Dr. Brian J. Tabb has accepted a call from the Board of Trustees of Bethlehem College and Seminary to become the school’s third president.
“During our search, our constituents in every sphere emphasized how mission-critical it was, and is, that our new president ‘bleed Bible’ and embody all that it means to be a ‘Christian Hedonist’—to be able to herald the truth that ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him,’” said Trustee Chairman Tom Lutz. “In Dr. Tabb, our gracious God has supplied a man for such a time as this,” he added.
Tabb has served as Interim President of Bethlehem College and Seminary since March 2023.
He graduated from Wheaton College and its Graduate School with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, minoring in Bible and Theology, and a Master of Arts in Biblical Exegesis, respectively. He came to Bethlehem nineteen years ago to serve as a pastoral apprentice in The Bethlehem Institute, the school’s predecessor institution, and earned a Master of Arts in Biblical and Pastoral Studies from Bethlehem College and Seminary.
He completed a Master of Theology at Luther Seminary concentrating on New Testament, before receiving his Ph.D. from the London School of Theology.
Dr. John Piper, Chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary, said, “I am thrilled that the Trustees have called Brian Tabb to be the president of our school. Brian is deeply committed to the distinctives that brought the school into being—Sovereign God, Sacred Book, Serious Joy.
In other words, he loves Reformed theology, practices and teaches assiduous analysis of texts, and cherishes the all-shaping truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Piper added, “Almost as important as leading with a God-centered vision is making things happen! Richard Baxter called John Owen, ‘The great doer.’ That is what I see in Brian Tabb. Things get done. He has a gift for putting others forward, and making himself a servant of their success. I fully expect staff, faculty, and students to flourish as Brian gives himself to that kind of service.”
Dr. Tabb has been a professor of Biblical Studies at Bethlehem College and Seminary since its inception in 2009, and became the school’s Academic Dean in 2016. During his tenure as Interim President, he has encouraged continued faculty excellence, institutional esprit de corps, financial viability, a growing number of new student applications, a reinvigorated evening program, an enhanced seminary wives program, and the conducting of two successful conferences, Godward Life and Serious Joy: The Bethlehem Conference for Pastors.
One of the school’s most prolific and most highly regarded published scholars, Tabb is the author or editor of seven books on Biblical Theology, the mission of the church, eschatology, suffering, and guides to the works of both John Piper and Dr. D. A. Carson. He is the General Editor of Themelios, the international theological journal of The Gospel Coalition. Tabb’s hope for the nations has been demonstrated in recent years by his teaching and preaching service in Armenia, Uganda, Kenya, India, Malaysia, and remotely in support of a seminary in East Asia.
Dr. Tabb is also a devoted, elder-qualified churchman who previously served as an Elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church. At present, his “teaching office” in the church is at The North Church (Mounds View, Minnesota), one of Bethlehem College and Seminary’s governing churches, where, along with his wife, he teaches fifth graders.
He and Kristin have been married since 2005, and are the proud and joyful parents of Jeremiah, Julia, Judson, and Jonah. Tabb’s presidency commences immediately. A formal inauguration is planned for the fall.
Bethlehem College and Seminary is a churches-based, degree-granting institution with its main campus located on the site of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, and evening classes conducted at The North Church, Mounds View, Minnesota. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The college is in the model of classical and Christian education, while the seminary focuses on equipping of biblical elders for the tasks of pastoral, missionary, and academic ministry. The seminary maintains a separate location in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon, in cooperation with Église Baptiste Bethléem, a church planted by one of its graduates. Bethlehem College and Seminary is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation.