Hayner named president of
Columbia Theological Seminary
By Edward Terry, The Layman, June 17, 2009
The Rev. Stephen A. Hayner was chosen June 15 as the new president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Among his goals are preparing students for the church of the future and developing their leadership skills.
The Rev. Stephen A. Hayner will take over as president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., on July 1.
As a member of the faculty, he admits that spending less time in the classroom won’t be easy. But he’s thankful that his first week on the job, which starts July 1, will help him ease out of the classroom and into the top administrative post.
July 6 is the first day of Hayner’s D.Min. summer course on church planning and transformation, a commitment prior to the Board of Trustees naming him the new president. Yet he hopes to continue having a presence in the classroom beyond the upcoming summer session, just on a much smaller scale.
“I love to teach,” he said, adding that he hopes to teach at least one course per year. “Not to be able to be in the classroom will be somewhat of a hardship for me. Our Trustees are very eager that I continue to teach.”
Hayner is best-known for his 13 years as president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, one of the largest college campus ministries in the United States. He joined Columbia’s faculty in 2003 as an associate professor of evangelism and church growth.
Hayner’s education includes a BA from Whitman College; MTS from Harvard Divinity School; Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Turning 61 next week, Hayner was ordained by Seattle Presbytery, of the Presbyterian Church (USA), in 1973.
The Board of Trustees of Columbia Theological Seminary voted unanimously on June 15 to appoint Hayner as the school’s ninth president, following a nationwide search. He succeeds Laura S. Mendenhall, who has served Columbia since 2000.
Master of Divinity student Jamison Collier, a search committee member and trustee, offered praise for the selection from a student’s point of view.
“Steve is a connected and accessible teacher,” he said. “Students appreciate that he not only relates well in person but is also a sophisticated user of technology and the many ways people communicate today.”
Commenting on the search, the Rev. Lee Bowman, search committee chair and trustee, described Hayner as an ideal candidate.
“From the very beginning, the search committee wanted a person who could see around the corner to a future that none of us can yet envision,” she said. “The church is changing, and we want to be faithful to the future to which God is calling us.
“Steve is the person who best articulates the mission of the seminary and its place in that future.”
Those qualities will serve him well as focusing on students’ spirituality and adapting to a changing church are at the top of his list of goals.
“We’ve really got to do a better job of preparing men and women for ministries in the church of the future,” Hayner said. “As the church is pushed more and more to the margins of society, and as young people have more and more negative impressions of what the church is really all about, we’ve really got to prepare students spiritually as well as intellectually in terms of their leadership capabilities to lead a new kind of church to follow Christ in a new kind of way.”
Drawing from his experience in administration and ministry, Hayner sees a need to develop more than students’ intellectual capacity, theological acuity, Biblical awareness or historical savvy, he said.
“We also have a big task to do in helping students to develop spiritually, to sink their roots down deeper into the Scriptures and into the Gospel and to understand what it means to develop their characters and to develop their leadership ability,” he said, adding para-church organizations have to work in the development of holistic discipleship. “We have a responsibility to the Presbyterian church to prepare our students to take pastoral positions and other kinds of positions within the leadership of the church. We also have responsibilities as a seminary to prepare men and women for all kinds of ministries in Christ’s kingdom even beyond our own denomination.”
Hayner inherits a budget that has taken a hit due to endowment losses caused by the 2008-2009 economic downturn, but appears to be stabilizing as growth opportunities are just around the corner. Columbia has avoided faculty cuts and continues to be “fiscally careful,” Hayner said.
Enrollment figures have been kept flat in recent years as Columbia did not have room for expansion. Completion of a new residence hall, as well as the addition of evening and weekend courses, points to opportunities down the road.
“We have been very fortunate to have Trustees who have managed the endowment very well,” he said. “The cuts that we’ve had to make in our operating budget have not been as severe as some.”
In the short-term, Hayner will be focused on the upcoming summer terms and preparing for his first fall in the president’s office.
“We think we’ve got another really fine class coming in this fall,” he said. “We’re quite encouraged about that.”
Hayner has been married to Sharol Rhodes for 35 years. She serves as associate pastor for discipleship at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. They have three children: Emilie, her husband, Chad and the Hayners’ two grandchildren, Claire and Anna, live in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Chip and his wife, Kristen, live in Nashville; and 16-year-old Drew will be a high school senior.