Newly appointed Asbury Theological Seminary President, Dr. David Watson, is looking towards expanding global ministry efforts and engagement with Generation Z as he begins his tenure in Wilmore.
Prior to Asbury, Dr. Watson served as the Vice President of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in addition to other positions, such as Professor of New Testament, Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“I’m grateful for those experiences [at United], and I had very, very fine colleagues at that institution,” said Watson. “In leadership, at times, you make mistakes, and if you’re smart, you learn from those and then try not to make the same mistakes going forward, but experience is a great teacher.”
The transition has been “really good” for Watson, but he did acknowledge the “steep learning curve” that Asbury provides.
“It’s good work, but it’s also time-consuming work, especially in these early days as I’m getting to know the place and the people, but the transition has been fine,” said Watson.
While Watson expressed his gratitude to his former community and work, he discussed how Asbury provided the theological match he was seeking.
“The thing that was appealing to me about Asbury, I mean there were several things, but one of those things was that it was just a great fit theologically for me,” explained Watson. “I’m a Wesleyan Christian, I’m an Evangelical Christian, and I felt like my values matched up well with the values of the institution.”
Despite his notable work in Ohio through United Theological Seminary, Watson is known for his international work. Specifically, according to Asbury Seminary’s press release, he is known through serving on the Global Methodist Church’s Transitional Leadership Council, and as a delegate to its Convening General Conference in 2024. Asbury’s global reach is something Watson is excited to contribute to and continue during his presidency.
“You know, Asbury has tremendous reach, global reach, and I would increase that international reach we have,” said Watson. “I think especially for Christians in the Wesleyan tradition, they need a place like this where they can come, where we have residential families, where they can study here, they can move their families, they can be supported here and get an education from world-class scholars. Then, you know, probably go back to their country of origin and serve as scholars in those contexts.”
Alongside international opportunities and influence, Watson discusses the potential of Generation Z within the seminary and the church.
“I think the Methodist movement is perfectly poised to be able to speak into the lives of young people from Generation Z to provide spiritual guidance from people to become spiritual mothers and fathers and to walk with them into Christian discipleship,” explained Watson. “Those kinds of things really excite me, and to the extent that Asbury can be a place where this now youngest generation of people seeking theological education is going to come and get their formation of ministers, really, that gets me fired up.”
With the excitement of the new position, and the potential in growing different aspects of the seminary, Watson discussed what he wanted to be known for.
“You know, the thing about making disciples is that disciples make other disciples, and that’s how the faith continues across the ages,” said Watson. “We invest in people, and then they learn to do that in others. And so, whatever legacy I have, I hope it is not about me, that the legacy I leave honors Jesus, and that it’s a legacy of building the church.”
