**UPDATE: I wrote an important follow-up post for Dr. White and his new administration “25 Questions for Cedarville University’s New President Thomas White by An Alumnus.” I hope it continues this important conversation.
Today my “nourishing mother” (aka alma mater ), Cedarville University, announced that Thomas White, the former Vice President of Student Services at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be their new President. Here is a partial bio:
White grew up as a country boy in South Carolina with a great spiritual legacy left by his father and grandfather, who both served as Southern Baptist pastors. Elected at age 33, White is one of the youngest men to serve as an executive administrator at Southwestern Seminary. A systematic theologian by training with a focus on the doctrine of the church, he can relate to seminary students on many levels. At one time or another, White has been a deacon, pastor, itinerant preacher, evangelism pastor, children’s minister, Royal Ambassador director, and even the owner and instructor of four karate schools in South Carolina. White holds a fourth degree black belt in Karate, and was the Middleweight World Amateur Sport Karate international champion in 1993 in addition to two state championships.
White earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Divinity degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and Bachelor of Arts and Associate of Arts degrees from Anderson (S.C.) College. He is the editor of a three-volume work titled Selected Articles of James Madison Pendleton, and a contributor and co-editor of First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty published in 2007 by Broadman & Holman Academic.
Over the past few years I have been rather dismayed at the reactionary posture of the Board of Trustees. Several recent campus brouhahas are only outmatched by this obvious turn toward the Southern Baptist Convention. And with a soon-to-be announced Bible Department Chair (UPDATE**The CU Newspaper reports that Chair is going to Jason Lee “who also has been teaching at Southwestern. But White said Patterson, Lee and him all coming to Cedarville this year is purely coincidence.” Coincidence? Who are they kidding?!) going to a person from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary— let’s just say it’s gonna be a real SBC hoedown for the next decade. Or more.
This Is Not an Isolated Incident
Recently a post-graduate student friend of mine was flagged by HR for attending a Wesleyan university and Methodist church. Now mind you, this friend attended Cedarville, graduated with me from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and is firmly evangelical. So not only does he have the academic chops, he’s also got the evangelical creds to go along with them for the academic position he was applying for.
But affiliating with a non-evangelical church created all sorts of problems for the new Cedarville administration, and for my friend.
Not only did this HR gatekeeper insinuate he’d have to leave his church for the sake of the position, he also wanted assurances that he didn’t believe in infant baptism or present-day signs/miracles and didn’t deny eternal security. Apparently his affiliation with a Wesleyan university and Methodist church raised red-flags of liberalism.
Add to this the dismissal of Michal Pahl, a Bible professor who argued in favor of Genesis 1 & 2 and Adam for theological reasons, rather than historical or literal reasons. This is no Peter Enns, here. He affirmed the historical Adam and Eve theologically, just not exegetically—which wasn’t enough to satisfy the Board.
In fact Cedarville said “Dr. Pahl’s orthodoxy and commitment to the gospel are not in question, nor is his commitment to Scripture’s inspiration, authority and infallibility.” Michael Bird correctly wondered and bemoaned, “If Pahl is safely orthodox and a committed evangelical, then what prey-tell is the flipping problem? It seems to me that it is a narrowness defined by institutional power and a quest for absolute conformity on everything.”
Apparently the new administration decided my friend and Pahl would not play nicely in their ever-tightening theological menagerie. Thus, it seem like this SBC pivot with White’s election is endemic of a broader shift away from moderate evangelicalism toward what I would call evangelical sectarianism.
So What Is The Flipping Problem?
The Board of Trustees are narrowcasting around conservative myopia; they are seemingly aligning themselves with hard-right conservativism, á la the Southern Baptist Convention; they’re purging the school of people deemed theological dalits; and, perhaps most importantly, they’ve forgotten who their constituents are: millennial students.
This last one’s an important one. Trustees your constituents aren’t your donors or churches. They’re your millennial students. Maybe you don’t want to deal with issues of human sexuality, the church’s response to immigrants, Adam vs. modern science, and whether one can be a Democratic Christian. But they do. These are their issues.
Running from their issues—and firing leaders who engage them or engage them differently than you (i.e. Brown, Ruby, and Pahl)—pivoting toward one single conservative denomination in order to satisfy wealthy donors and churches, and battening down the hatches in the swirl of cultural tectonic change is not the way to go me thinks.
Now don’t get me wrong. My problem isn’t with Southern Baptists or the SBC, per se; neither is it with White. And personally I’m solidly evangelical and care about its liberal direction. (Check out my work in response to the Emergent church here and here)
My point is that the field of moderation that had been carefully tilled and cultivated over the last decade under the careful leadership of William Brown and Carl Ruby is seemingly being salted by a narrow band of elected-for-life board members. Already there are reports other trustees have left in protest and exasperation at their posture and pivoting moves, leaving a single group with far too much power.
I have fond memories of my Cedarville University experience. In large measure it made me who I am today. And while I couldn’t return to that experience given my own shifts and given its narrowism back then (1998-2002), I had high hopes that I could have sent my children there given the crop of moderate evangelicalism being harvested.
Not any more. And not merely because they’ve selected to elect an SBC President. But because they’ve allowed the Board to be overrun by a faction unrepresentative of the beautiful, diverse Body of Jesus Christ himself.
If you are a Cedarville student or alumni I would love to hear your reaction and response to this new move in the comments. Or if you’ve witnessed similar turns at other evangelical institutions consider join the conversation, as well.
Jeremy, I’m not a Cedarville alum, nor do I know much of the brouhaha there. Still, I take exception to your characterization of the SBC. I think it’s too easy to do. It requires no nuance. And you do not know that this man will be as hard right as some in the SBC are. The SBC is very diverse with many first-rate scholars.
Perhaps that’s fair, Daniel—or unfair of me! Believe me I appreciate some of those scholars and I understand it is more diverse and nuanced than I’m giving it credit for…
But I know enough of the behind-the-scenes the past 5 years at CU and enough about the SBC to make connections. Again it’s not about the SBC…but their is a posture endemic to Baptists generally and the SBC specifically—and now Cedarville. And that concerns me.
I was born and raised in Cedarville and then attended college there. My mom was actually Dr. Ruby’s assistant for many years.
It breaks my heart to see the things that have been happening and I truly hope that they change.
But I agree with Daniel, we don’t know White. We don’t know his heart. I think it does make sense that the board would put someone in place that they know would be in line with their thinking, and I’m sure that’s what they’ve done, but they don’t know his heart either. I may be wrong, but I think Dr. Ruby aligned with them theologically, but it was his actions (being like Jesus) that scared them. Maybe White will be the same? I pray that he will. We don’t have control over the situation, but God definitely does. These guys are our siblings in Christ, so I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in them to show them the truth of what it means to follow Him.
Thanks for your perspective, Teresa. I also pray that the Spirit of God will work in them to show them how lead this institution, particularly through the current challenges facing 21st century young adults.
Thanks for this, Jeremy. Insightful and challenging.
Your welcome, Josh. Interesting day at CU. One tweeter put it best, me thinks: “And @cedarville just became an SBC school…” We shall see!
I’ll humbly brag and claim to that tweet 😉
But seriously, I’m afraid CU is devolving. I’m not an alum, but I grew up attending anything and everything CU had to offer for middle/high school students and spent a lot of time on campus with friends and a girl I dated through high school. Dr. Brown did an incredible job moving CU towards ecumenicism and giving her a gracious voice in the face of tough cultural battles. I’m afraid we’re going to see a sectarian,neo-fundamentalist chokehold, similar to what the GARBC had on the school just a couple decades ago. I say this as someone who’s incredibly jaded about denominational institutions, having graduated from one and attended/attending seminary at one.
Go on, brag Benjamin!
Sorry to hear about your jadedness. I hear that. I’ve been that. Shoot I used to contribute to that!
As I said in my post, I am evangelical and I’m also concerned about some of the theological tilt toward the left that I’m sure the Board is freaking out about. But I am also interested in cultivating the same “ecumenicism and giving her a gracious voice in the face of tough cultural battles (inside and outside the church)” that you speak of. Its a crying shame both Brown and Ruby were run out of town by activist Board members all for trying to cultivate a civil, moderate evangelical tone—along the lines of other well-respected evangelical institutions, like Wheaton.
I think your point about millennial students being the main constituents is understated. Well, under-realized, as far as the administration is concerned. I’m conversing with a friend (an alum) about this very issue. Millennial evangelicals face different cultural land mines than those before us. I, for one, would rather see leadership engaging with us on these issues rather than waxing eloquent and trying to steer us back to the “glory days”
I agree. Which Ruby tried to do with Soul Force and the Immigration conference. How do we connect the historic Christian faith to our 21st century culture? I certainly wasn’t equipped to answer that question when I left. Brown certainly tried by re-organizing the Bible dept. I the future leadership does for future students what you say: engaging them on the important issues of our day rather than leading/teaching out of nostalgia for the “glory days”
Thanks for this provocative article. I too am a Cedarville Alum and also a GRTS alum … what’s most troubling for me in this is the assurance that Cedarville demands around, “… infant baptism or present-day signs/miracles and didn’t deny eternal security.” Just two weeks ago myself, the elders of our church and several others in our faith community prayed over a couple who’s unborn child was given a terminal diagnosis. The doctor told them to “expect a stillborn.”
Yesterday, they delivered a healthy baby girl. The doctors have compared everything from this newborn with what they saw via ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and amniocenteses … and they are scratching their heads. Meanwhile, we are all celebrating God’s goodness … the God of miraculous healing.
I guess this means I couldn’t get a job at Cedarville. That’s fine. I’d rather be witness to the miraculous. I’m reminded of Matt 13:58 that speaks of Jesus not being able to “do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
I’m afraid Cedarville is spiraling ever more toward irrelevance in our world – most interested in preserving its preferences and culture. Forgetting that those who stubbornly dig their heals in are never the ones who lead …
It is indeed interesting to see the tight boundaries being drawn by this institution. That’s my concern for sure…
I trust wholeheartedly that God has a plan and a purpose at Cedarville. I believe the appointed people are in their respective positions of power for a reason. There’s a reason I am a student and the board members are board members. As a student, it’s not my decision, and I don’t think it should be! Obviously, students don’t have to attend- if they don’t like it, another school is always an option. However, I trusted the board and administration when I accepted my admission into the University, and I will continue to trust them now. I greatly look forward to meeting Dr. White. As from what I have seen and learned of him, he looks like he will be a fantastic person to disciple our student body and an amazing President of Cedarville!
Thanks for your comment, Jacob. I’m really interested in the getting the pulse of the current student body. Appreciate your perspective…
“This last one’s an important one. Trustees your constituents aren’t your donors or churches. They’re your millennial students. Maybe you don’t want to deal with issues of human sexuality, the church’s response to immigrants, Adam vs. modern science, and whether one can be a Democratic Christian. But they do. These are their issues.”
Again, it’s no all about me. Again, these so-called “issues” can be handled by rightly dividing the scriptures. There are answers or principles that can be applied. These “issues” have nothing to do with the Great Commission, nor the mission of evangelizing the lost. It’s Jesus first and what He came to do. He did not come to usher in some kingdom or utopia. His kingdom is not of this world. Young and old alike, be a Berean and search the Scriptures. I can biblically answer all those listed concerns in about a sentence or 2 apiece.
What exactly is this statement based on? The declaration of ” Trustees your constituents aren’t your donors or churches. They’re your millennial students.” ??
Hi Jeremy,
I’m a Cedarville alum from the years immediately after you (2002-2007, with a year off in between) and I’ve only recently begun seeking out some of this information. I’ve seen and been around some of the drama surrounding CU for a while and previously, it just made me tired. My freshman year was miserable for myriad reason, and when I came back… it wasn’t. I felt welcomed and valued and it had a great influence on the person I am today, I think for the better.
I was so excited and encouraged by the changes I saw in Cedarville and, consequently, the attitudes of many of the students in the short time I was there. This decision concerns me. My concern itself concerns me, and I keep poking around, looking for something to read that will prove my cynicism wrong. I haven’t found it…but I’ve found the opposite.
Completely aside from all of this, I’ve noticed the push for money lately. They’ve been calling my parents (not alumni) and me repeatedly, and while in the past I spoke with a student and we had a really good and encouraging conversation with the money as an afterthought, the most recent calls have felt much more pushy.
I honestly forget why I began this comment – I had something to say and I thought it was more insightful than “I agree and share your concerns” but maybe not. Because at the end of all this, I do agree and share your concerns. Thank you for providing a place for this conversation.
I am a Cedarville Alumni and I just got my comments deleted… grrr! But in an nutshell, the last magazine I received from CU did cause me to say, “What happened to the alive-challenging-face-your-hypocrisy-and-truly follow-Jesus publications?” I am a part of a Wesleyan Church, full of people from various denominations. I love the environment and learn to truly understand our similarities and differences. It truly is beautiful.
I fled Cedarville in 1966 for Baylor and have never regretted it. The turmoil when I left was over a requirement by faculty to sign a statement declaring belief in a “seven ‘twenty-four day’ creation.” What will they fight about next?
I believe that Cedarville University has been turned around and its biblical doctrines twisted throughout the years. Dr. White has brought about an amazing change that helps to set the university back on track. I know many people were upset about the many staff changes; however, these were necessary to ensure that the school would not continue down its path.
Also, Dr. Lee, Dr. Patterson, and Dr. White all getting hired around the same time was purely coincidental. In actuality, Dr. Lee was hired before the other two were.
God has worked, and His word affirmed. We will always have the hate from those who don’t want to submit to His doctrine. It could be a salvation issue with all the hate, gossip, talebearing, false accusations coming from profesing believers. It’s natural for institutions to degenerate to liberalism. It takes intellectual excercise to maintain truth.