Letter from Dean Love
Gratitude. This word sums up how I feel about coming to Candler School of Theology. I give thanks to God for the many opportunities I have had to serve the church across several decades, but leading Candler certainly ranks among the most exciting. I have long admired the faculty and staff here and have benefited from their scholarship and service to the church. Students have shared their insights, passions, and perspectives with me, and I look forward to getting better acquainted. I've met lots of alumni, many of whom I have enjoyed working with as leaders in the church, and I am eager to know more.
I am grateful to the search committee, President Jim Wagner and Provost Earl Lewis for honoring and entrusting to me the responsibility to lead Candler. Their willingness to believe that a political scientist and a layperson with a deep devotion to the church could head a school of theology charged with forming Christian leaders, particularly clergy, is impressive.
Moreover, I give thanks that the president and provost have led the University in charting a strategic course that embraces the role of religion in public life. This seizes on the historic roots of Emory’s relationship with the United Methodist Church, but also courageously opens an important arena of issues that institutions of higher education as a whole rarely tackle. As a world-class school of theology, Candler will play an important part in this University-wide initiative.
I am also grateful for and fully embrace the vision statement and strategic plan that Candler’s faculty and staff developed recently. The hard, careful work that went into the creation of these documents demonstrates an inspired dream for the future and the means through which we can work together on common goals.
Russell Richey deserves my special thanks for his leadership in the previous six years and for helping to ensure a smooth transition as I assume the deanship. He delayed his sabbatical for six months in order to allow me an arrival later than originally anticipated and has graciously oriented me to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I look forward to his continued, powerful presence at Candler as a leading scholar of Methodism, as a teacher, and as one who makes significant contributions to the life of the church.
Most of all, thank you for the warm reception you have already given me. Your hospitality makes me feel most welcome. One of my top priorities will be to become fully acquainted with the Candler community on and off campus so that, together, we ensure the fulfillment of Candler's mission "to educate—through scholarship, teaching, and service—faithful and creative leaders for the church's ministries in the world."
Dr. Jan Love
Dean, Candler School of Theology