Thank You Dr. Timothy Tennent
Timothy Tennant announces his impending retirement as the president of Asbury Seminary
It was announced today that Dr. Timothy Tennent will be stepping down from the presidency of Asbury Seminary. You can read the official release here. Dr. Tennent’s accolades as president are well known and rather than focus on them, I would like to take a moment and publicly thank Dr. Tennent for the ways he has personally influenced my life and ministry.
I was a third year student at Asbury Seminary when Dr. Tennent became the president. I had known of him due to his important work in World Christianity and when it was announced that he would be teaching one class a year, I quickly signed up for his course in World Christianity. As a student of Dr. Tennent, I was able to witness a man who displayed immense character and holiness, as well as rigorous scholarship which caused me to pursue world Christianity and missiology as a discipline in my future academic endeavors. Even more, Tim displayed for me a missiologist that engaged magisterial theology and the history of the church in a way that I knew I wanted to pursue as well. I was able to take two classes with Dr. Tennent before I graduated and his pedagogy and scholarship is still shaping the way I engage in my own missiological work.
Since graduation, I have been able to maintain a friendship with Dr. Tennant and his wife Julie that has included meals together and a true concern for my soul as I pursued pastoral ministry alongside my academic career. Dr. Tennent also graciously wrote two significant letters of recommendation for me that I am confident led to my acceptance into the PhD program at the University of Manchester and as a John Wesley Fellow with A Foundation for Theological Education.
I simply would not be the minister, academic, or man that I am today without the influence and advocacy of Dr. Timothy C. Tennent and I will be forever grateful for his influence on my life. I am also grateful he will continue at Asbury as the Professor of World Christianity and hopefully I can have him in my Viva. Congratulations on a wonderful and world changing tenure as President of Asbury Seminary, Dr. Tennent. Your legacy will live on far past you.