The Reverend Dr. Donald W. Sweeting, President and James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando (rts.edu) has been elected the new President of Colorado Christian University (ccu.edu). Dr. Sweeting has served at RTS Orlando since 2010, and will succeed William L. (“Bill”) Armstrong, former U.S. Senator and president of CCU from 2006-2016.
Dr. Sweeting studied at Moody Bible Institute, Lawrence University, Oxford University, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He received the 2016 Alumnus of the Year Award from Moody Bible Institute.
An ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), Dr. Sweeting served as senior pastor of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village (a Denver suburb) for 12 years. In addition to pastoring, Dr. Sweeting also taught as an adjunct faculty member at Denver Seminary. Before moving to Colorado, he served for 11 years as the founding pastor of Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church in Northern Illinois.
Dr. Sweeting is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and currently serves on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Executive Committee of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents, and on the Theology Committee of the World Reformed Fellowship. He was a long time board member of Colorado Christian University.
Dr. Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary said: “The whole RTS family is so proud of and excited for Dr. Sweeting. His six years as president of RTS Orlando have brought blessing, stability, and growth, and we are deeply grateful for his faithful, pastoral leadership.”
Dr. Duncan also commented: “Don Sweeting is the perfect man for this job. He knows and loves Colorado Christian University. He is a longtime board member there. He has the experience, pedigree, and even more importantly, the temperament and character, to lead CCU going forward. He leaves RTS with our gratitude, full confidence, support, and blessing. Indeed, RTS looks forward to partnering with CCU in various ways in the days ahead.”
RTS will initiate a presidential search for RTS Orlando immediately, and in the transition, Dr. Duncan will give direct attention and oversight to RTS Orlando, with the assistance of the transition team. RTS Orlando is the largest and second oldest campus in the RTS system (which spreads over eight U.S. cities and states, and also São Paulo, Brazil, plus RTS Global which provides theological education online worldwide). RTS is the largest ATS accredited confessionally reformed seminary in North America.