Centre College names new chaplain
Centre College has named Rev. Jason Crosby ‘01 to be its new chaplain. His first day will be August 15.
Crosby will be Centre’s first full-time chaplain. He has been at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville since 2008, first as minister to students and since 2011 as co-pastor of the church.
“The opportunity to help a widely diverse group of students think through and work through the spiritual dimensions of their development attracted me to the Centre position,” he says. “Whenever a person’s mind is challenged, a person’s body and spirit are challenged as well. We need next generations to integrate these various dimensions of life in a healthy way.”
Crosby adds that social justice and interfaith collaborations, cornerstones of his career, will be part of his first efforts at Centre.
“An initial focus for me will be making sure that students on the margins at Centre have someone they can speak to and who will speak up for them,” he says. “Additionally, I am looking forward to exploring ways in which my relationships with social justice organizations and interfaith groups in the state and beyond might be helpful for the community.”
Centre President Milton C. Moreland notes that Crosby’s background includes working with students and young adults from a broad variety of faith and other backgrounds.
“We are delighted that Jason Crosby will be joining Centre as our new chaplain,” Moreland says. “Jason has spent his entire 17-year career pastoring in multicultural contexts where he has offered spiritual care within diverse communities. His experience aligns well with Centre’s own commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
As co-pastor at Crescent Hill, Crosby preached about 40 Sundays a year to a multicultural congregation of some 800 members. He also taught classes on the Bible and Christian history, theology, and more, and he collaborated with other diverse faith leaders and community leaders.
He previously worked at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, where he helped refugees secure housing and employment. He also helped them to prepare for the citizenship test. He began his career first with the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and later spent 18 months as interim senior minister at First Baptist Church of Battle Creek in Michigan.
Crosby earned a master of divinity at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and a bachelor’s degree in religion at Centre in 2001. At Centre, he was a resident assistant and on the student judiciary, studied abroad in Centre’s program in Strasbourg, France, and ran cross country.
He believes his own Centre experience set him up well to be able to return as chaplain.
“Due in no small part to my time at Centre, I have seen that when people combine compassion, intellectual curiosity, and determination, the world changes for the better,” he says. “That mix of ingredients works. I’ve seen it. I hope to help others experience it.”
He and his wife, Kate Lacy Crosby ’02, have two children.
Crosby replaces Rick Axtell as chaplain. Axtell is also Stodghill Professor of Religion at Centre and will retire from his faculty role in May 2024.
Axtell initially taught at Centre 1992-93 and returned to the College in 1995 as chaplain and assistant professor of religion. He received Centre’s Kirk Award for excellence in teaching in 2000 and 2015. In 2012, he was included in The Princeton Review’s The Best 300 Professors. He has extensive experience taking students to study abroad in Cuba, England, Ireland, Mexico, and Nicaragua and accompanied other groups to China and Guatemala. He will be director of Centre’s program in Merida, Mexico, for the third time next year. Axtell advocated for a full-time director of religious life for many years. He had Crosby in several classes at Centre and is pleased Crosby will be Centre’s first full-time chaplain.
