A Personal Announcement

I have an exciting personal announcement that might require a little context. I’ll begin by getting to the point. After twenty years in higher education working in three different universities, I’m officially making a transition to full-time creative work. That’s a side of my life that has been largely neglected, and I’m thrilled for the opportunity for it to become the priority. If you just want the short story, you can quit reading now.

Why a move out of higher education?

The last five years have been interesting. I’ve sensed a move away from full-time higher education for at least that long, for various reasons. For the sake of time and space, I’ll only share a couple.

First, the future of many colleges in the U.S. is both unstable and uncertain. That is especially true for private religious schools. There are a some anomalies like Colorado Christian, Cedarville, and Liberty that are growing like crazy, but most Christian colleges are facing significant enrollment and financial challenges. Many will either dramatically downsize or close before the end of this decade. That will mean far fewer Christian colleges, which means the ones that are growing now will likely continue to grow for some time as the competition pool shrinks.

A second — and more personal reason — relates to gifting and passion. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in academics, but I’ve long felt as though I’ve missed something related to my calling. Every school I’ve served has ended up carving out space for me to use my creative gifts. I’m thankful for that. At Southern Seminary I even took a few year assignment as Vice President for Communications to lead them through a complete rebrand for their 150th anniversary before becoming dean of their undergraduate college. During that time, I was able to lead a crazy talented and award-winning team. It was an absolute blast.

This marks a new season where creative work won’t be secondary to academics, but will for once take center stage. You can see a new site where I will begin to feature creative work and take on a limited amount of freelance work here: creativearticulation.com.

Cultivating Theological Leaders for the Global Church

Now, what I’m most excited to announce is that I’ve accepted a full-time remote position as a creative director for a non-profit organization I have fallen in love with over the last few years called Scholar Leaders.

Over forty years ago, a few students from North America studied in England under pastor and author John Stott who inspired in them a passion for serving their Christian sisters and brothers outside the West. They came back to America and founded an organization dedicated to partnering with theological leaders in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. After starting this important work, all three went on to lead other organizations serving respectively as president of Fuller Seminary, Columbia Seminary, and as the founder of an urban ministry in Canada.

As their creative director, my aspiration is for our brand and aesthetics to be as excellent as the global leaders with whom we partner. If you want to support our work in serving the Global Church, I would unashamedly encourage you to check out ways to get involved with us at Scholar Leaders. Unlike previous roles in which I’ve served, most of our team is remote. They really are one of the most gifted, committed, and caring teams I’ve ever been a part of. I’m excited, humbled, and thankful for this opportunity.

Some Other Changes You Might Notice

As I mentioned, I’ve sensed a move away from higher education for some time. All of my positions in higher education have been presidential appointments to composite roles as professor and promoter, probably not in that order. That has often made me a bit of an odd duck in the departments in which I’ve worked, keeping a very different schedule with very different expectations than co-workers. In my most recent role, I’m the only professor serving remotely, which has only accentuated those challenges.

Nonetheless, it’s been a productive couple of years. In my short time at SBU, I’ve published three books (a Christian living title, a children’s book, and a chapter in an academic text), published over thirty articles, and participated in over seventy radio interviews. On top of that, I’ve kept a hectic travel schedule speaking at the university and at other venues where I’m promoting the university every month. While this kind of output can be helpful for increasing a school’s reach, I’ve known for sometime that it’s not sustainable personally.

With this life-transition, I really am humbled by and thankful for the opportunities I’ve had at Boyce College, Cedarville University, and Southwest Baptist University. I have often described myself as an “accidental academic,” and I’m beyond grateful for the chance to work with people way smarter than me, and to invest in amazing students. Taking my academic regalia off a coatrack in a faculty office and stuffing it into storage was bittersweet.

Turning a Page

I plan to slow life down a bit now that my job isn’t focused on external promotion. I’m ready for a different pace. That’s why I have removed the speaking tab from the Theolatte website for the time being. I have a handful of commitments this spring, and I’m speaking at a couple youth camps this summer. But for the first time in my adult life, I’ve blocked the summer schedule by turning down camp speaking requests for the summer of 2026. It felt weird, for sure.

I plan to travel less and be more present in our little village in Ohio. I enjoy travel and ministry, but I’m looking forward to a more Hobbit like existence where I don’t have to maintain a busy schedule promoting university programs and trying to prove my worth as a remote employee. This will allow me to prioritize the few speaking opportunities I really want to take on, as well as continuing to volunteer my time as a part of the monthly teaching rotation at Fairfield West Baptist Church.

I have no plans to write more Christian-living titles. There’s far more hustle involved in publishing than most realize from working with an agent, crafting proposals, pitching ideas, and supporting the marketing and launch of the book, which include numerous podcast and radio interviews. That’s not to mention the actual writing and editing of the book, which I’ve found to be the easiest and most enjoyable part of the whole process.

Now, books for kids are a different story altogether. All of my children’s books have come at the invitation of publishers, and that is one thing I won’t turn down if opportunities present themself. While this is a big change, I’m embracing it whole-heartedly. I plan to read more, write less, and slow down. Sounds like I’m getting older, doesn’t it?

The Next Chapter

However, I will stay active at this site and continue to be a part of the regular programming at Faith Radio as long as I am invited, so you will still see posts and social media updates about that. The leadership at Scholar Leaders have encouraged this decision, as it’s a great platform for sharing with a large audience the amazing things that are going on around the world in the life of the Church.

As far as higher education goes, I’d like to keep a foot in the academy in some small ways that fit with my new work schedule. I love to teach, so I have no doubt that will factor into the future at some point in one way or another. I’m not in a hurry, but there are some opportunities on the horizon. That’s part of the reason I am making space by stopping a lot of the things that have previously filled my schedule. Stay tuned.

My main focus is going to be using whatever gifts I have in whatever ways I can in Scholar Leaders’ service to the Global Church. I am beyond excited to be able to do creative work in this capacity. I never would have thought there would be a position like this with an organization that combines so many of my passions. It really is hard for me to imagine a better fit for this next chapter of life.

I am getting to do what I have often encouraged my students to do over the years, to plant myself in an optimal environment where my gifts and calling can flourish and where I can make a meaningful contribution. Thanks for taking time to read this and for coming along for the journey. Oremus pro invicem.