HILLSBORO, Kan. – Tabor College announces a new partnership with best-selling author and American cultural scholar, Leonard Sweet, to enhance our graduate theological education program.
Sweet will be considered a distinguished visiting professor and work as an active partner in the marketing and educational processes of the new master of arts in entrepreneurial ministry leadership degree program.
“Dr. Leonard Sweet and Tabor are both committed to providing high-quality, educational experiences to their respective constituencies,” Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor, said. “We both have different, yet complementary missions. We are well suited to establish a partnership for mutual benefit.”
“I am honored by the invitation of President Glanzer,” Sweet said, “whom I believe to be one of the most strategic and savvy presidents in the world of higher education today—a world which I believe is poised right where the church was on the eve of the Reformation. I look forward to navigating these uncharted waters with him.”
Sweet is a preacher and best-selling author, who has written more than 200 articles, published over 1,300 sermons and written more than 50 books. He shares the gospel with a signature, bridging of the worlds of faith, academia and popular culture.
“In my lifetime, the world has changed from a Gutenberg culture to a Google culture, or what I call a TGIF (Twitter, Google, Instagram, Facebook) culture,” Sweet added. “I hope to join other Tabor faculty in helping our students learn the semiotics of this global Google world we are in, critiquing the perils, problems and promises of TGIF culture and pioneering ways to be in, but not of this culture.”
Rick Bartlett, director of theological education at Tabor, is thrilled to have someone of Sweet’s caliber join their staff.
“Dr. Sweet is a deep thinker who will be able to help Tabor students engage with a wide variety of issues,” Bartlett said. “I’m especially excited for the entrepreneurial ministry leadership students, because as entrepreneurs, they will need to be able to make connections across a wide variety of disciplines. Dr. Sweet has the ability to help students make those connections.”
Sweet has emotional and sentimental ties to this part of the country.
“My heart belongs to the heartland,” Sweet said. “Even though for the past 20 years I have lived on both coasts and taught on both coasts, I come from the heartland. My mother’s family comes from the mountains of West Virginia, but my father’s family hails from the heart of the heartland. In fact, one of my ancestors was the 12th president of Baker University (1879-1886). Being on the faculty of Tabor is a homecoming for me.”
Sweet is a popular and highly sought-after speaker throughout North America and around the world. In the past few years, Sweet has spoken in the following countries: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, England, Wales, South Africa, South Korea, Iceland, Scotland, China, Indonesia and Latvia.
In 2006 and 2007, Sweet was voted by the Church Report as “One of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America.” He was also selected by the top non-English Christian website as one of the “Top 10 Influential Christians of 2010.”
Sweet’s responsibilities for Tabor will be to host advances, assist in creating/servicing cohorts and teaching classes for the EML program.
“Sweet is a historian and futurist who will be able to provide EML students with insights from a wide variety of sources,” Bartlett said. “What I especially appreciate about Dr. Sweet is his deep love for Jesus. It shines through in all that he does.”
Sweet graduated with honors from the University of Richmond and then went onto earn a master of divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He is the recent recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Richmond (Virginia), Baker University (Kansas), Otterbein College (Ohio), Coe College (Iowa) and Lebanon Valley College (Pennsylvania).
Sweet has held distinguished lectureships at various colleges, universities and seminaries and has presented academic papers before major professional societies. He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, state conventions, pastors’ schools and retreats.