KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–Malcolm Yarnell III has been named vice president for academic affairs at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, effective July 1. Yarnell will become dean of the faculty upon election by Midwestern’s board of trustees in its fall meeting, Oct. 22-24.
He comes to Kansas City, Mo., campus from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he has served as assistant professor of theology since August 2000, teaching at both the master’s and doctoral levels in historical and systematic theology.
“Malcolm Yarnell is clearly God’s choice for this position at Midwestern Seminary,” Midwestern President Phil Roberts said. “I sensed that from the first moment I spoke with him.
“Both he and I have had a chance to pray about this for a good number of weeks now,” Roberts said, “and it’s been clear in our prayer lives that this is the Lord’s will.”
Yarnell said Roberts’ vision for Midwestern is what first attracted him to the Midwestern position. “Phil Roberts and I have the same vision,” he said. “I want to help him build a great seminary and to be a part of the team that is already here. I’m impressed with the faculty; I consider it a great privilege to walk in their midst in a place of honor.”
Graduating summa cum laude from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in finance, Yarnell went on to receive the M.Div. from Southwestern, the Th.M. from Duke Divinity School and the Ph.D. from Oxford University. His doctoral dissertation, “Royal Priesthood in the English Reformation,” will be published by Oxford University Press in May 2003.
Yarnell made his profession of faith in Christ at an early age and first sensed God’s call to ministry during his college years at LSU, although at first he didn’t surrender to that call but after graduation entered secular employment, rising to the position of chief financial officer for a real estate and investment company and teaching junior college business and computer courses.
“I did not feel worthy to be called to the ministry and really, on the human side, none of us are worthy to be called,” Yarnell said. “But God did call me, and he changed me in many ways.”
Surrendering to God’s call to teach led him to seminary and the pastorate. Yarnell has served churches in Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina, saying he believes serving in the local church setting has helped him be a better seminary professor.
Yarnell said his role as a professor, vice president and dean is to be a “teacher of teachers, a minister to ministers, a pastor to pastors and a preacher to preachers.”
Roberts said Yarnell has “the academic credentials and giftedness along with a call to missions and evangelism, and experience administratively that give him that rare combination that makes for an excellent academic vice president. I’m delighted to have him as part of our team at Midwestern.”
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(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: NEW V.P./DEAN and YARNELL AT MBTS.
