Owen Strachan Appointed President of CBMW

Photo Credit: Emil Handke/SBTS

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY | The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood is delighted to announce that Owen Strachan has just been named the President of CBMW. He is the eighth President of the organization, founded in 1987 by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. At 32, he is the youngest President in the council’s history.

Strachan has served as Executive Director since the fall of 2012. Working closely with Dr. Ligon Duncan, Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary and outgoing President of CBMW, Strachan has opened a new phase in the storied organization’s tenure. Under his watch, CBMW has launched an all-new CBMW.org populated by five channels (with more than a tenfold increase in traffic), ramped up its social media presence, held its largest-ever event (an April 2014 National Conference before the Together for the Gospel conference that drew nearly 1,500 people), and more than doubled giving from 2012 to 2013, resulting in an annual budget that is the highest in a five year span. (Click here to watch his 2014 CBMW National Conference message on the future of CBMW and complementarianism.)

Duncan commented on Strachan’s appointment: “I am thrilled with the election of my dear friend and colleague Dr. Owen Strachan to the presidency of CBMW. Owen’s leadership as Executive Director has breathed new life and energy into the organization. If you were at our recent CBMW National Conference (or have seen the videos) you will have seen a glimpse of this. I look forward to working with him in the future as I transition to the post of CBMW Senior Fellow and back onto the board. I will relish encouraging him and supporting his leadership as he commends complementarianism to the coming generations.”

Daniel Akin, CBMW Board member and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary President, concurred with Duncan’s assessment: “Owen Strachan has led CBMW in a stellar fashion since he took the helm as Executive Director. Growth and expansion of ministries make this move to President necessary and timely. The future of CBMW is bright and desperately needed.  Owen is the right man to lead us. This appointment has my full and enthusiastic support.”

In 2014, the organization’s future is indeed bright. Under Strachan’s leadership, CBMW will publish an eBook with Desiring God Ministries entitled Good that features the contributions of over a dozen young complementarian men and women, expand its staff, and begin a Church Partnership Program aimed at the strengthening of the international complementarian movement. In June 2014, CBMW will hold its annual giving campaign called “Standing Against the Tide.” The organization will announce a series of further initiatives in coming days, building off of the strong foundation laid by Randy Stinson, now the Provost of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Erik Thoennes, CBMW Board Chairman and Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University, shared his enthusiasm for Strachan’s appointment. “I’m deeply grateful that Owen Strachan is the new President of CBMW. As Executive Director, he has helped CBMW achieve new levels of cultural engagement and effectiveness and continue to be a vital resource for the church regarding an evangelical Christian view of gender-related issues. His keen theological depth, exceptional organizational leadership, winsome personality, and devotion to Christ and the cause of the gospel make him a perfect leader for us. I have no doubt that with Owen at the helm the best years for CBMW are on the horizon.”

In addition to his work as CBMW President, Strachan will continue in his role as Assistant Professor of Christian Theology and Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College. He also serves as the Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement at SBTS and as a Fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians. Strachan is the son-in-law and former student of past CBMW President Bruce Ware. He trained under eminent complementarian leaders Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C., and R. Albert Mohler, Jr. at SBTS, working in President Mohler’s office from 2005-07 as his Editorial Assistant.

Mohler commented on Strachan’s appointment: “I am excited to know that Owen Strachan will be leading the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood as it faces the future. Owen is just the right leader for these times, and he presents a vibrant, contemporary, and faithful vision of biblical complementarianism as one of God’s good gifts to his human creatures. The CBMW has been so well led in the past by leaders such as Randy Stinson and Ligon Duncan. Owen Strachan will take CBMW into the future, fully faithful to its past. I am proud and thankful for him.”

Strachan is the author of seven books, including the recent Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome (Thomas Nelson, 2013). In coming days, he will publish two projects: a coauthored work with Kevin Vanhoozer entitled The Pastor as Public Theologian (Brazos, 2014) and a study of the life and public square ministry of Chuck Colson aimed at the millennial generation (Thomas Nelson, 2015). This project is the first major publication on Colson since his death in 2012.

A regular commentator on radio programs and a blogger at Thoughtlife for the Patheos network, Strachan has written journal articles at the academic level for Themelios, Trinity Journal (forthcoming), and the Journal for Biblical Manhood & Womanhood and at the popular level for publications like The Atlantic, First Things, and Christianity Today.

Most importantly, Strachan is married to the lovely Bethany. He is the father of three children. He is an elder and Sunday School teacher at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, serving alongside complementarian scholars James Hamilton and Denny Burk. He is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (PhD in Theological Studies), SBTS (MDiv in Biblical & Theological Studies), and Bowdoin College (AB in History). Strachan is an avid player of pickup basketball, a hip-hop aficionado (having recorded an album), and a consumer of cultural criticism.

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The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood is a non-profit organization located in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1987, it is the world’s largest theological resource center promoting biblical teaching on sexuality and gender. It is internationally known for its capstone work Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood (Crossway, 1991) which won a “Best Book” award from Christianity Today and has sold tens of thousands of copies. Past presidents of CBMW from its founding: Wayne House, 1987-89; Wayne Grudem, 1989-1991; Ray Ortlund, 1991-93; George Knight, 1993-95; Wayne Grudem, 1995-99; Bruce Ware,1999-2003; Randy Stinson, 2007-11; Ligon Duncan, 2011-14.

CBMW exists to equip the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to celebrate, practice, and defend biblical gender roles, to call men and women to joyfully embrace God’s gospel-shaped design for their lives, and to engage the momentous public square issues of the day with biblical fidelity and winsome courage.

For more information, visit cbmw.org. To support the ongoing ministry of CBMW, go to cbmw.simpledonation.com.