JOHN CARSON NAMED THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT OF ERSKINE COLLEGE AND SEMINARY

for immediate release

DUE WEST, S.C. - Dr. John L. Carson was named president of Erskine College and Seminary Friday (May 22, 1998) by the Erskine College Board of Trustees, effective June 15.

Carson will become the 13th president of Erskine and Dr. James W. Strobel will become President Emeritus and Special Counsel to the President. Dr. Strobel will officially retire Oct. 31 but will remain as President Emeritus.

"I do not intend to add anything new-not one new straw on the backs of faculty or staff or students," Carson said. "But I do intend to be consistent in making this vision a reality. Erskine College will be, by God's grace, what it has been called to be-a Christian liberal arts college open to all students.

"Erskine Seminary likewise will be what God has called it to be-a professional school for ministers unashamed of its Reformed heritage but open to all Christian students."

Carson has served since 1994 as pastor of First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, N.C.

Carson, a native of Wilmington, NC, served as Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Erskine Seminary from 1985 to 1994. He was an E.B. Kennedy Scholar and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Erskine in 1967, and in the same year married Sarah Ellen Patrick, also an E.B. Kennedy Scholar and 1967 graduate of Erskine. They are the parents of four children two have graduated from Erskine, one will be a junior in the fall, and the youngest will be an entering freshman.

A graduate of Ashley High School in Gastonia, he returned there as a teacher and coach following his graduation from Erskine College. In 1970 he began studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., where he received the Master of Divinity degree in 1973.

Following his ordination by the First Presbytery (North Carolina) of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian General Synod in 1973, Carson's first pastorate was Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C., where he served for 10 years.

Carson earned his doctoral degree at Aberdeen University in Scotland in 1988, where he had studied from 1983 to 1985. He then began teaching historical theology, systematic theology, and ethics at Erskine Seminary.

He has served on various boards and committees of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was Vice Moderator of General Synod in 1982, Moderator in 1989, Chairman of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council in 1991, and Program Chairman for the Westminster Assembly 350th Commemoration in 1993.

A member of the Evangelical Theological Society, he is co-editor of To Glorify and Enjoy God, published in 1994.

Carson's paternal grandparents, father, two uncles and one aunt all graduated from Erskine College, Erskine Seminary, or Due West Female College.

For more information, contact Jason Peevy in the Erskine College Public Relations Office at 864-379-8858.