By Kasey Ricketts, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary based in Charlotte, N.C., will speak at the upcoming Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy (KHIPP) event “Primary Public Policy Facing the United States in 2013 and Beyond” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Banquet Hall of the Badgett Academic Support Center.
Land will also be giving a presentation at chapel Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 10 a.m. in the Ransdell Chapel, 401 N. Hoskins Ave., on the main campus of Campbellsville University
Everyone is invited to both events free of charge.
“Dr. Richard Land is well known across the country, has influenced the course of public policy at the national and international levels tremendously over the past 25 years, and is highly qualified to discuss the major public policy questions confronting our nation and world,” John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said. KHIPP was founded by Chowning.
“Both our KHIPP and chapel audiences will benefit from and find very interesting the presentations by Dr. Land. We welcome him once again to Campbellsville University,” Chowning said.
The Southern Evangelical Seminary is a non-denominational seminary that offers educational programs in evangelism and classic apologetics.
In addition to his presidency, Land also teaches courses at the seminary. Prior to becoming president of SES, he served for 25 years as the president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families and their faith.
Land graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor of arts degree (magna cum laude). He then went to Oxford University in England and obtained his doctor of philosophy degree.
He obtained his master's degree in theology in the honors program from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as the student body's president and received the Broadman Seminarian Award as the outstanding graduating student.
Land has spoken at colleges, in churches and other forums across America on crucial issues facing American families during the 21st century.
Land served as administrative assistant to William P. Celments Jr., governor of Texas. He was the governor's senior advisor on church-state issues and areas relating to “traditional family values.” He also advised on issues such as anti-drug, anti-pornography and anti-abortion legislation during this time.
Land served five terms with the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom. He was selected to serve on the committee by former President George Bush for his first two terms.
Time Magazine featured Land to be one of “The Twenty-five Most Influential Evangelicals in America” in February 2005.
Land is an author of several books including: the latest “The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservations Get Wrong About Faith and Politics,” “Imagine! A God-Blessed America,” “Real Homeland Security,” “Faith & Family,” “The Earth Is The Lord's,” “Life At Risk,” “Citizen Christians” and “Christians In The Public Square.”
He has contributed articles to learned and popular periodicals as well.
Land served as editor for the Criswell Study Bible and Believer's Study Bible. He was the executive editor of FFV, a national magazine dedicated to coverage of traditional religious values, Christian ethics and cultural trends.
He served as vice president for academic affairs from 1980 to 1988 at The Criswell College. He had taught as professor of theology and church history at that institution since 1975.
He has been married to Dr. Rebekah Land. For over 35 years. She is a psychotherapist in private practice. They have three children: Jennifer, Richard Jr. and Rachel. He is a native Houstonian and a sixth-generation Texas.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is cjpk.net.