Seminary of the Southwest is proud to announce Anthony Baker, PhD and Gena St. David, PhD as the keynote speakers for the 58th annual Blandy Lecture, to be held in November 2026.
“With so much overlap in the fields of theological education, mental health counselor education, and spiritual director education, it makes great sense to have two experts address the overlap,” shared academic dean, the Rev. Benjamin King, PhD. “It makes even more sense when those experts are our trusted colleagues and mentors. We all know Gena St. David and Tony Baker to be superb scholars and transformative teachers. They are also good friends. At this year’s Blandy Lecture, they will engage one another and us in intellectually stimulating and practical ways.”
Anthony Baker, PhD is the Clinton S. Quin Professor of Systematic Theology at Seminary of the Southwest, where he has taught since 2004. He holds degrees from Olivet Nazarene University (M.A.) and the University of Virginia (Ph.D.) and is the author of several books, including Leaving Emmaus: A New Departure in Christian Theology (2021).
At Southwest, he teaches courses in constructive theology, historical theology, Christology, Trinity, and ecotheology, while also supporting campus sustainability initiatives. Baker has lectured and preached internationally, including at the Sorbonne and the University of Cambridge.
He serves as theologian-in-residence at St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church in Austin and maintains a small practice as a spiritual director. He is also a three-time Polity Bowl champion, catching the winning touchdown in 2025.
Gena St. David, PhD is Director of the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Counseling and Spirituality and Professor of Counselor Education at Seminary of the Southwest. She holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), George Fox University (M.A.), and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio (Ph.D.), and her latest book is The Nonviolent Brain (2026).
A licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist, St. David is trained in systemic therapies, EMDR, trauma and neuroscience, attachment and play therapy, and the Enneagram. In 2013, she co-founded The Human Empathy Project, an Austin nonprofit that fosters empathic connection between faith and LGBTQ communities.
She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on spirituality, ethics, and counseling, and is currently writing a book exploring the relationship between neuroscience and Christian theology. St. David and her family attend Vox Veniae Church in East Austin.
The daylong celebration will invite alumni and guests to reengage with the seminary’s academic and spiritual life. The schedule includes the opportunity to audit a morning class, attend an Alumni Eucharist in Christ Chapel, share lunch with the Southwest community, and participate in a late afternoon reception followed by Baker and St. David’s lecture.
More details and a schedule of the day will be released soon.