Gateway Seminary hosted a series of panel discussions at the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Orlando featuring a number of alumni.
David Johnson, director of Gateway Seminary doctor of ministry (DMin) program, hosted three alumni to discuss their ministry experiences during and following their time in the program. The alumni were Ryan Blackwell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, Kelly King, assistant professor of Christian ministry at Southeastern Seminary and women’s minister at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, and Jeff Degiacomo, senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
“I’m very proud to have all three of these alums with us, and one of the reasons I’m proud to have them is because they are demonstrating faithful leadership in churches, in organizations, and in our national entities,” said Johnson.
Blackwell was unanimously elected by Lifeway’s trustees to serve as president and CEO on April 22, 2026.
“For me, now stepping into Lifeway, I have two mentors from my time in the DMin, Jeff Iorg [CEO of the SBC Executive Committee] and Hance Dilbeck [CEO of Guidestone],” said Blackwell.
“I could have never known at that time that these were going to be people that I was going to lean on the rest of my life.”
King, who was women’s ministry specialist at Lifeway during her time in Gateway’s DMin program, shared how it shaped her perspective on the church.
“Working at Lifeway, you are reaching churches all over the country,” said King.
“Being in a cohort with a church planter in Boston and a pastor of a Chinese church in California gave me a greater perspective; I got to see what church leadership looked like in different contexts.”
At last year’s annual meeting alumni lunch, the Seminary recognized Degiacomo with the inaugural Emerging Leader award. Though he is now a senior pastor in Shawnee, Degiacomo started the DMin program while serving in a different ministry role.
“I was a student pastor when I started the journey and then became a senior pastor after,” said Degiacomo.
“My DMin experience really equipped me in leadership to be able to step into pastoral leadership. God knew what was happening in that journey; where He was going to lead me in the next season of life”
Following the main panel, the speakers answered questions from attendees. Blackwell answered one question by sharing the spiritual development he experienced alongside the academic work in the DMin program.
“I came in knowing I needed to get a doctorate at some point in my life, and I wanted the education,” said Blackwell.
“I thought the classes would be good, but it was the personal side; the spiritual life that came from it that surprised me. Some people call seminaries ‘cemeteries’ as though it’s the place where your faith dies.”
“That was the exact opposite for me. My faith came more alive, and I’m so grateful for that”
–30–
