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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (August 23, 2002) — Milligan College will host a special convocation service on Tuesday, August 27, at 11 a.m. in Seeger Chapel, featuring Dr. Gene Wilkes, a minister, author, and public speaker on the topic of servant leadership and Christian discipleship. The service will kick off the academic year with a focus on the college’s mission and vision statements.
“This past spring we announced a revised mission statement for the college that re-emphasizes our goal of educating Christian servant-leaders to minister in various vocations around the world, whether that be as journalists, scientists, counselors, educators, physicians, artists or businesspeople,” said Dr. Donald R. Jeanes, president.
Jeanes said that Tuesday’s service will be a good opportunity to hear the importance of the college’s mission and vision and how it relates personally to individuals.
Wilkes is the author of My Identity in Christ and Jesus on Leadership: Becoming a Servant Leader, which was a finalist for an ECPA Gold Medallion Award in 1999. He has served the ministry for more than 25 years in capacities that include youth minister, pastoral intern, minister of youth education, and as executive director of Christ in Camping Foundation.
Since 1987, Wilkes has served as pastor of Legacy Drive Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. The church has transitioned during his ministry to more effectively carry out its mission of discipleship in the North Dallas/Plano area. The church has seen phenomenal growth in attendance, building space, and community service.
Wilkes is also a national conference speaker on the topics of spiritual gifts, lay mobilization, discipleship, and servant leadership. He has taught for numerous regional, state and national denominational and non-denominational conferences. He has taught a pre-conference seminar on leadership at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, and in July 2000 presented a paper on servant leadership to the Baptist World Alliance’s Commission on Church Leadership in Havana, Cuba.
Articles and book reviews by Wilkes have appeared in journals such as Worship Leader, Church Administration, Home Life, Proclaim, Growing Churches, Deacon, and Christian Health. Let’s Worship magazine’s Fall 2000 edition was dedicated to worship at Legacy Drive Baptist Church and Growing Churches’ summer 2001 edition told the story of Legacy’s transformation to a mission-driven church.
Wilkes holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, and a master of divinity and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tuesday’s convocation service at Milligan is open to the public. For more information, call 423.461.8719.