Email: [email protected]
First Year at Gordon-Conwell: 2016
Expertise: Leadership & Organizational Development, Ministry & Spiritual Formation in a Postmodern Culture
Biography:
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell in 1975, Jimmy and his wife Betsy moved to Chapel Hill, NC, with the intention of working on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for four years before heading into the Presbyterian pastorate. In 2016, Jimmy retired from InterVarsity after 41 years. He never made it to the pastorate and never made it out of Chapel Hill. For all those years, he thoroughly enjoyed ministering with college students at such a critical point in their lives.
Jimmy and Betsy raised two children in Chapel Hill. Both of their children are married, and the Longs are proud grandparents of two grandchildren. Jimmy and Betsy enjoy walking five miles each day. They enjoy both the NC mountains and beaches. While in New England, Jimmy became a rabid Red Sox fan, and for the last 45+ years, he has followed the ups and downs of the Red Sox.
During his time on InterVarsity staff, Jimmy focused on small group ministry training, helping to author four small group leader’s handbooks. He also has spent a lot of time understanding the transition to postmodern culture and how the church can have faithful ministry within this context. In the midst of this 30 year study, he authored four resources: Emerging Culture Curriculum Project, Emerging Hope, Leadership Jump and Identity Transformed.
Jimmy has been an adjunct faculty member at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte since 2016. His two areas of expertise have been leadership, teaching the “Foundations of Leadership” course, and ministry in this postmodern culture, teaching “Ministry Among Emerging Generations.”
Degrees
- BA (Florida State University)
- MDiv (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
- DMin (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
Featured Publications
Select List of Publications
- Identity Transformed: Reclaiming, Reflection and Revealing the Image of God, forthcoming.
- The Leadership Jump: Building Partnerships between Existing and Emerging Christian Leaders. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
- Emerging Culture: An Interactive Curriculum, Ministry Resources in a Changing World. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004. [Selected as one of the leading books in 2005 by Christianity Today]
- Emerging Hope: A Strategy for Reaching Postmodern Generations. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
- “Generating Hope: A Strategy for Reaching to Postmodern Generations.” Pages 322-335 in Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns. Edited by D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
- Generating Hope: A Strategy for Reaching the Postmodern Generation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
- Small Group Leader’s Handbook: The Next Generation (co-authored with Ann Beyerlein, Sara Keiper, Patty Pell, Nina Thiel, & Doug Whallon). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995.
- Small Group Leader’s Handbook (co-authored with Ann Beyerlein, Sara Keiper, Patty Pell, Nina Thiel, & Doug Whallon). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1982.