Dean W. Arnold
I am a writer and publisher of several books, a movie script and documentary or two, and all sorts of articles, newsletters, investigative reports, websites, and one children’s book.
I founded a couple of non-profits. I have played a key role in developing and growing ministries, non-profits, and grassroots organizations. I have raised funds and engaged in all kinds of promotions, with the related public relations and advertising.
I’ve also spent time in the political world, writing and distributing a voters guide, recruiting people for office, running city-wide campaigns, and successfully suing the city and mayor for violations of the open records act. I ran for school board in 2010 and lost by 59 votes.
I also work part time as Creative Director for ComeOnLetsGo, an initiative of Partners for Christian Media.
My Dad was an old school preacher with a doctorate from Dallas seminary. We talked theology over dinner. He put the fear of God in me, from my first breath to his last.
My mother is an extraordinary woman who travels the world in her mid-70’s doing missions work. She’s written two books and teaches Biblical roles for women in Africa, Egypt, Asia, Brazil, Jordan, and throughout the world. This from a California gal whose parents were early hippies and nuke protestors and whose grandparents were advocates for free sex and socialism in the 1920s.
I graduated from Covenant College (Lookout Mt, Georgia) with an emphasis in Philosophy and History. As conservative Presbyterians, Covenant taught us that Christ is pre-eminent in every area of life and that his people should redeem and transform culture, not just wait around for the second coming. They also are not afraid of competing worldviews, are intellectually honest, and are willing to let the chips fall where they may.
Today, I am an Orthodox Christian (as in Eastern Orthodox, as in Greek Orthodox, as in My Big Fat Greek Wedding). I have been an Independent, a “Bible Church” Christian, a Presbyterian, a charismatic, and a Baptist. It’s been a wild ride. I am Orthodox because of my search to figure out who really is in charge of the chaos known as church. My becoming Orthodox is not in reaction to my upbringing and my training, but in appreciation for what I found to be authentic and a desire to give it a firmer foundation.