For Dr. Ed Anthony, it’s the students he’ll miss the most.
“I’ll miss the camaraderie of students,” he said. “It just becomes a part of your life. I enjoyed the Christian atmosphere—that we were serving the Lord and could see Him working through us.”
Anthony, professor of information technology and former chair of Trevecca’s Department of Technology and Design, retired at the close of the spring semester. The University’s Board of Trustees honored Anthony, along with other retiring faculty members, by awarding him emeritus status.
This is actually Anthony’s second retirement from the University, something he admits with a laugh.
“I actually retired before, in 2013,” Anthony recalled. “But a number of times they called me to see if I’d want to come back, so I came back to be the chair of the department for a year or two when the need arose.”
Originally from Connecticut, Anthony began his career in information technology, working for a variety of major corporations and eventually working for a major IT training company. At that time, he and his wife, Barbara, were being led by the Lord into a Bible-teaching ministry.
“At that time, we were really thinking about our Bible-teaching ministry,” he said. “We travel all over America teaching the Bible, and, so, we decided it might be good to try to reduce my travel for teaching IT and devote more time to the ministry.”
That’s when Anthony began looking for a Christian university where he could teach IT, pour into the lives of students on both an academic and spiritual level and have a solid home base for his traveling ministry. After searching and interviewing, Anthony’s life and ministry intersected with Trevecca’s mission.
That was in 2002.
During his time at Trevecca, Anthony played a vital role in getting the University’s traditional undergraduate IT program off the ground. In his final few years at Trevecca, Anthony has spent most of his time working in the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies, helping to create and teach IT degree-completion and master’s programs.
Anthony thinks of these opportunities as blessings.
“The opportunity to help develop programs and courses and see them flourish—that has been a real blessing to me,” Anthony said, reflecting on his experience developing curricula across a variety of programs from traditional undergraduate to graduate and doctoral. “One of the things I’ve really enjoyed doing was teaching financial stewardship classes and writing a book for the class that emphasized the biblical perspective of finances. I really enjoyed working with students and helping them see the importance of personal financial stewardship. And that book was used in the class for many years, at Trevecca and other universities.”
As his Trevecca career comes to a close, Anthony plans to devote even more time to his ministry. He speaks at churches around the country a few hundred times each year and says he’s booked for the rest of this year. He and his wife, Barbara, will likely log more than 40,000 miles in 2020, ministering to churches and believers across the country.
“We minister to mostly independent churches, but will go anywhere there is a need and a desire to hear God’s Word,” Anthony said. “We minister the Word of God in a variety of venues; including Bible studies, Sunday ministry, camps, and Bible conferences.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed Anthony’s travel in recent days, but not his ministry.
“Travel is a bit more limited right now, but we’re doing Zoom right now,” he said. “Lord willing, we’ll be able to get back out and be able to minister again, traveling the country sharing the Scriptures, showing folks the wonders of God’s Word and encouraging them in their faith—that’s really the goal.”
In addition, Anthony hopes to spend some time visiting his son’s family in Texas and continue writing for biblical periodicals and developing other Bible resources. Anthony’s quick to point out that though he has retired—again—Trevecca probably hasn’t seen the last of him.
“I’ll probably be back on campus every once in a while to visit and see how things are going,” Anthony said. “Who knows? They may call me back and unretire me again!”
As for his students, Anthony wants to leave them with a piece of advice: seek the Lord.
“Whether you are just starting your college life or see the finish line in sight, you will no doubt have challenges in light of all that is going on in the world today,” he said. “Always keep in mind that by trusting the Lord Jesus for your life, He will indeed sustain you to the end of your journey. We see this brought out in chapters five and six of the Gospel of John. … So, wherever you are on your journey, trust Him—He is able to sustain you and get you safely to the end of the journey.”
Media contact: Mandy Crow, 615-248-1695