Donald W. Sweeting, Ph.D.
After serving as Colorado Christian University president from 2016-2022, Dr. Donald Sweeting was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Chancellor of the University.
During his time as president, CCU reached its 13th consecutive year of record enrollment while navigating the global pandemic, with more than 9,000 enrollments in the College of Undergraduate Studies and the College of Adult and Graduate Studies, and over 6,500 in CCU Academy — CCU's academic division for high school students. New milestones were achieved in the redevelopment of the Lakewood campus: the Anschutz Student Center was completed, Rockmont Hall was built, and the new Armstrong Center was funded. CCU achieved its ten-year reaccreditation, started its first doctoral program and an honors program, created a new school of Science and Engineering, launched CCU Academy, and founded the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics. Throughout his tenure, the University's convictions were strengthened.
As chancellor, Dr. Sweeting is now responsible for amplifying the University's educational mission, convictions, and strategic priorities inside and outside CCU, promoting the cause of Christ-centered higher education and assisting the president. He is the University's first chancellor, following in the footsteps of Dr. David Beckman, who was chancellor of CCU's heritage school Colorado Christian College.
Dr. Sweeting is a noted educator, minister, and author. From 2010-2016, Dr. Sweeting served as the president of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla., where he also served as the James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Church History and regularly taught core and elective courses in church history, pastoral theology, and ministry leadership.
An ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), Dr. Sweeting served as senior pastor of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village (a Denver suburb) for 12 years. His ministry culminated with Cherry Creek Presbyterian hosting the denomination's annual general assembly in 2010. In addition to pastoring, Dr. Sweeting taught as an adjunct faculty member at Denver Seminary. Before moving to Colorado, he served for 11 years as the first full-time pastor and as a church planter of Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church in northern Illinois.
Prior to entering into pastoral ministry, Dr. Sweeting served as an assistant to Chuck Colson and staff at Prison Fellowship in Washington, D.C., and completed internships with Congressman John B. Anderson (R-Illinois) in Washington, D.C., and John MacArthur at Grace Community Church in California.
Dr. Sweeting's college education began at Moody Bible Institute (MBI) where he majored in Bible-Theology. In 2016, Dr. Sweeting received the Alumnus of the Year award from MBI. Dr. Sweeting went on to earn his B.A. in History from Lawrence University, and then the B.A./M.A. degree from Oxford University in England. During his time at Oxford, Dr. Sweeting led the Theological Students Fellowship (affiliated with Inter Varsity). Dr. Sweeting also spent a year of graduate work at Regent College in British Columbia, Canada studying with J. I. Packer. He then went on to receive his doctorate in Historical Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois while serving as church planter. At Trinity Evangelical Divinity School he worked under the supervision of Dr. John Woodbridge and Dr. Harold O.J. Brown. Dr. Sweeting's dissertation was on the relationship between Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States from 1960 to 2000.
In addition to a diverse professional background, Dr. Sweeting has served with various ministries and organizations. Until recently he served on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Dr. Sweeting also served on the executive committee for the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents (FESP), and as the chairman of the Theology Committee for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He also served on the board of John Stott Ministries in the United States and the Langham Partnership International, a London-based global ministry that aims to equip and train upcoming leaders in Two-Thirds World churches by providing scholarships, building seminaries, and training preachers. He is also a charter member and Senior Fellow of the International Alliance for Christian Education (IACE).
At CCU he often speaks in chapel, leads the annual CCU Pastors' Conference and the annual CCU Symposium, as well as co-chairs the Western Conservative Summit. Dr. Sweeting also speaks and preaches around the country and has published numerous articles for well-known magazines and scholarly journals. He has co-authored several books, including How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half of Life, (Moody Press). His op-eds and posts have been published by The Gospel Coalition, Fox News, The Washington Times, The Washington Examiner, World Opinions, Townhall, Real Clear Politics, Real Clear Religion, The Jerusalem Post, The Christian Post, and other media outlets.
Dr. Sweeting and his wife, Christina, have three adult sons and a daughter. Two of his children are recent graduates from Colorado Christian University.
Dr. Sweeting writes a regular blog post at donsweeting.com and can be followed on X, formerly Twitter, @dsweeting.