From Union University
JACKSON, Tenn. – Frank Anderson, who occupies the Stephen Olford Chair of Expository Preaching at Union University, has been appointed as the director of Union’s Center for Racial Reconciliation.
In this position, Anderson will plan and host events related to a Christ-centered understanding of racial reconciliation and will work with university schools, departments, offices and centers to promote racial reconciliation. He will also teach courses related to urban ministry and African-American religious history.
The center will be housed in Union’s School of Theology and Missions.
“Dr. Anderson has been a ministry leader in the Mid-South for many years, and he has been involved in numerous initiatives related to racial reconciliation,” said Nathan Finn, dean of Union’s School of Theology and Missions. “He brings to this role a wealth of pastoral and classroom experience, as well as strategic relationships with pastors from a variety of backgrounds, denominations, and ethnicities. He is the perfect person to help our whole university family think biblically and practically about one of the most pressing issues of our day.”
Anderson said that Union, as a distinctively Christian institution of higher education, is obligated to honor God by doing all it can to create a community environment that promotes authentic racial and ethnic diversity.
“Our commitment to the Christian intellectual tradition demands that our university engage in thought leadership where issues of societal distress are concerned,” Anderson said. “I am thankful for Union’s commitment to this kind of Christian cultural engagement through the Center for Racial Reconciliation, and I am particularly honored to have this opportunity in the service of our Lord.”
Anderson joined the Union faculty in 2010 and has been serving as director of the Associate of Christian Studies program in Germantown and associate professor of missions and ministry. He will continue to occupy the Olford Chair of Expository Preaching and will relocate to the Jackson campus next summer to coordinate the day-to-day leadership of the center.
A native of Memphis, Anderson graduated from the University of Memphis and earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Union, Anderson served on the faculty of Crichton College in Memphis as dean of the School of Bible and Theology and as dean of the chapel. He has also served as president of the Memphis Center for Urban Theological Studies and as president of the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia.
Anderson was ordained in 1980. He has served as pastor of True Light Baptist Church in Memphis since 1992, succeeding his father who served as pastor of the church for 18 years. He previously served as pastor of True Liberty Baptist Church in Memphis and as a ministry intern at Bellevue Baptist Church. He and his wife Vernetta have been married since 1982.
