Academics, Campus Wide, College of Christian Studies, Staff News

CSU hires Christian Studies dean and director of church relations

By CSU Media | September 10, 2019

Charleston Southern University has named Dr. Ben Phillips as dean of the College of Christian Studies and Tom Clemmons as director of church relations.

Prior to coming to CSU, Phillips was director of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s undergraduate program in the Texas Prison System and was associate professor of systematic theology at Southwestern’s Houston campus.

Dr. Ben Phillips. Photo by Richard Esposito

“I’m thrilled to be at CSU and to be part of its conservative, evangelical, Southern Baptist College of Christian Studies,” said Phillips. “My calling is to serve the churches of South Carolina through preaching, teaching and to prepare the students they send us to integrate the faith once-and-for-all delivered by God’s inerrant Word into every aspect of life, work and ministry.”

Phillips holds an MDiv and PhD in theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree in ancient history from the University of Maryland. He is a native of Maryland, and he and his wife, Joelyn, have two children.

Clemmons most recently served for eight years as a senior pastor in Colorado. He has also served as the associate director of admissions and director of prospective student services at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, as a North American Mission Board campus minister at the U.S. Naval Academy and a teacher and dean at The Classical Academy in Colorado Springs.

Tom Clemmons. Photo by Richard Esposito

Clemmons said, “My life verses are John 17:3-4, ‘This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.’”

He earned an MDiv with languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a BS in national security studies from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He was ordained in 1991 by Crosswell Baptist Church in Sumter. Clemmons and his wife, Melissa, have been married for 29 years, have three sons, one daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.