Lee University Announces University Press Venture
Lee University and Pathway Press, neighbors in the Church of God headquarters city of Cleveland, Tennessee for more than 60 years, have announced a joint business venture to produce academic research books.
President Paul Conn announced the first project to the faculty during their monthly meeting when he introduced the first publication of Lee University Press.
An academic press with the Lee nameplate and an emphasis on promoting faculty and other research has been the dream of President Conn since he referenced the venture in his inauguration speech more than two decades ago. The creation of LU Press will be a joint venture with Pathway Press who will produce and carry the books in its local bookstore and on its Web site.
Conn introduced the first publication under the new venture, Answering the Call in the Spirit, by Dr. Terry Cross, dean of the School of Religion at Lee. The work is a monograph on life calling, originally written in 2002. Cross said that he had been asked to write a few pages on calling from a Pentecostal perspective as part of a Lilly Foundation grant proposal, and he soon realized that there had been almost nothing written on the topic among Pentecostals. Building on President Conn’s idea that God calls everyone to His service and to human good even if it’s not from the pulpit, Cross’s “few pages” quickly expanded from 10 pages to over 100.
“We’ve wanted to do this project for many years,” President Conn said. He stated that preliminary plans with Pathway are to print up to three books within the first year and then no more than a half-dozen books a year thereafter.
“It’s an extreme honor to work with such a great institution,” stated Joseph Mirkovich, general director of publications at Pathway Press. “This partnership with Lee is another progressive move and we will be able to do so much more together than if we worked independently.”
