Tell us about your personal background, testimony, and family.
I am originally from Tampa, Florida, and I come from a great family with loving parents and three brothers and two sisters. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior right before I started high school and am eternally grateful for the people in my local church who discipled me in my faith and for friends who are the “iron sharpens iron” kind who encourage me to keep running my race for the Lord. My life with God has been an adventure. I’ve had the opportunity to serve Him by investing in the lives of young people both in the United States and overseas, on a church staff and as a volunteer in my local church, and through the classroom in Bible colleges and seminaries.
What is your professional background, and how will it benefit Mid-America?
I graduated with my BA in Communication from the University of South Florida and with my MDIV in Women’s Studies and PhD in Systematic Theology from Southwestern Seminary. I love discipleship and view what a professor does in the classroom as a form of discipleship. I’ve had the privilege of teaching women in the United States and overseas such courses as Biblical Theology of Womanhood, Feminist Theology, Spiritual Formation, Hermeneutics, Christian Doctrine, Text-Driven Communication, Women in Church History, and Ministry to Women and Young Women.
While people are my passion, I see the need for good, solid, biblically faithful resources to help in equipping people. I have contributed to several books, including the Women’s Evangelical Commentary on the New Testament and Old Testament. I served as a section editor for The Study Bible for Women and have written chapters on the wives of Adoniram Judson, on the impact of feminism on the home and family, and most recently on gender identity for the forthcoming book from Northeastern Press called Does It Still Matter?
Please describe your role and what you hope to accomplish.
I am thrilled to be serving as the Director of Admissions, Dean of Women, and an Associate Professor of Women’s Studies in Theology. I pray that through those roles I will be able to continue the legacy of calling forward and training people who are passionate and courageous about reaching this world with the Gospel.
What excites you most about Mid-America’s future?
Mid-America’s emphasis on practical missions and evangelism is like nothing I have ever experienced at other educational institutions. Here theory and theology are put into action. Students receive incredible instruction in the classroom and are required to put that into practice week by week. Seeing faculty and students live out what God has commanded His people to do thrills me about Mid-America’s future.
Candi Finch, PhD
Director of Admissions
Associate Professor of Women’s Studies in Theology
Dean of Women
Education
MDIV, PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Teaching Experience
Associate Professor of Theology in Women’s Studies, Truett-McConnell University, Cleveland, Georgia; Adjunct Professor of Women’s Studies, Truett-McConnell University; Affiliate Professor of Bible, Boston Baptist College, Boston Massachusetts; Dorothy Kelley Patterson Chair of Women’s Studies, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas; Assistant Professor of Theology in Women’s Studies, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
International Teaching Experience
Taught Biblical Theology of Womanhood at Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary, Lviv, Ukraine; Women in Church History at Seminario Teologico Bautista de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala; Hermeneutics at Emanuel University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania.
Professional Experience
Sandy Creek Foundation, Ambassador for Women’s Programs and Executive Editor; Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Assistant Editor for The Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Executive Administrative Assistant and Research Assistant to Dr. Dorothy Patterson; Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Research Assistant to Dr. Dorothy Patterson.
Denominational Service
Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee member; Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Member of the Women’s Ministry Advisory Council.
Publications and Research
Dissertation: “A Way that Seems Right to Woman: A Critical Analysis of the Role of Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in the Development of Reformist Feminist Theology.” Ph.D. diss., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2014. Contributions: 16 devotionals in The Psalms and Proverbs Devotional for Women, edited by Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley. Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2017; “Women, Own Your Identity” in Building a Marriage Culture, edited by Grant Castleberry and Gavin Peacock. CBMW, 2015; 40 devotionals in The Devotional for Women, edited by Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley. Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2015; “The Impact of Feminism on the Home and Family” in The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook, edited by Dorothy Patterson and Pat Ennis. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013; “Are Girls Really Different from Guys?” in Critical Issues, Absolute Answers: Solutions for Students, edited by Jay Strack. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2013; “So That the World May Know: The Legacy of Adoniram Judson’s Wives” in Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary, edited by Jason Duesing. Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2012; “Genesis 1—25, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai” in The Woman’s Evangelical Commentary on the Old Testament, edited by Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley. Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2011; Biblical book introductions in Impact: The Student Leadership Bible, edited by Jay Strack. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008; “Galatians, James, and Philemon” in The Woman’s Evangelical Commentary on the New Testament, edited by Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley. Nashville: B & H Publishers, 2005.
Articles and Reviews
A review of Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Evangelical Gender Debate by Michelle Lee-Barnewall, The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 21, no. 2 (Fall 2016): 53-56; “David Bowie, Glam Rock, and Gender Rebellion,” The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 21, no. 1 (Spring 2016): 12-14; “Where Faith and Life Meet.” Review of Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley, The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 14, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 68-70; “Looking for More in the Wrong Places,” review of Longing for More by Ruth Haley Barton, The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 14, no. 1 (Spring 2009): 81-83. Research Assistance: Diane Strack’s Quiet Influence: The Romans 12:1 Woman. Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2009; Mary Kassian’s Feminist Mistake: The Radical Impact of Feminism on the Church and Culture. Wheaton: Crossway, 2005.
Academic Presentations
“Anabaptist Women of the Radical Reformation: What Court Testimonies Reveal About their Faith.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Providence, RI, November 2017; “The Church’s Role in the Community: The Salt and Light and Sons of Issachar Principles.” Presentation at the World Congress of Families Meeting, Budapest, Hungary, May 2017; “Reimagining God as Sophia: What Happens to the Trinity in the Hands of Feminist Theologians?” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, TX, November 2016; “The Sexual Revolution and Cultural Marxism: How Political Correctness and The Pursuit of Personal Pleasure Has Damaged Young Women.” Presentation at the World Congress of Families Meeting X, Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2016; “Down the Rabbit Hole: Reformist Feminist Theology’s Critique and Reimagining of the ‘Traditional’ Family.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Atlanta, GA, November 2015; “Effective Ministry to Millennials.” Presentation at the World Congress of Families Meeting IX, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 2015; “Patriarchy, Design of God or Tool for Oppression? Examining Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s Critique of Ecclesiology.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Diego, CA, November 2014; “Deborah’s Ministry in the Public Square: How Egalitarians and Complementarians Deal with the Ministry of the Prophetess.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Washington, DC, November 2006; “Paula the Elder: A Glimpse into the Life of a Woman Educator and Scholar in Order to Rescue History from Feminist Revisionism.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Valley Forge, PA, November 2005.