| June 04 2009
Childs Named Interim Academic Dean
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Rev. Dr. James M. Childs Jr., Edward C. Fendt Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, has been named the seminary’s interim academic dean, effective July 1, 2009. Trinity’s current dean, Dr. Donald L. Huber, will retire June 30, after 40 years on the seminary faculty.
President Mark R. Ramseth announced Dr. Childs’ appointment February 2, following the November suspension of a formal search for a dean due to the long-term projections of seminary finances. The interim appointment is open-ended with review after one year. The timeline for a permanent search will be monitored by Trinity’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Childs previously served as Trinity’s academic dean from 1981 to 2000. He joined the Trinity faculty in 1978 as associate professor of ethics, and was named professor of ethics in 1987. He was installed as the Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and Ethics in 1998. He also served as interim president during the 1989-90 academic year. He was named the Edward C. Fendt Professor of Systematic Theology in 2004. A graduate of Concordia Senior College and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Dr. Childs received his S.T.M. from Union Theological Seminary in New York and a Ph.D. from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Throughout his more than 35 years in ordained ministry, he has served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Lutheran Church in America before that, in some 27 different appointed or elected avenues of synodical or churchwide service. He is past chair of the Board of the Division for Church and Society of the ELCA, and served as director of the ELCA’s Studies on Sexuality. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Christian Ethics, for which he recently served on its Board of Directors.
Dr. Childs is the author of numerous journal articles and has contributed chapters to seven different books. He also has published a number of reviews, educational resources, and sermons. Among his many books are: The Way of Peace: Christian Life in the Face of Discord (2008); Ethics in the Community of Promise (2006); Greed: Economics and Ethics in Conflict (2000); Preaching Justice: The Ethical Vocation of Word and Sacrament Ministry (2000); Ethics and Business: Faith at Work (1995) and Faith, Formation and Decision: Ethics in the Community of Promise (1992). He also was editor and contributor to Faithful Conversations: Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality (2003).
“If theology is ‘the sweat of wrestling with massive ideas,’ as Douglas John Hall writes, we have in our midst a colleague who is a proven leader, one who has wrestled with and articulated for us the art of theology. I am honored to make this appointment,” said President Mark R. Ramseth.