E. LeBron Fairbanks (born July 27, 1942) is a leadership consultant, an adjunct professor at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, and a retired American ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene who is President emeritus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University, President emeritus of Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, and who served the Church of the Nazarene as the Education Commissioner from March 2008 to September 2011., NCN News (March 1, 2012). Additionally, Fairbanks was an editor in the Church Schools Department of the Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, Missouri; Academic Dean of European Nazarene Bible College in Busingen, Germany (1978–1982); Associate Professor of Christian Education and Lay Ministry Development, and Coordinator of the Master of Ministry program at Bethany Nazarene College (1982–1984); the 2nd President of Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS) in Taytay, Rizal, the Philippines from September 1984 to July 1989; and the 5th President of Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) in Mount Vernon, Ohio, for over 17 years from July 1989 until his retirement on January 31, 2007., NCN News (March 1, 2012)."E. Lebron Fairbanks: Sketches" , Holiness Today (November–December 2007). Fairbanks founded and has served as the director of BoardServe LLC, "a consulting service for governing boards and their leaders", since 2011."What we do at BoardServe"
Early life and education Edward LeBron Fairbanks was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 27, 1942,Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4-6. the oldest of the four children of Edward T. Fairbanks (born February 27, 1918, in Chattanooga, Tennessee; died April 1977 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania),Number: 410-10-6701; Issue State: Tennessee; Issue Date: Before 1951. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration. a woodworker at the Cavalier Furniture Company,United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. Year: 1940; Census Place: Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee; Roll: T627_3951; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 96-9. and his wife, Ruby Bernice Woody Fairbanks (born August 30, 1916, in Alabama; died March 31, 1973, in Hialeah, Florida),Year: 1920; Census Place: Athens, Limestone, Alabama; Roll: T625_27; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 98; Image: 922. Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.Year: 1930; Census Place: Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee; Roll: 2251; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 38; Image: 852.0; FHL microfilm: 2341985. United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930.State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998. a knitter in a hosiery mill.Year: 1940; Census Place: Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee; Roll: T627_3953; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 96-72. United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. Fairbanks is the older brother of Charles Freeman Fairbanks;Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959; Roll #: 2. Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Tennessee City Death Records Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis 1848-1907. Carolyn Faye Fairbanks-Alford Lawson;Dunham "Harry Dunham", The Daily Standard (Celina, OH: October 5, 2005). and Dr. Larry Russell Fairbanks,"Dr. Larry R. Fairbanks" , Chattanooga Times Free Press (Chattanooga, TN: August 3, 2008). who served as a pastor with the Church of the Nazarene for 28 years, and was District Superintendent of the Northwestern Ohio District, Church of the Nazarene (1998–2008)., NCN News (August 1, 2008).
Hialeah, FL (1956–1960) From 1956 to 1960, Fairbanks attended Hialeah High School.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?" , April 4, 2011; reprinted from "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?", Mount Vernon NOW (Spring 2011). To help supplement the family income and pay for his education, Fairbanks worked afternoons after school at the local A&P grocery store.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. As a teenager, Fairbanks and his mother and siblings attended the Church of the Nazarene at 310 East 5th Street in Hialeah.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Looking Back and Moving Forward", Speech, at Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet, MVNU (August 23, 2005):1. In the summer of 1959, Fairbanks attended a summer church camp meeting. During a Saturday morning service, he responded to an invitation from the pastor and prayed, surrounded by friends. For Fairbanks, "this was a defining and clarifying moment that had obvious implications for the rest of his life."Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. In a 2007 interview Fairbanks commented: "I remember going back to my high school and telling my best friend at the time that something significant had just happened to me and I would not be doing the things and going to the places we used to. I really wanted to be a Christian.E. LeBron Fairbanks, in Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4.
Fairbanks also now had the desire to attend college.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Looking Back and Moving Forward", Speech, at Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet, MVNU (August 23, 2005):2. A few months after his conversion in 1959, during his senior year of high school, Fairbanks was diagnosed with leukemia, and advised that he would not live.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. In December 2010 Fairbanks recalled: Within months following a life transforming, grace initiated conversion to Christ, I was diagnosed with leukemia. My parents were told that I would not leave the hospital alive. My worst night in the hospital was when I received a long distance telephone call in my hospital room from a friend who wanted to talk to me before I 'died.' A healing and prayer was held in my room with family and friends from the local Nazarene Church. Within weeks, I left the hospital.E. LeBron Fairbanks, , December 16, 2010.
After four years of regular medical appointments, Fairbanks was advised there was no longer any traces of the disease.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. Fairbanks preached his first sermon in the Church of the Nazarene in Hialeah as one of the congregation's "preacher boys".E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Looking Back and Moving Forward", Speech, at Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet, MVNU (August 23, 2005):1.
Trevecca Nazarene College (1960–1964) In the fall of 1960, Fairbanks enrolled at Trevecca Nazarene College (TNC) in Nashville, Tennessee,Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. the first person in his extended family of thirteen brothers and sisters of his mother and four siblings of his father to enroll in a college or university.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Looking Back and Moving Forward", Speech, at Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet, MVNU (August 23, 2005):12 In his first week at TNC,E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?" , April 4, 2011; reprinted from "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?", Mount Vernon NOW (Spring 2011). Fairbanks met his future wife, classmate Edith Anne James (born September 16, 1942, in Gainesville, Georgia). Soon after enrolling at TNC, Fairbanks "responded to what I perceived as a call of God to pastoral ministry."E. LeBron Fairbanks, "A LOOK BACK, A LOOK FORWARD" , August 28, 2009. In 2009 Fairbanks recalled: I remember repeating often to myself as a young theological student these words, "if I am going to be a pastor, then I want to be the best trained pastor I can be." ... It was during these years that a fascination with Wesleyan theology developed as I absorbed the teaching of Drs. William Greathouse, John Allan Knight (sic) and Bill Strickland.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "A LOOK BACK, A LOOK FORWARD" , August 28, 2009.
During his sophomore year at TNC, Fairbanks had a significant spiritual experience. In 2004, he recalled: Something very significant happened to me spiritually in my sophomore year. I remember the date - January 17, 1962. Revival services were being held on campus. In some way, God gripped my heart through the singing and preaching. I remember going to my room following the service. I made a little altar out of a milk carton box. That night I was sanctified through and through. I came to the point of saying to God, "If I am going to be a Christian, I want to be the best Christian I can. I don't want to play games. I don't want to go halfway. Here's my life. Translate my testimony of faith to integrity in life. I want my words spoken and deeds done to flow from what I believe and affirm." From the depth of my heart, that night, and by the grace of God, I spoke a "forever yes!" to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "A Seeker of Christian Character and Integrity", Chapel Message, Mount Vernon Nazarene University (September 8, 2004):2.E. LeBron Fairbanks, "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?" , April 4, 2011; reprinted from "Does a liberal arts education make any difference?", Mount Vernon NOW (Spring 2011).
Fairbanks and Anne James were married on June 22, 1962. Fairbanks graduated from TNC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964.
Career Following graduation, Fairbanks became an associate pastor at Grace Church of the Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee. Simultaneously, he enrolled in Scarritt College, a Methodist graduate school, to complete a Master of Arts in Christian Education, which he completed in 1967.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4.
In 1967, Fairbanks became a member of the editorial staff of the Church of the Nazarene's Department of Church Schools located at the International Headquarters of the denomination in Kansas City, Missouri, where he worked closely with Dr. Albert F. Harper and Dr. Kenneth Rice. Concurrently, Fairbanks enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Nazarene Theological Seminary, and was a teaching assistant to Dr. Chester "Chet" Galloway, the first professor of Christian Education at NTS. As part of that responsibility, Fairbanks taught his first class - Christian Education of Children. Fairbanks graduated with an M.Div. in 1970.Carrie A. Crouch, "Fairbanks’ Legacy: Dream big, and trust in the Lord" , Mount Vernon Now 42:1 (Winter 2007):4. On August 27, 1970, Fairbanks was ordained an elder in the Church of the Nazarene by the Tennessee District."E. LeBRON FAIRBANKS: Vita" (2012).
Pastor, Church of the Nazarene, Pennsylvania (1971–1978)