Dr. Dennis R. Lindsay, vice president of academic affairs at NCU, was elected to the role of Board Chair for the European Evangelistic Society (EES) at their annual meeting in Johnson City, TN this past July. The EES, a mission initiative that engages all streams of the Stone-Campbell heritage, was established in the years following World War II as a missional effort “to engage the mind of Europe” through a dual focus upon 1) serious research and dialogue in the context of European universities and 2) the practical outworking of theology in the context Christian community. With its European base southwest Germany, the EES has operated the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins in conjunction with the Protestant Faculty of the prestigious University of Tübingen since the early 1960’s. At that time, the EES also planted and sponsored a Christian Church congregation that still provides community and fellowship for German Christians, as well as many international sojourners. In recent years, the EES has joined efforts with TCM International – a long-standing mission based near Vienna, Austria, that focuses upon educating and training indigenous church leaders from former Soviet Block countries, from Asia, from Africa, and beyond.
Lindsay has been involved with the mission of the EES since 1980 when he first visited Tübingen on a study abroad trip from Lincoln Christian University in Illinois. Lindsay studied for a year at the University of Tübingen in 1981-1982. In 1985, along with his wife Karen, he returned to Tübingen to embark upon a doctoral program at the University. During their seven years in Tübingen, Dennis and Karen studied as fellows of the EES Institute for the Study of Christian Origins and Dennis served as Pastor of the Christliche Gemeinde (Christian Church). As chair of the EES Lindsay succeeds Dr. Bruce Shields, retired professor of New Testament from Emmanuel Christian Seminary, who has held the position for the past three decades. Dr. Shields was one of Dennis’ mentors at Lincoln Christian University in 1980 who originally encouraged him to study and serve in Tübingen.