LOUISVILLE, Ky. (SBTS) — In support of Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s second annual “Week of Valor,” The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will host a “Night of Valor” Nov. 11. The free event will provide a forum for biblical principles on Christians in combat and offer spiritual guidance for combat veterans and their families.

“The ‘Night of Valor’ is designed to honor our military personnel and equip pastors to minister to their needs,” said Jim Stitzinger III, director of the seminary’s Bevin Center for Missions Mobilization, which is sponsoring the event. “Our hope is to bring together our military community and present several talks that bring the Word of God to bear on subjects critical to the military mission.”

The seminary will host the Nov. 11 event, “Combat and the Cross,” in Heritage Hall, 6:30–8 p.m. Speakers include retired Army Major General Doug Carver, executive director of chaplain services for North American Mission Board; Dan Dumas, senior vice president for institutional administration, who served with the Navy; and Mark Coppenger, professor of Christian apologetics, who served as an Army Infantry officer.

“It’s our goal to make Louisville the most supportive and responsive community in the nation for veterans,” Mayor Fischer said. “By raising awareness during the Week of Valor, we can help ensure that every veteran living in Louisville has the coordinated support and access to services for an optimal quality of life. The support from community groups who host and participate in events, like Southern Seminary, make this week possible, and we are grateful for their help.”

Gen. Carver will present “The Power of the Gospel and the Battlefield.” Before retiring, he served as the 22nd Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army, supervising more than 2,900 chaplains who supported the religious and pastoral needs of 1.2 million soldiers and families. Gen. Carver graduated with his Master of Divinity from Southern Seminary in 1982 and received the seminary’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008. Currently, he endorses Southern Baptist chaplains as NAMB’s executive director of chaplaincy.

In addition to his roles at Southern, Dumas is also an elder at Crossing Church in Louisville and is the executive director of the Center for Christian Preaching. Dumas will lead a discussion titled “Blue on Blue: Handling Criticism on the Ministry Battlefield.”

Coppenger will speak to the difficult issue of “War Fighting and Loving Enemies.” He is managing editor of the online Kairos Journal and previously directed a project for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Before coming to Southern, Coppenger served as executive director of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana; chairman of the SBC Resolutions Committee; president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and short-term mission volunteer to Brazil, Russia, Romania, Belgium, Egypt, and Sudan.

The free event will also include testimonies from seminary students serving or retired from combat. For more information about the event, click here.