Brewton-Parker elects Ergun Caner president

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Ergun Caner has been elected as the 16th president of Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga., a four-year coeducational college affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

The college's 30-member board of trustees unanimously elected Caner on Monday (Dec. 2), filling the position being vacated by Mike Simoneaux, who came to the college as interim president in March 2011 and was elected as president the following July.

Simoneaux, in a Brewton-Parker news release, said Caner "brings a wealth of experience to the presidency with more than three decades in Christian higher education leadership, Biblical teaching, preaching and apologetics."

“This appointment will excite Georgia Baptists and Southern Baptists who will sit up and take notice that Brewton-Parker College and its trustees are serious about its stand on the infallibility of the Scriptures and its decision to honor Jesus Christ in every area," Simoneaux said. "I have no doubt that the college will grow and strengthen exponentially under his leadership."

In 2010 when Caner served as the dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, he was accused of embellishing factual statements in a popular testimony where he claimed that he received terrorist training before converting from Islam to Christianity. After viewing these online videos, Liberty trustees found “discrepancies related to matters such as dates, names and places of residence” but “no evidence to suggest that Dr. Caner was not a Muslim who converted to Christianity as a teenager.”

He resigned as dean during the 2010 controversy but continued teaching; an investigation by Liberty found no evidence of Caner deliberately lying as accused.

In quoting an unnamed Brewton-Parker trustee, the press release stated: "We didn't consider Dr. Caner in spite of the attacks; we elected him because of them. He has endured relentless and pagan attacks like a warrior. We need a warrior as our next president."

Trustee Lynda Yawn, who chaired the search committee, said the decision was accompanied with prayer.

"Having prayerfully considered the job description and the current needs of the college, the search committee implemented a search process considering internal and external applicants," Yawn said in the news release.

Trustee chairman Bucky Kennedy, in the news release, voiced his belief that "our best and brightest days are in front of us. [Caner's] visionary leadership and passion for students are remarkable and refreshing and his character and love for God are admirable and inspirational."

Caner, born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1966, is the oldest son of a devout Turkish Muslim leader. The family immigrated to the United States in 1969. Through the persistence of a high school friend in Ohio, Caner converted to Christianity and became a minister shortly thereafter.

Caner comes to the position from Arlington Baptist College in Arlington, Texas, where he had served as provost and academic dean since 2011. Previously, he was dean and a professor at Liberty Seminary in Lynchburg, Va.

Caner holds a B.A. in biblical studies from Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Ky., an M.A. from Criswell College in Dallas, an M.Div. and a Th.M. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and a Th.D. from the University of South Africa.

His brother Emir Caner is president of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga. Together the brothers have written numerous books on world religions including "Unveiling Islam," which won the Gold Medallion Award in Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 2003.

Brewton-Parker, founded in 1904, is one of three colleges affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention. The college offers four baccalaureate degrees. Fall 2012 enrollment totaled 629, according to the current school catalog.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Compiled by Baptist Press staff writer Diana Chandler and BR staff.)