From the President: Keep Calm and Carroll On

Keep calm, and Carroll on

A couple of weeks ago Carroll staff and faculty gathered at First Baptist Church, Waxahachie, a Carroll Teaching Church, for our annual staff planning retreat. Thanks to Dr. David Ritsema, a Carroll graduate and Resident Fellow, for hosting us for the day. We confirmed our strategic plans for 2014 – 2015 and spent most of the morning affirming our mission, vision, and values. You will see changes in the future in the wording of these statements, but you will see no change in why Carroll Institute exists.

We exist to equip men and women called to serve Christ in the diverse and global ministries of his church. Equip is a biblical term that is the active verb for all we do as Carroll Institute. Found in contexts like Ephesians 4:11, Mark 1:19, and Luke 6:40, it means to prepare, outfit or make sufficient for a certain action. That has been our rasion de’etre from our inception ten years ago, and it will always be why we are who we are. Everything we do, everywhere we go is done to equip those called to serve Christ and His church. My prayer is that everyone who is part of the Carroll Nexus will see him or her self as a participant in equipping missional leaders here and around the world.

I am excited that we will be part of the North Texas Giving Day on Thursday, September 18. This is an opportunity for we who are Carroll to invite our friends, families and churches to make a one-time gift to Carroll Institute. Our goal is to involve as many current donors and as many first-time donors as we can. Start your own social media and word-of-mouth campaign today and let’s see how many will join us on that day. Carroll staff and faculty will be at the Arlington, Fort Worth, and Dallas Rallies. If you are there for another group, look for them and say hello. If you want to join us, let us know. We’d love to have you promote Carroll with us!

November 11 of this year marks the 100th anniversary of our namesake, B. H. Carroll. Drs. Bullock and Spivey have led the way for us to host a special event at First Baptist Church, Waco, where Carroll was pastor, in order to celebrate Carroll’s life, legacy and vision. We will tour his gravesite, his office and First Baptist while hearing the history and heart of this great servant of the Lord. Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire, Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools, will speak at a luncheon that day on the “Future of Theological Education.” I hope to see you there! (See the information on our website for details.)

As someone once said,
“Keep calm, and Carroll on.”