Wheaton College has selected Philip Ryken, senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, as its eighth president.
It will be something of a homecoming for Ryken, who grew up in Wheaton, graduated from the college and frequently wondered if he would return, according to one member of the college’s board of trustees.
The trustees voted Friday night to hire Ryken. The college’s staff and faculty were informed at a private meeting Saturday morning, about the same time Ryken was telling his church elders of his decision to accept the position.
Ryken graduated from Wheaton College in 1988, joined Tenth Presbyterian as a pastor in 1995 and became senior pastor in 2000.
He also is a member of the college’s board of trustees.
His father, Leland Ryken, is an English professor at the school.
LaTonya Taylor, Wheaton College’s director of media relations, refused to confirm the selection but said the college expects to make an official announcement concerning the president’s post on its Web site around noon today.
Ryken did not immediately return a phone message at his church.
But the Rev. D. Marion Clark, Ryken’s colleague of 10 years at Tenth Presbyterian, said Ryken informed the church’s elders he had been approached by the college and would take the Wheaton job in July.
“We were all certainly caught off guard and very much surprised but I understand that,” Clark said. “But we each stood and gave him our blessing and understanding. We recognize he is doing what he believes is God’s will.”
The 1,500-member congregation will be told of Ryken’s announcement following today’s services.
Clark said the entire congregation will sorely miss Ryken, who he believes is a “great choice” for Wheaton College.
“I, reluctantly, can tell you that Dr. Ryken would be a great fit anywhere he went but especially at Wheaton College,” Clark said. “Not only is he a great leader but he is a great listener, a dedicated and hard worker, a consensus builder and a man who takes challenges head on.”
Ryken will replace Duane Litfin, who became the college’s seventh president in 1993 and announced his retirement plans last March.
Ryken has a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton in 1988, a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1992 and a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Oxford in 1995.
He is married with five children. In a statement on his church Web site he wrote, “When I am not playing with my kids, I enjoy shooting hoops, reading writers like Marilynne Robinson and Shusaku Endo, and pondering the relationship between Christianity and American culture.”
He was selected by a search committee formed last spring. The group’s goal was to make a recommendation to the college’s board of trustees by this spring and have the new president in place by July 1.
Members of the committee said in December they had considered more than 75 candidates and narrowed the field to a handful of finalists – although they would not say who or how many.
Donald Meyer, co-chairman of the search committee, said at the time the school’s next president needs solid leadership and academic skills, a strong theological position and the ability to continue Litfin’s vision.
Wheaton College officials have praised Litfin for keeping the school on track with its historic mission as a Christian liberal arts college with a graduate school and conservatory of music.
They said Litfin has worked to enhance the quality of the school’s faculty and been involved in a pair of major fundraising drives since 1994.
Ryken’s Tenth Presbyterian Church is in the heart of Philadelphia. The church was founded in 1828 and joined the Presbyterian Church in America in 1981.
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
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