Wardlaw to Austin

Wardlaw to Austin Seminary

Atlanta pastor Ted Wardlaw named as Austin Seminary's ninth President

[from an Austin Seminary press release, posted here 7-16-02]

Theodore J. "Ted" Wardlaw, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia, has been called to the presidency of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Wardlaw's nomination was approved in a special meeting of the Seminary's Board of Trustees on July 1. He will become the ninth president in the one hundred years since the Seminary's founding in 1902. Wardlaw will assume the presidency upon the retirement of President Robert M. Shelton in mid-November.

"We have been richly gifted with the presidents who have served us in the past," says John McCoy, of Dallas, Texas, vice-chair elect of Austin Seminary's Board of Trustees and a member of the Presidential Search Committee. "I see enormous potential in Ted Wardlaw, not only to continue that heritage, but to enhance it with his genuine style, his personal charm, his good humor, his love of people, and the grace that accompanies the way he presents himself."

Wardlaw, a native South Carolinian, has been pastor of Central Church since 1991. Prior to being called there, he served the Setauket Presbyterian Church, Setauket, Long Island, New York; Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church, Sherman, Texas; and Germantown Presbyterian Church, Germantown, Tennessee. He received the B.A. from Presbyterian College, the D.Min. from Union Theological Seminary, where he was awarded the Charles D. Larus Graduate Fellowship, and the S.T.M., magna cum laude, from Yale University Divinity School.

A consummate Presbyterian, Wardlaw has served the larger church with distinction. In 2001, Wardlaw was moderator of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta as well as a Commissioner to the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) where he chaired the Committee on Church Polity. He is a member of the Pastors Working Group of the Louisville Institute. He has twice been Editor-at-Large of The Presbyterian Outlook and served on the Board of Directors for the Journal of Reformed Liturgy and Music.

Wardlaw maintains close ties with several Presbyterian seminaries. He is on the Union/PSCE Board of Trustees and has served on its Alumni Board of Directors, chairing the 1996 Alumni Giving Campaign. Wardlaw has been an adjunct professor of preaching at both Union/PSCE and Columbia Theological Seminary and is a member of the Board of Visitors for Johnson C. Smith Seminary.

Widely praised for his conciliatory style and his commitment to the Presbyterian Church, Wardlaw was lauded in a speech on June 15, 2002, by incoming Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel for being a "bridge builder"-a leader in the Greater Atlanta Presbytery who helped find common ground for those who hold different views on the contentious issues of the church. "Ted is a mainstream, neo-orthodox thinker," says Keith Hill, pastor of Douglasville Presbyterian Church, Douglasville, Georgia. "He has a deep love of the church that he expresses eloquently."

In remarks to the Seminary Board of Trustees, Wardlaw compared his move into seminary leadership to a new road on the journey of his life as a Christian. "As president, I first will listen to those who know Austin Seminary, then articulate the case for its future. I will seek to represent the lively tradition of the Presbyterian Church, and to cultivate students and faculty who will be the bearers of that tradition. Finally, I will seek to serve and lead, in other ways that are appropriate, the greater church to which Presbyterian seminaries are intrinsically attached."

President Robert Shelton's retirement comes at the end of thirty-one years of faithful service to Austin Seminary as professor of homiletics, academic dean, and president. Shelton's presidency has been guided by his understanding of the Seminary's role in the education and formation of the church. His leadership has been critical in steering the Seminary toward its Centennial in 2002, in implementing a culture of institutional planning, and in guiding the Seminary's first comprehensive fund-raising campaign. During his tenure Austin Seminary established the Hispanic Theological Union in 2001, a joint venture with the neighboring Episcopal and Lutheran seminaries. As the Seminary begins its second century, Shelton welcomes the election of Wardlaw at this critical juncture, saying, "Austin Seminary is committed to serving the whole church. I believe Ted Wardlaw will provide the leadership necessary to continue and enhance that vision."

Ted Wardlaw is married to Kay Bryant, a clinical psychologist, and they are parents to two daughters, Shelby, age 14, and Claire, age 11.

PresbyWeb has posted an interesting series of notes expressing worries that Wardlaw's appointment to head Austin Seminary will "change Austin's orientation from evangelical to liberal."