Congratulations to Phil Schubert on being named ACU’s 11th president. Here’s the note on the ACU website:

A Message from the ACU Board of Trustees to the ACU Community:

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Phil Schubert has been chosen to serve as Abilene Christian University’s next president.

The Board of Trustees’ decision is the culmination of a prayerful process and a diligent, thoughtful national search which led to the consideration of a wealth of excellent prospects. In the end, we found our new leader right here on our campus.

Dr. Schubert is an individual in whom the university and this board have tremendous confidence. The fact that someone of Dr. Schubert’s caliber will now lead this 104-year-old institution bodes well for ACU’s future. We are excited about the energy and enthusiasm he brings to his new role.

Prior to appointing Dr. Schubert, the Board listened closely to the ACU community. We solicited your input early and often. You told us plainly that ACU’s next president should be an honest, trustworthy, Christ-centered leader; a person of integrity, approachable and personable, driven by a compelling sense of mission. We believe that both of our finalists embody these characteristics. We have concluded, however, that Dr. Schubert is best suited to help ACU manage the opportunities and challenges of the coming years.

Dr. Schubert prepares to take the reins from Dr. Royce Money who, during his 19 years of service, has successfully led our university through numerous challenges to new levels of service and accomplishment. Going forward, we are confident Dr. Schubert will hold fast to ACU’s 21st Century Vision and continue to take the university to new heights. He believes that, while these are challenging times, ACU remains poised to become the premier university for the education of Christ-centered global leaders.

We ask you to join us in extending our sincerest appreciation to co-finalist Dr. Rick Lytle. He has served ACU with distinction for 19 years, and continues to do so as the Dean of the College of Business Administration and as he leads our students this semester in ACU’s Study Abroad program at Oxford. His ardent love and passionate support of the university’s mission is clear to all who know him. Dr. Lytle says, “My support and prayers are with Phil and his family as they assume leadership of this great university. May each of us continue to work hard, stay on mission, and give thanks for the blessings resulting from our associations with Abilene Christian University.”

Dr. Schubert will formally begin his responsibilities as the 11th president of Abilene Christian University on June 1, 2010. Thank you for your prayerful support of the search process that has brought us to this milestone, and please continue to seek God’s blessings for our university, our students and for our next president.

Sincerely,

Sharron Drury and Jim Porter
Members of the ACU Board of Trustees
Co-chairs of the Presidential Transition Team

This was a wonderful moment in chapel:

Acts 2:45 – “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

CNN – Hundreds . . . thousands . . . maybe tens of thousands dead . . .

Acts 4:33 – “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy person among them.”

CNN – People buried . . . no electricity . . . sense of terror . . .

So I hurried through the text, pointing out in the beginning that Acts is about the early church doing — by the power of the Resurrected One — what Jesus had taught and practiced in Luke. Then at the end, we talked about Haiti. About its lack of safety net (no fire department to call if your baby is trapped, no 911 to call if your spouse is bleeding to death), about its extreme poverty (poorest country in the Western hemisphere), but also about its pockets of deep faith.

We threw up baskets at the doors, and the class dropped in $763 plus about $20 in change. Then four of them counted the money quickly, and took it to ACU administrators (who are always anxious for the students to be involved in urgent needs like this). I think the whole student body will be given a chance to join in this contribution.

How about you? Haiti depends on our response. As Nicholas Kristof wrote, “Today we are all Haitians.”

Perhaps your church has some connections there. If not, I have a lot of confidence in the good people at Manna Global Ministries. They have people who’ve lived in Haiti, who are fluent in Creole, who know the culture, who will be there tomorrow. Keep an eye on their website for specific ways to help.

Billy Malone

Bernard Scott

We won’t be back in time for today’s game at Shotwell stadium. But Run, Bernard, Run!

Want to know how this might change the learning environment? (I certainly do since my class has 300 freshmen!) Check out this incredible video, made by ACU undergrad Matt Maxwell. Check here (where you can download the video or follow links to YouTube.)

If you’re a high school junior or senior or (more likely) the parent of a HS jr or sr and would like to know more about this, please just drop me an email. (You can get the email at gina@highlandchurch.org.)

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Here’s the prayer from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime that I’ve been praying several times a day this week. See if it expresses your heart the way it does mine.

Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who cares for us: Preserve me from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from me the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.