ARLINGTON—Bruce Corley announced plans to resign as president of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, effective after the October meeting of the school’s governing board.
Bruce Corley“This step comes after careful reflection and prayer,” said Leon Leach, chair of the institute’s board of governors and executive vice president of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who will lead the search committee for a new president.
Corley’s decision to step down as president is part of a strategic transition plan in place for two years and represents “a handing on of the baton,” Leach said. “Continuity with Dr. Corley’s presidency maintains a bright future for the school.”
Corley has served as the institute’s president since its founding in 2004. Based in Arlington, the school trains students at teaching churches—congregations that partner with the institute to provide formal theological education and informal training for Christian leaders—as well as through interactive online instruction.
Corley, former dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, plans to continue to serve as a senior fellow of the institute.
“As long as I can be effective, I wish to contribute to the long-term well-being and growth of the school,” Corley said. “I have promises to keep—made to my family, students and the Lord—chief among them, re-entry to the world of biblical scholarship where unfinished books wait for me.”
Gene Wilkes, pastor of Legacy Church in Plano, has been elected vice president for advancement at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute,.The B.H. Carroll Institute’s board of governors also elected Gene Wilkes as vice president for advancement. Wilkes, pastor of Legacy Church, a Texas Baptist congregation in Plano, has served as a resident fellow of the school since 2005 and a governor since 2011.
“Dr. Wilkes will play a key role in our expanding programs that reach far beyond a traditional residential campus. Advancement for Carroll is not bricks and mortar but the engaging of ministries around the world where leaders need to be trained,” Corley said.
Wilkes, author of Jesus on Leadership: Discovering the Secrets of Servant Leadership from the Life of Christ, led Legacy Church 26 years. In his “faithrunner” blog, Wilkes wrote he decided to retire from the pastorate and accept the vice president’s post at the institute because “Legacy Church is healthy and ready for new leadership.”
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Furthermore, he sees the institute as a place where his background in leadership development and spiritual growth in the congregational context, as well as his academic training and experience, will converge to serve others.
“I am convinced Carroll is the next, best model for training leaders in a global context,” he said.
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