Providence University College president to step down

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This article was published 03/12/2020 (2109 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Johnson is retiring after nine years as president of Providence University College and Theological Seminary.

He will be replaced in June by Kent Anderson of Northwest Baptist Seminary (Langley, B.C.), where he has served for 25 years as both president and professor of homiletics.

Johnson, 67, came to Providence in 1990 from Minnesota as a professor of New Testament and Greek.

Over his years as school president, one of the things he is proudest of is hiring “some really smart young people… My philosophy of leadership is to hire good people, set some goals and let them run.”

He is also pleased by the results of Impact 2020, a successful $14.5-million campaign to add new science and business courses to the school, located in Otterburne, along with a new student life centre and dormitory.

“It’s been exciting to see how God has moved at Providence the last nine years,” Johnson said, adding credit also needs to go to faculty and staff at the school. “I have had a great team.”

Johnson, a member of Immanuel Free Church in Steinbach, did not expect to bring his time as president to an end during a pandemic. However, by next fall, he hopes the school will be back to usual in-person classes but expects the online model developed during the pandemic will continue.

“It kind of forced our hand,” Johnson said of how the COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity to put more courses online. “It will help in the long run, as we offer more courses at a distance.”

It will also help Providence overcome what some might see as a disadvantage, due to its rural location, he added. “With distance education, it doesn’t matter where you are located.”

The pandemic produced challenges for the school, which has about 525 students in its undergraduate and seminary programs. There was a drop in undergraduate enrolment (falling 10 per cent but less than the 20 per cent drop feared); seminary enrolment, on the other hand, was up five per cent.

Fundraising also was down, due to the cancellation of a major event, but overall donations are just a “little bit behind” from a year ago, Johnson said.

Overall, he is optimistic for the future of Providence and Christian higher education.

“I see what our graduates are doing around the world, the impact they are having on churches and communities,” he said. “They are appreciated for their skills and work ethic.”

Johnson, who served as chairman of Christian Higher Education Canada, an organization that promotes Canadian Christian college and university education, noted only about one per cent of Canadian Christian students attend such insitutions each year.

“We want to double that,” he said.

Of Johnson’s time at Providence, Jeff Pries, a member of the presidential search committee, noted his “steadfast and godly approach in guiding our school has made us stronger… We are blessed to have had David lead us.”

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