Announcing Dr. Andrew Goodwill – New Dean of Students
Maranatha Baptist University is pleased to welcome Dr. Andrew Goodwill as the new Dean of Students.
Dr. Goodwill hails from Greenville, SC where he has served as assistant pastor at Agnew Road Baptist Church since 2016. Beginning in the fall 2020 semester, he will succeed Dr. John Davis, who has faithfully served as Dean of Students for many years.
Born in Fairmont, MN into a pastor’s home, Goodwill was familiar with ministry from a young age. His mother led him to the Lord on a Wednesday when he was about six years old. Of his salvation, Goodwill says, “I possessed a head knowledge of the Gospel, but I recognized my personal need for salvation that night and placed my personal trust in Jesus as my Savior. Since that time, I have seen the Lord produce fruit in my life and continue to change me.”
Goodwill attended Bob Jones University where he graduated with a B.A in Bible in 2009. He continued his education, earning an M.A in Bible in 2012 and a Ph.D in Theological Studies in 2018. During his graduate studies, he served in his local church through children’s classes, nursing home ministry, choir, and as congregational song leader.
In addition to his experience in ministry at Agnew Road Baptist Church, Goodwill brings a wealth of student life experience. He and his wife, Heidi, lived in a men’s residence hall for seven years, and during that time, Goodwill worked as a graduate assistant and dorm supervisor.
“God has given us a love for working with college students,” he says. “There are few things as exciting as watching God change and mature young people for his service.”
Maranatha originally contacted Goodwill about an opportunity to join the MBU Bible faculty. He has served as a professor through Maranatha’s Online and Distance learning program teaching Old Testament and Systematic Theology classes, so the path to faculty seemed natural. However, Goodwill’s student life experience made him a quick candidate for the Dean of Students position.
In addition to his responsibilities as Dean of Students, Dr. Goodwill will be using his training in Old Testament studies to teach Seminary classes including Hebrew Syntax and Expository Preaching of the Old Testament.
“When you start to see big pieces of your life coming together in God’s plan, you cannot do anything but excitedly follow his leading,” he says.
Goodwill, with his wife Heidi and their three children, Adelyn (7), Alex (5), and Anna (4), will move to Wisconsin this summer to assume his new role in preparation for the 2020-2021 school year.
“I am most excited about the opportunity to influence the lives of young people as they seek to take the next spiritual steps in their walk with God. Higher Christian education cannot replace a student’s family or local church, but we can support both for a brief time in the student’s life.”
To the MBU family, he says, “I am humbled by the opportunity to join the MBU family and count it a great privilege to join an institution that is committed to doing everything for the ‘Praise of His Glory.’”