GALLATIN, TN—Welch College is seeking a Dean of Students with a strong commitment to student development, spiritual formation, and campus community life to provide leadership across all areas of student services.
The Dean of Students will report to Dr. Daniel Webster, Vice President of Administration and Student Engagement. This individual will provide strategic direction and day-to-day oversight for student life, ensuring that programs, policies, and practices align with the mission and values of Welch College.
Key Responsibilities
The Dean of Students will supervise resident directors and related personnel; establish and enforce policies governing student conduct; and ensure the consistent application of institutional standards. The position will also oversee student counseling and support services, working closely with campus leadership to promote student well-being and success.
Additional responsibilities include advising and supporting the student council and other student organizations; providing leadership for student activities and campus engagement; and collaborating with faculty and staff to address student concerns effectively. The Dean will also assume other responsibilities as assigned by the President and the Vice President of Administration and Student Engagement, consistent with institutional needs.
Minimum Qualifications
A master’s degree in psychology, social work, or a related field
At least five years of leadership experience in student services or a closely related area
Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills
Commitment to student development, discipleship, and community life
Active church involvement, Christian commitment, and alignment with the mission of the college
Deep understanding of and commitment to the Christian worldview and its application to life in a Christian community of faith and learning
Interested candidates should submit the following:
A cover letter outlining qualifications and interest in the position
A detailed resume
A 1,000 to 2,000-word essay discussing the application of the Christian worldview to the creation of a Christ-centered atmosphere for Christian college students living in a residential community that fosters the integration of faith and learning
Contact information for three professional references
Please send this information to Daniel Webster, Vice President of Administration and Student Engagement, at the address listed below or via email at daniel.webster@welch.edu by April 20.
Welch College is a Christian college located in Gallatin, Tennessee, whose mission is to educate Christian leaders to serve Christ, His Church, and His world through biblical thought and life. The college is committed to providing high-quality education in a supportive, spiritually enriching environment.
The college looks forward to welcoming a dedicated leader who will invest in the students of our Christian community of faith and learning.
Daniel Webster Welch College 1045 Bison Trail Gallatin, TN 37066
We are living and ministering in an era of unprecedented change, especially regarding the definition of gender, sexuality, and marriage. With all the attention on the transgender movement and then the oral arguments regarding same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court, I was reminded how swift the pace of moral change is.
Recently, I watched an evening news program on one of the major networks that featured a five-year-old girl who had decided to become a boy. The reporter interviewed the parents, who were going along with the girl’s wishes and attempting to change her into a boy. The reporter also interviewed experts who lauded this.
One thing was clear: This network presented no alternative viewpoint—no alternative perspective even slightly questioning the prudence of doing this to a five-year-old. This was simply an unmitigated celebration of the transgender movement, with no need for an alternative viewpoint—as if the topic was why you shouldn’t eat foods high in saturated fat—with no alternative perspective presented.
Have Conservatives Lost the Culture War?
In the wake of this onslaught of media momentum for the same-sex marriage and transgender movement, some conservative evangelicals have concluded that we have “lost the culture war.” And they have decided that the best way to react is to withdraw from the public square, at least for a time, and build up the church’s internal resources.
James Davidson Hunter, the sociologist at the University of Virginia, is an example of this approach. He believes Christians should be “silent for a time” in the public square, concentrating on improving the internal resources of the church.
But is this the approach we should take? If conservative religious people are behind in the current battle for the hearts and minds of Americans regarding the definition of gender, marriage, and sexuality, is withdrawal a viable option?
I don’t think it is. It presents a false dichotomy, as if the only way for the church to build up its internal resources, re-learning its identity and mission (and there is no question that it needs to do this), is to withdraw from the public square.
Keep reading below
A RESOURCE FROM WELCH PRESS!
Sexuality Gender and the Church provides a handy resource regarding sexuality, gender, and the definition of marriage for everyday Christians who have a deep interest in Christian cultural engagement. This volume is useful for academic settings but is also ideal for ministers, laypeople, parents, and community leaders who want to work through these issues from a biblical perspective. Our desire is to provide a step forward to help Christians respond to the cultural and legal changes we’re facing. LEARN MORE
The Teachings of Jesus—Out of and in the World
Jesus’s teaching pushes us away from this false dichotomy. This is seen nowhere more clearly than in His high-priestly prayer in John 17:14-19:
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (NKJV).
In this passage, Jesus says this regarding our relationship with the world: We must withdraw from the world and permeate the world at the same time. We withdraw from the world in our values, attitudes, priorities, habits, and practices. But we permeate the world in our presence in and active engagement with the world.
Jesus takes us radically out of the world and puts us radically into the world at the same time! I can’t imagine how withdrawal can be justified biblically.
Christian Witness and the Public Sphere
Christian witness cannot be artificially limited to just private, “spiritual” witness. What are we to tell Christian artists or scientists or judges or doctors or political leaders or psychologists? Must their witness in the world be limited to sharing the plan of salvation with individuals? Are we to tell them not to bear witness, in their spheres of influence, to how the law and gospel and kingdom of the Trinitarian God transform our lives together?
I think Jesus’s teachings lead us to avoid this false dichotomy. We dare not make an arbitrary decision to withhold our witness to the world in the public sphere—whether this be how doctors deal with abortion, or how judges or governmental leaders deal with same-sex marriage, or how psychologists deal with a transgender five-year-old, or how scientists deal with genetic engineering, or how artists deal with portraying the reality of God’s creation and the distortions fallen humanity brings to it.
Yes, we need to get serious about the need for the church to rediscover its biblical and historic identity—about orthodox faith and practice. This is going to mean calling a halt to our infatuation with popular culture and being accepted by that culture. The reason evangelical Christianity is losing influence over the moral direction of our culture is that it has lost its stark, prophetic difference from the world in its quest to attract the world by being as much like the popular culture as it can be.
Keep reading below
MORE ABOUT WELCH COLLEGE
Welch College offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees in 50 programs of study to student in Sumner County, TN and around the world! APPLY HERE
The mission of Welch College is to educate leaders to serve Christ, His Church, and His world through Biblical thought and life. SUPPORT THE MISSION
Conclusion - Conservatives Must Avoid a Pendulum Swing
Yes, we need to ask serious questions about how the religious right has sometimes borne its witness in the public square in ineffective and even less-than-Christlike ways. But the answer is not to pendulum-swing to the opposite extreme from what we don’t like about some in the religious right, thus withdrawing from the public square in the various spheres of influence in which Christians engage.
Instead, we must be radically in the world, bearing witness to the transforming rule of Christ in every area of life. But we must also be radically not of the world, living out what it means to be Christ’s redeemed people, called out from the world, set apart for His holy purposes. This nuanced posture will bring kingdom transformation to the world around us.
J. Matthew Pinson is Welch College’s fifth president, having served in that office since 2002. Read more from Dr. Pinson at matthewpinson.com.
Welch College Enrollment Services is conducting a search to add a full-time Admissions Counselor to the Enrollment Services Team. If you are a self-starter with people skills who is interested in engaging high school-aged students in the Christian college selection process, then the role of Admissions Counselor may be the perfect fit for you.
The Admissions Counselor works to recruit, admit, and enroll high school students in the undergraduate, on-campus program at Welch College. The Admissions Counselor travels to off-campus recruiting events (camps, conferences, high schools, churches, college fairs), gives on-campus tours, assists with on-campus recruiting events, counsels and equips students and parents to make a college decision, and helps to transition the student to life on campus.
Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and references to Daniel Webster, Director of Enrollment Services, at daniel.webster@welch.edu
Welch College has appointed Dr. Martin Sheldon to serve as the Director of Administration for the newly formed Welch Divinity School, according to Provost Matthew McAffee, who also serves as dean of the Divinity School.
A 1987 Welch pastoral ministry graduate, Sheldon received his M.Div. and Th.M. from Liberty University and his Ph.D. (2012) from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His dissertation was entitled, “The Apostle Paul’s Theology of Good Works; With Special Emphasis on 1 Tim 6:17–19.”
He comes to his role at Welch with a proven record of teaching and academic administrative experience. He entered the faculty of Liberty University as Assistant Professor of Religion and was promoted to Associate Professor of Religion. During his tenure at Liberty, he also held the administrative position of Department Chair for both the online undergraduate and graduate programs.
Throughout his career, Sheldon has invested himself in local church ministry, including serving as a Free Will Baptist pastor. Even as his ministry focus shifted toward the classroom, he continued in pastoral and Bible teaching roles in local churches.
Sheldon began his position as Director of Administration remotely in February of this year and relocated to Gallatin in July. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he will also serve as an adjunct instructor teaching select New Testament undergraduate and graduate courses.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Sheldon to the Welch College family,” McAffee said. “I have already been impressed by his efforts in helping us start the M.Div. program. We believe his extensive academic administrative experience is just what we need to get this program started on the right track. His background in New Testament studies will make him a great asset in the classroom as well.”
Sheldon is married to Pam, a Welch alumnus, and they have two children, Sarah and Jared (Rachael), and one grandson, Dillon.
For more information about the residential M.Div. degree or the online M.A. degree in Theology and Ministry, please contact Dr. Martin Sheldon (divinity@welch.edu).
