LITTLE ROCK (ABP) — The pastor of one of Arkansas' most prominent churches has been named president of the state's flagship Baptist college.
Following a special called meeting in Little Rock April 6, trustees of Ouachita Baptist University announced that Rex Horne would become the institution's 15th president. He is 52.
An 18-member search committee recommended Horne to lead the 1,600-student liberal-arts college, located in the town of Arkadelphia. Ouachita (pronounced “WASH-i-taw”) is the oldest institution of higher learning affiliated with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
“This marks a milestone in the history of Ouachita to take Ouachita to a new level and a new era in these exciting times,” said William “Buddy” Sutton, the school's trustee chairman. Sutton is also a member of Immanuel and a former lay president of the Arkansas convention.
Since 1990, Horne has been pastor of Little Rock's Immanuel Baptist Church, whose most famous member is former President Bill Clinton. The historic congregation — originally founded in 1892 as the Third Baptist Church of Little Rock — has served as the spiritual home for scores of Arkansas' political and business leaders.
Under Horne's leadership, the church relocated in 2003 from the downtown corner — in the shadow of the Arkansas Capitol dome — it had occupied for more than a century. Immanuel moved to a $40 million hilltop campus in the western part of the city, within view of two busy freeways. It currently has approximately 4,500 members.
In an April 4 letter to Immanuel members explaining his decision, Horne said, “I cannot express how agonizing this process has been. I love Immanuel with all my heart and today am just asking for your prayers and God's will to be accomplished.”
The 18-member search committee, which included trustees, faculty, friends of the school and a student representative, was reportedly unanimous in recommending Horne. The board voted unanimously to extend the offer.
Horne will replace current Ouachita President Andy Westmoreland, who will become president of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., June 1.
Horne, a native of Louisiana, was raised in Camden, Ark. He attended Ouachita for his freshman year but completed his undergraduate degree at Arkansas College (now Lyon College) in Batesville, Ark.
Horne received a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and a doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and as a Ouachita trustee. Horne is also the parent of an Ouachita graduate.
His sermons air on television in central Arkansas, and he has written a weekly column for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 1996.
Horne's tenure at Immanuel has not been without controversy. The church endured protests from anti-gay groups during Clinton's presidency and public criticism from some Southern Baptist leaders, who said the congregation should discipline Clinton for his moral failings or for holding political beliefs with which many Southern Baptists disagreed.
More recently, many Little Rock residents criticized the church for its decision to leave the inner city and build a massive new facility in a quiet residential area. Someone who identified themselves only as “OBU student” in a comments section on the Arkansas Times website April 4 said, “We do not need a 'Six Flags Over Jesus' building on our campus. That building is a big negative about Rex Horne. It is ugly, gaudy and reeks with self-indulgence.”
But Arkansas Baptist leaders offered unqualified praise for Horne, according to local news sources. “He is a proven leader who is respected widely across the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Emil Turner, executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, according to the Democrat-Gazette.
— Charlie Warren of the Arkansas Baptist News contributed to this story.
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