When the Davenant Institute’s President, Brad Littlejohn, offered me the position of Editor-in-Chief at the Davenant Press two and a half years ago, I was a freelance editor and recent seminary graduate with few professional accomplishments but a sincere commitment to Christ’s Church and a love for Protestant theology. Brad took a risk in hiring me, and I will be forever grateful that he did. At the Davenant Institute, I have learned from generous and intellectually serious colleagues, made deep and abiding friendships that will last a lifetime, and helped build an institution which I hope and pray will outlast my lifetime.
Together, we have been able to accomplish more than I thought possible. We have published numerous books on a range of topics, including natural theology, divine simplicity, Protestant Christendom, and Peter Martyr Vermigli’s Loci Communes. We have relaunched the journal Ad Fontes, taking it from being an online-only publication, hosted on the Davenant Institute website and in danger of shutting down, and remaking it into a quarterly print journal with its own website and original online content. Not nearly so much could have been accomplished without the support and encouragement of Davenant President Brad Littlejohn and Vice-President Colin Redemer and the cooperation and support of my colleagues at the Press, Rhys Laverty and Michael Riggins.
Working as Editor-in-Chief at the Davenant Press has been one of the highlights of my professional life, but it is time for me to hand over the reins. The Lord has graciously opened up opportunities for me to pursue PhD studies this September, and I am in a position to be able to take something of a break prior to throwing myself earnestly into research later this year.
Joseph Minich, from whom I took over the Press in 2019, will be returning as Editor-in-Chief, working closely with Rhys Laverty in his new role as Managing Editor at both the Press and Ad Fontes. The Press is in good hands; Joseph is brimming with energy and new ideas for future book-projects, and I am confident he will take the Press to greater heights. For the time being, I will remain Senior Editor of Ad Fontes and the regular host of The Ad Fontes Podcast. And indeed, given that the Davenant Institute exists to serve the intellectual renewal of Protestantism by serving and developing scholars, my move into academia is really no move away from Davenant at all, and I look forward to being one of the growing number of research scholars in the Davenant network.
I am grateful to my colleagues and to you, our supporters, for making the existence of an institution as extraordinary as the Davenant Institute a reality. When I came aboard, I learned that we like to think of ourselves as “an army of friends.” I have been welcomed into that army, and I hope to never leave it.
Onsi A. Kamel
Senior Editor