Maranatha Baptist University Names Dr. David Anderson as President
Maranatha Baptist University Names Dr. David Anderson as President
WATERTOWN, Wis., May 15, 2023—Dr. David Anderson, currently senior pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Roscoe, Illinois, has been named the sixth president of Maranatha Baptist University. He will take office on August 1, 2023, in preparation for the fall semester. Dr. Anderson will succeed Dr. Marty Marriott who has served as the school’s president since 2009 and was named chancellor at the MBU commencement program on May 5.
The board appointed Dr. Anderson as president at its meeting on Thursday, May 11. “With unity, confidence and great enthusiasm, the Maranatha Baptist University board of trustees voted unanimously to call Dr. David Anderson to serve as MBU’s new president,” said Dr. Doug Jackson, chairman of Maranatha’s board of trustees. “As president, we believe he will successfully carry out our mission, minister effectively to our students and staff and serve as the public face of our university—the chief student recruiter and promoter of Maranatha.”
Dr. Anderson first graduated from MBU in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in Bible, Pastoral Studies, and Sacred Music. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, in 1991 and a Doctor of Ministry degree from MBU in 2022. He and his wife Abi (Potter), MBU class of 1996, are looking forward to this new phase of ministry together with their two youngest children.
“As servants in the Lord’s harvest field, we minister at His bidding in the place and under the circumstances that He wisely chooses for us,” Dr. Anderson stated. “For Abi and me, Maranatha has played a spiritually significant role in both our families and personal lives, helping to shape our theology and ministry passion. We rejoice that God has drawn us to join a wonderful family of godly servants who are faithfully laboring to prepare Christians for ministry in the local church and the world to the praise of His glory. Abi and I covet your prayers that we would be found faithful to our Lord in the work He’s called us to at MBU.”
For over 12 years, Dr. Anderson served as an assistant pastor alongside Dr. Marty Marriott, MBU chancellor, in Warren, Michigan. Dr. Marriott reflected, “I am thoroughly pleased with the board’s appointment of Dr. Dave Anderson as Maranatha’s next president. Dave has been my friend and co-laborer for more than 25 years. I know him to be a man of stellar Christian character, an excellent preacher and a committed Baptist fundamentalist. He epitomizes what it means to be a Maranatha graduate: his life and ministry display our mission ‘to develop leaders for ministry in the local church to the praise of His glory.’”
Dr. Anderson has served on Maranatha’s board since 2016, and currently also serves on the board of Baptist World Mission, as president of the Association of Independent Baptist Churches of Illinois and as the president of Camp Joy in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Marriott provided further background regarding both Dr. Anderson and his wife: “Dave Anderson is prepared both academically and in practical ministry experience for the work required of a Christian university president. He also is very familiar with the culture and constituency of our institution. He is the son of alumnus Rod Anderson and was introduced to Maranatha while in elementary school when his father was studying for ministry. His wife Abi is the daughter of alumni Dr. David and Jean Potter, who served as missionaries in Hungary until retirement. Dr. Potter currently serves on the Maranatha Baptist Seminary faculty.”
The leadership structure provided for in Maranatha’s bylaws establishes that the CEO maintains executive responsibility for the university; the president supports the CEO, provides spiritual leadership on campus, gives special attention to the pastoral training programs and serves as the university’s primary representative to the external constituency; and the chancellor promotes the university and provides counsel to the administration. The MBU board of trustees is exclusively responsible for selecting and appointing all three of these executive positions.
Dr. Matt Davis, MBU CEO, said, “Dave Anderson is a humble and tenderhearted man with enormous talent. He has served joyfully as youth pastor, music pastor, and senior pastor. He plays the piano as well as several brass instruments. I have spoken in his church several times, and on every occasion I have been impressed by the evident warm, spiritual atmosphere of the services. Young people gravitate to Dr. Anderson, and his impact on them is evident in their participation in every aspect of the ministry. As a pastor of a Maranatha partnering church, the Andersons host students in their home every week. His oldest four children are MBU graduates and are currently serving faithfully in local church ministry. I greatly look forward to serving with him for many years to come as the Lord allows.”
Maranatha Baptist University was founded in 1968 “to develop leaders for ministry in the local church and the world to the praise of His glory.” On May 5, 2023, Maranatha conferred 224 degrees to graduates in 52 academic programs, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.
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Jonathan Sheeley, Director of Communications
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