Dan Stiver has been named president of Fletcher Seminary, the new Texas-based school created after the closure of Logsdon Seminary in Abilene.
He succeeds the school’s founding dean, Donald Williford, who has retired and been named president emeritus.
Stiver has a long career in Baptist theological education. From 1984 to 1998, he served as professor of Christian philosophy at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He moved from there to Abilene, where he began service as professor of theology at Hardin-Simmons University in 1998.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from William Jewell College in Missouri, then a master of divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, followed by a Ph.D. from Southern Seminary.
Stiver has been teaching at Fletcher Seminary from its inception in 2021. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member at Broadway Baptist Church where he also serves as a deacon.
Fletcher Seminary offers an online platform for students pursing master of divinity and master of arts in Christian ministry degrees. It is an intentionally multidenominational and inclusive school.
Named for Jesse Fletcher, former president at Hardin-Simmons, the seminary traces its heritage back through the legacy of Logsdon Seminary, which closed in 2020 for what Hardin-Simmons administrators and trustees said were financial reasons. Faculty and alumni rallied in response, claiming the closure was driven by a small group of West Texas pastors concerned about training women for ministry and the seminary’s inclusive stance on sexuality and gender.
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