Trinity celebrates the inauguration of David S. Dockery
Deerfield, Ill. - Trinity International University celebrated the inauguration of David S. Dockery as its 15th president with a series of events Oct. 20-24 that focused on "Heritage and Hope."
Drawing on that theme, Dockery's inauguration address at Christ Church Lake Forest Oct. 23 examined the origins of Trinity, its faithful history and its future opportunities.
After tracing the history of the institution to its founding in 1897 as the Swedish Bible Institute, he noted that Trinity now has students, alumni, faculty and staff with ties to 70 nations.
"A small school with Scandinavian roots now evidences global outreach," Dockery said.
Building on that heritage, Dockery said Trinity has a strategic opportunity to help lead the way in multifaceted outreach for the larger evangelical world. He encouraged his new colleagues to model virtues in the tradition of Kenneth Kantzer and Carl F. H. Henry, two stellar Trinity leaders in the latter half of the 20th century.
"A renewed appreciation for unity on the Trinity campus, within the evangelical community, and across the Christian movement," Dockery said, "would encourage a fresh commitment to biblical orthodoxy, a historical Christianity shaped by the pattern of Christian truth, a faithful intercultural, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and transcontinental evangelicalism that stands or falls on first-order issues."
Dockery invited Trinity faculty, staff, students, administrators, and Board members to give of themselves with a new and willing enthusiasm to the conviction that all knowledge, all truth, and all wisdom find their truth in God, as well as to the distinctive confessional commitments, mission, core values, and sense of community that represents the best of the Trinity heritage.
His inaugural address concluded with an appeal to the broader Trinity community.
"Please join with us, learn with us, pray with us, and walk with us in confident hope as we serve together in this place for the good of the Trinity community and ultimately for the glory of God," Dockery said.
Former presidents H. Wilbert Norton, Ken Meyer and Greg Waybright participated in key aspects of the installation of the new president. Norton, who is 99 years old, was president from 1957-64. The new Norton Welcome Center will be named in his honor.
"The spirit of the Lord is here," Norton said. "May it convict us!"
In all, 73 institutions were represented with delegates at the inauguration, and many more colleges and universities sent words of greeting and congratulations. There were 21 inauguration-related events during the week, bringing guest artists and speakers to campus from across the country.
Special guests on inauguration week included John M. Perkins, sometimes called the father of racial reconciliation among evangelicals, Timothy George, founding dean of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School and hymn composers Keith and Kristyn Getty, who ended their fall concert tour with a free performance on campus.