By Jeff Crosby, ECPA Board Chair and InterVarsity Press Publisher
October 19, 2020 — The writer of Ecclesiastes captured a truth that has been handed down for centuries through scripture, books and popular song: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1, ESV).
I’m writing as ECPA’s board chair to announce that Stan Jantz, who has served our Association with excellence for more than five years as president, has informed the board of directors that June 30, 2021 will be his final day in that role and we have begun the planning process for choosing his successor.
What Stan has brought to ECPA throughout his tenure has given us an excellent window into the qualities and experience the search committee and the full board will look for in our next president:
- A person who is well connected in the publishing industry and adjacent networks
- A leader who is highly relational, cares for, leads, and equips ECPA’s staff while also serving the Association’s members
- A person who is sensitive to, and will provide leadership for, diversity issues within publishing
- Someone who marries organizational acumen with an entrepreneurial spirit and is able to adapt as marketplace challenges call for it
- A careful financial steward
- A person who is hard-working, servant-hearted, and grounded in the word of God.
From Dan Kok, ECPA board vice chair and SVP of Crossway:
“It is evident to all of us who have served with Stan that his work with ECPA flows from his love for the Lord. Colossians 3:17 says, ‘And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ Stan embodies that truth as president of ECPA. His relentless pursuit of excellence combined with a spirit of humbleness and thankfulness has been a tremendous encouragement to me.”
Stan has set the leadership bar for ECPA very high, but the board of directors on which I serve is confident that God is raising up a woman or man to lead us as we approach our forty-eighth year as an Association and into the future. On behalf of the board, I invite you to pray for Stan, the ECPA staff, and the board as we give careful attention to this succession planning process.
Sincerely,
