Truett-McConnell College Inaugurates Eighth President

In a very special service attended by approximately 700 people on Thursday, March 26, Truett-McConnell College officially installed its eighth president, Dr. Emir F. Caner.

Attended by TMC trustees, faculty, staff and students, as well as local area residents, friends of the college and family and friends of the Caner family, the service featured remarks by a number of Southern Baptist and Georgia Baptist leaders.

At 38, Dr. Caner is the youngest president to serve Truett-McConnell and the first former Muslim to be elected president of a Southern Baptist-affiliated college. He is married to the former Hana Titerova of Prague, Czech Republic; the couple are parents to John Mark, 6; Daniela, 4; and Anna, 1.

For additional information, click on Gainesville Times

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  • Chapel 3-26-2009
  • Chapel 3-26-2009

     

     

     

     

     

    Like most people, Dr. Terry Mortenson grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year at theUniversity of Minnesota (where he majored in math) and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of millions of years of evolution. With a Ph.D. in the history of geology from the University of Coventry in Englandand an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago, Dr. Mortenson has lectured on the creation-evolution controversy in 18 countries since the late 1970s. He has spoken in homes, churches, schools (primary, middle and secondary), secular universities, Bible colleges and seminaries. Several of his popular lectures have been produced as DVDs and as TV programs. He has also participated in seven formal debates with Ph.D. evolutionary scientists in secular venues in four countries.
    He is the author of numerous magazine and journal articles and several book chapters. The revised version of his PhD thesis was published as The Great Turning Point: the Church's Catastrophic Mistake on Geology-Before Darwin (Master Books, 2004). With a deep burden for seminary professors and students, he co-edited and contributed two chapters to the scholarly 14-author book, Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (Master Books, 2008). He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, has presented six creation-related papers at ETS annual meetings, and spear-headed the formation of the "Creation Consultation" sessions at the ETS annual meeting beginning in 2008. He has also helped to lead two by-invitation-only 7-day rafts trips down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon for seminary and Bible College professors and other key Christian leaders. He and his wife, Margie, have been happily married since 1976 and have eight children and three grandchildren.
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    The chapel speaker was Dr. Harris Malcom, Ministry Resource Consultant for the Southwest Georgia Region of the Georgia Baptist Convention. Dr. Malcom is a 1973 graduate of Truett-McConnell College, and his wife, Phyllis Rainwater Malcom, is also an alumnus of TMC. The Malcoms are the parents of three daughters and live in Americus, GA.

    Harris and Phyllis Malcom were chosen to play the roles of the parents in the movie Fireproof, recently released by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany. Their lives have changed considerably since that time because of the fame associated with the success of the movie.

    Taking his text from Psalm 119:9-11, Dr. Malcolm spoke on the topic, "How can we maintain purity in heart?" His challenge to the audience was to develope and maintain a pure heart in an impure/immoral world. His point was that, instead of following our hearts, we should be leading our hearts by feeding them with God's word and Biblical principles, by seeding them in the soil of God's love, and by deeding them to God as the sole owner of our lives.

    Four things that we can do on a daily basis:
    (1) Check our heart (where it has been, where it is now, and where it is headed)
    (2) Guard our heart (against sin and its consequences)
    (3) Set our heart (on an appropriate course)
    (4) Invest our heart (in things that honor God).

    A pure heart doesn't happen accidentally; a pure heart happens intentionally.
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    While he was on the campus, college officials learned in conversation with him that he had left Truett-McConnell in 1973 and transferred to a four-year college without receiving his degree.  Following his bachelor’s degree, he continued with his master’s degree and eventually was awarded his doctorate. 

    The college surprised him on commencement weekend in May by presenting him his long-overdue Associate in Business degree from Truett-McConnell.  In accepting the presentation, Dr. Malcom spoke about the sentimental value of the degree, since he has many fond memories of his years at TMC.

     

     

     

    The chapel speaker, Dr. Gary Habermas, Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy at Liberty University, used as his primary text a passage from 1 Corinthians and supplemented with verses from Galatians and the gospels.
    He emphasized from the beginning that, although the events of history are fascinating, a Christian's faith is not in the events of history but in the person of history--Jesus Christ. The Christian believes in Jesus, about whom the known facts are true. Using information that even the severest critics of the New Testament acknowledge to be authentic, Dr. Habermas systematically examined the question: Is the New Testament account of the resurrection true?
    His main point of emphasis was that the accounts in Paul's writings of his own information and the message that had been passed along to him by Peter, James and other eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ date to within a year or two of the actual event of the resurrection. By any historian's measure, those accounts can be held to be authentic and true.

    He concluded with three main points that Paul made with his message of the resurrected Christ: (1) Stand firm because Christians have the best message and the strongest argument in the world, (2) Get to work, becoming more involved in the lives of others because Christians have the best reason in the world to help others, and (3) Death has been defeated because, when Jesus rose from the grave, there was nothing more that Satan could do to him. Because he lives, we also live.
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    In Honors Day ceremonies on Thursday, April 23, 2009,
    the following awards were presented

     

    Outstanding Achievement Awards by Department
    Business Luis A. Barrientos
    Chemistry Courtney Cart
    Christian Studies Jimmy Simpson
    Education Stephanie Cole
    English Kelsey Smith
    Health and PE Megan Burns
    History Carter Tucker
    History Desiree Bailey
    Humanities Patrick Beason
    Spanish Mary Taylor Johnson
    Mathematics Hallie Porter
    Music Seth Stone
    Recognition of Academic Honors
    President’s Club for the Previous Three Consecutive Semesters
    Stephanie Lauren Cole
    Kelsey Elizabeth Smith
    Dean’s List for the Previous Three Consecutive Semesters
    Jared Haywood Marsh
    Heather Lynn Nelson
    Nathan Gordon Pillsbury
    Hannah Nicole Shivar
    Dean’s List or President’s Club for Three Consecutive Semesters
    Luis Alberto Barrientos Sheena Hope Barron
    Megan Leigh Burns Justin Luke Coalley
    Katie Joy Fullem Rebekah Joan Hilton
    Dustin Shawn James Lacey Larae Muse
    Amy Michelle Jefferson Kevin Andrew Nowak
    Hallie Adele Porter Tabitha Lynn Pritchett
    Rebekah Denise Rhodes Jerry David St. Pierre
    Seth Thomas Stone Coty Trent Sugg
    Shirley Rich Bryan-Amicae Scholar Traci Lawson
    Pearl Nix Education Scholars Amber Lynn
    Pearl Nix Education Scholars Tabitha Pritchett
    Pearl Nix Education Scholars Hannah Stanford
    Academic Excellence by Female Student-Athlete Katie Fullem
    Academic Excellence by Male Student-Athlete Luis A. Barrientos
    Recognition of Members of Phi Theta Kappa
    Megan Bleckley
    Tobie Cook
    Jamie Franklin
    Bonnie Getchell
    Dustin James
    Amy Jefferson
    Heather Nelson
    Hallie Porter
    Coty Sugg
    Bryan Wisdom
    Recognition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges
    Desiree Dantonette Bailey
    Justin Luke Coalley
    Timothy Marshall Johnson
    Jerry David St. Pierre

    Student Leadership Award Jimmy Simpson
    Residence Life Meritorious Service Award Hannah Shivar
    Extra Mile Award for Female Student Courtney McCauley
    Extra Mile Award for Male Student Justin Coalley
    Intramural Leadership Award Jared Marsh
    Outstanding Baptist Collegiate Ministries Servant Award Jimmy Simpson
    Golden Gate Seminary Leadership Award Jimmy Simpson
    AFLAC Scholarship Award Nancy Sakala
    Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship Award Jerry St. Pierre
    United Parcel Service Scholarship Award Vickie Tarleton

    Vulcan Materials Award 2009 Mrs. Vicki Steele
    2009 Award for Faculty Excellence Dr. T. Mike Davis
    Presidential Achievement Award 2009 Ms. Cindy Erbele

     

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