It has been an incredible joy and privilege to serve as the Dean of Southeastern University’s Barnett College of Ministry and Theology (formerly known as the College of Christian Ministries and Religion) for the past eight years. Many academic leaders from our peer institutions have told me they see us as the leading Pentecostal faculty in the world. We have worked together to see some amazing achievements accomplished. Our combined enrollment – traditional, online, extension site, and undergraduate – grew from 537 in the 2012-13 school year to 2219 last year. School of Divinity (graduate and doctoral) enrollment grew from 70 to 316 in that same period of time. We launched the Master of Divinity, the Master of Arts in Family Ministry, the Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, and the Doctor of Ministry degree. New traditional undergraduate degrees included the BS in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry, the BA in Worship Ministries, and the BA in Biblical Studies. The church-based degree-granting extension site program exploded from twelve sites to two hundred this fall. We obtained Association of Theological Schools accreditation for our School of Divinity and joined the Association of Biblical Higher Education. The BCMT Team led many innovative efforts to improve the quality of education our students receive, and many pastors of churches of all sizes – including many of the largest and fastest growing in the country – have come to us for their own education and to get their people a quality SEU education. All have raved about the education they have received from this incredible faculty.
A dean’s tenure averages five years, and I am grateful for
the privilege of serving Jesus’s church and those called to his ministry for
these eight years. I know the Barnett College will be in excellent hands for an
even brighter future under new Dean and Vice President Nick Wallsteadt.
I am excited to keep two of my favorite parts of the former
role in my new position as Senior Director of Assemblies of God Relations and
Ministerial Education and Professor of Practical Theology. I will still be
teaching at all levels, and I will network with pastors and churches on an even
greater level. I look forward to strengthening the relationships I already enjoy
with hundreds of Assemblies of God pastors and leaders while building new ones
with those across the country to see how we at Southeastern University can
better serve them and their churches.
With all my heart I thank President Ingle and the SEU
Leadership Team who trusted me with both these critical roles, the incredible
students around the world I have had the privilege to teach, and the phenomenal
faculty who have been my true colleagues. I know God has a greater future for
all of us than we can imagine.
