Dr. Luder G. Whitlock, Jr.
Senior Fellow Alumnus
Luder G. Whitlock, Jr. served as its executive director of the Trinity Forum from 2003 to early 2008. He currently serves as president of Excelsis, an Orlando-based nonprofit. Earlier in his career he was for many years president of Reformed Theological Seminary.
During his earliest years of ministry in Florida and Tennessee pastorates, Dr. Whitlock traveled widely as a speaker and preacher, was engaged in camp and conference leadership, and accepted multiple responsibilities within his denomination.
Whitlock joined the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in 1975 and, at the age of 37, was appointed president, a position he held for 23 years. At the time of his retirement, he had the longest tenure of any active seminary president in the United States. Under his leadership, RTS grew from a small regional school to one of the most innovative as well as one of the 10 largest seminaries in North America, with multiple campuses in the U.S., as well as gateway extension programs in Asia, South America, and Europe.
For many years, Whitlock served on the executive committee of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents, including eight years as chairman. For eight years, he also served on the executive committee of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in the U.S. and Canada, including a two-year term as president. He was one of only five evangelicals to do so in the history of ATS. His service to higher education also took him to the boards of the National Commission on Higher Education, the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, the International Theological Seminary, the International Leadership University, the International Graduate School of Theology, Covenant College, and Westminster Theological Seminary. In addition, Whitlock serves on the advisory boards of organizations such as InTrust and the International Institute for Christian Studies.
His years of ministry have been marked by an effort to bring mutual understanding and cooperation within the worldwide evangelical community, which led him to serve on the boards of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the World Evangelical Fellowship (North America region), Mission America, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, and Greater Europe Mission. He has also participated in several interfaith discussions seeking mutual understanding. He was a leader in establishing the Church Planting Center, which now serves several denominations. He was also co-founder and co-president of the International Reformed Fellowship then later assumed a major role in the establishment of the World Reformed Fellowship, also serving as convener for the initial global gathering. He participated in founding the Foundation for Reformation, now Excelsis. He also helped establish the Greater Orlando Leadership Foundation, a highly successful model for training emerging leaders in a city.
His interest in research about the church and its future led him to become a member of the Barna Institute board and his pro-life commitments resulted in a board term with CareNet, the largest pregnancy resource center in the U.S. He has made his experience and insights available to many similar organizations through participation on advisory boards and assisting informally in other ways.
Whitlock is well known for his role as executive director of The New Geneva Study Bible and a major revision, published as The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. He is the author of The Spiritual Quest, and he has contributed to more than 10 other volumes and over 15 different periodicals. He served on the editorial council of Eternity magazine and the advisory board for the English Standard Version of the Bible. He also serves on the editorial advisory board of Leadership.
Whitlock is a graduate of the University of Florida, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Mary Lou, have three grown children and 11 grandchildren.
Selected Publications and Scholarly Work
Divided We Fall: Overcoming a History of Christian Disunity (2017)​​
The Spiritual Quest: Pursuing Christian Maturity (2000)