr. Ben M. Bogard and Dr. J. Louis Guthrie, began forming the outline for a plan that been on the heart and prayers of Dr. Glover for two years prior to the closing of the Missionary Baptist College which had fallen victim to changing times and the economic woes of the Great Depression. It was through this combined effort, that a replacement seminary would be established based in Little Rock, Arkansas, that would now be known as the Missionary Baptist Seminary. In October of 1934, the Missionary Baptist Seminary was started out of the Antioch Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, which elected Dr. J. Louis Guthrie as school president, Dr. Conrad N. Glover as vice president, Dr. Ben M. Bogard (the current pastor of Antioch Baptist at that time) as Dean, and a board of trustees composed of separate members. All three men sharing the same divinely inspired heart and vision for the school, quickly led to a successful and rapidly growing seminary leading young ministers in the sound teaching of God's Word. In May of 1979, the Missionary Baptist Seminary relocated the school to its new building and current location, where it still resides today, successfuly striving to fulfill the same purpose for which its founders intended: to provide a sound Bible based education for the spread of the gospel, and the furtherance of God's kingdom work.
Our Founders
Dr. Ben M. Bogard
Ben M. Bogard attended Georgetown College at Georgetown, Kentucky, in 1888-1889 and attended Bethel College in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1889-1891. In 1898, Bogard was instrumental in helping Charleston Baptist College in Charleston, Missouri, secure a four-acre campus and erect a four-room brick building. On May 29, 1901, Bogard delivered the Baccalaureate Address at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri. During its graduation exercise, that callege conferred on Bogard the Doctor of Divinity Degree. In 1907, Bogard helped raise operating funds for Buckner College, Wicherville, Arkansas.
In May of 1924, Dr. Bogard delivered the graduation address at the Missionary Baptist College; at the time, the college conferred on him the honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. Dr. Bogard became a trustee and was elected Secretary of the Trustees of the college in 1926. On Feruary 5, 1927, he was elected as President of the Trustees, a position he held until the college closed in 1934. Dr. Bogard served on many committees which attempted to raise or borrow money to finance the college.
After making provision for the sustenance of his widow, Bogard willed the remainder of his assets to the Missionary Baptist Seminary; that bequest was in addition to the printing equipment and the valuable property he had previously donated to the seminary. Dr. Bogard died on May 29, 1951.
Dr. J. Louis Guthrie
Dr. J. Louis Guthrie was educated in the rural schools of Seymour, Iowa. He received the Bachelor of Oratory Degree from the Chillicothe Normal School, Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1898 or 1899 and the Bachelor of Arts Degree form the same college one year later. Guthrie recieved the Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Peoples National University, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1933. His dessertation topic was "The Place of Jesus Christ in Creation."
Dr. Guthrie taught in the public schools of Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. From 1911 until 1913, he taughht at Union University, Jackson, Tennessee; from 1913 until 1915, he was President of Laneview College, Laneview, Tennessee. After teaching at Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Oklahoma, from 1915 until 1925, he served as President of Caledonia Baptist Academy, Caledonia, Arkansas, from 1926 until 1928. Dr. Guthrie was President of the Missionary Baptist Seminary from its beginning in 1934 until his death in 1945.
Dr. C. N. Glover
Conrad N. Glover was among the first students to enroll in the Missionary Baptist College in Sheriden, Arkansas. He dropped his studies before the end of his first year but enrolled again in 1921 and completed that year. Glover remained in the college for the next fourteen years, either as a student or as an instructor. He finished all the courses offered, except some in music and home economics. He was awareded the Bachelor of Theology Degree in 1925, the Associat of Arts in Bible in 1930, the Associate of Arts in Secular Education in 1931, the Licentiate in Instruction in 1931, and the Doctor of Divinity in 1931. The Missionary Baptist Seminary conferred its first degrees on Dr. Glover in 1937, the degrees of Doctor of Church History and Doctor in Bible.
Dr. Glover was Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Missionary Baptist College from 1926 until 1934. He was Prsident of the American Baptist Association for seven years (1941-1946 and 1952), Molderator of the State Association for six years, and Moderator of the Pine Bluff Association for twenty-five years.
Dr. Glover was elected Vice-President of the Missionary Baptist Seminary on its founding in 1934 and continued in that position until 1977, when he was designeated as Vice-President Emeritus. Brother Glover died on April 3, 1986.