Richard Land selected as president of Southern Evangelical Seminary

NASHVILLE—Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, confirmed to Baptist Press Thursday (April 11) that he has been selected as president of Southern Evangelical Seminary.

The seminary, based in Charlotte, N.C., was co-founded in 1992 by Norman Geisler, longtime seminary professor and apologist, and Ross Rhoads, former evangelist and then-pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte.

According to the seminary’s website, the launch of the seminary stemmed from “Geisler’s concern to defend the historic Christian faith” and “Rhoads’ burden for evangelism.”

Geisler was the seminary’s first president and dean.

Land’s selection was tweeted by Geisler Thursday morning: “I wish to commend the Board of Southern Evangelical Seminary for its excellent choice of a new president Dr. Richard Land.”

Land, 66, announced his retirement from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission July 31 of last year. At the time, he scheduled his retirement to be effective Oct. 23, 2013 — 25 years from the date he assumed the ERLC’s presidency in 1988.

ERLC trustees, on March 26, elected Russell Moore as the SBC entity’s new president, to be effective June 1. Moore, 41, currently is dean of the school of theology and senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

When contacted by Baptist Press Thursday morning, Land confirmed that he had been selected as the seminary’s president but said he would prefer to wait for a news release slated to be released later in the day before answering additional questions.

Land, as of April 11, remained listed as executive editor of The Christian Post, a news service affiliated with Olivet University in California. Land has said he is affiliated with The Christian Post primarily in an advisory capacity.

—Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Erin Roach and editor Art Toalston.