MC awards emeritus status to Parke

Flanked by his son, Jonathan "JP" Parke, left, and Stephanie Busbea, MC professor of art and dean of the School of Christian Studies, Humanities and the Arts, Ivan Parke receives a plaque denoting his status as MC professor emeritus of Christian Studies and Philosophy from MC President Blake Thompson.

Ivan Parke, a long-time professor of Christian Studies and Philosophy at Mississippi College, received emeritus status from the institution during its 2025 Winter Commencement on Dec. 12, 2025, in the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Clinton campus.

“I was moved to tears,” said Parke, who has taught the Bible to Mississippi College students for 27 years. “For me and my family, 2025 has been a year unlike any other; a lot of highs and lows. MC has been responsible for most of those highs.

“I am both honored and humbled that my name has been added to a short and esteemed list, a group of people whom I have known and admired, as well as people that I never knew, but stories about them still resonate on campus.”

Emeritus status is bestowed upon retired MC faculty or staff members who have made significant contributions to the Christian University. It is given in recognition of a long and distinguished record of scholarship, teaching, research and service.

“Ivan Parke will likely go down as one of the most influential Christian Studies professors in the history of this University,” said Evan Lenow, associate professor and chair of Christian Studies. “As he concluded his time of service at MC, Dr. Parke left a long line of students who are better teachers of the Bible, better students of the Word, and simply better people. But his impact stretches far beyond the Christian Studies department.

“He has served numerous churches across the state as an interim pastor and has taught countless workshops and seminars on the Bible. His service to the University was illustrated in the spring of 2025, when he won virtually every award available to a faculty member. I can think of no one better to be honored with emeritus faculty status than Dr. Ivan Parke.”

Parke courageously maintained his faculty duties at MC despite being diagnosed with ALS in January 2025. His love of education was recognized by his students, who nominated Parke to deliver the MC Mortar Board Honor Society’s Last Lecture and to receive the 2025 Faculty Champion Award from the Office of Student Success and the 2025 Faculty of the Year Award from the Student Government Association.

Last fall, MC President Blake Thompson announced the first initiative of the new Institute for Christian Leadership at MC would be named the Parke Fellows program. Parke is the founding fellow of the program.

The son of a cardiologist, Parke was born in Bombay, India, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 2. His family lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts before settling in Ormond Beach, Florida, which he claims as his hometown. As a freshman in high school, Parke preached his first sermon at First Baptist Church Ormond Beach.

Parke attended Baylor University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he focused on pastoral ministry, intending to become a full-time pastor. While earning his M.Div. and Ph.D., Parke befriended Les Hughes, an MC alumnus who would become chair of the Department of Christian Studies at his alma mater. In 1998, Hughes arranged for Parke to teach Old Testament at MC.

Parke would go on to teach Introduction to the Old Testament, Introduction to the New Testament, Exegesis in Poetic and Wisdom Literature, Exegesis in Pentateuch, and Elementary and Intermediate Hebrew.

He became active in numerous organizations on campus and volunteered as a sponsor of the Shawreth Men’s Service Club. Parke served as Faculty Council president from 2005-06; a London Semester professor in 2004, 2013 and 2019; and director of the MC Spring Break Tour from 2023-24.

He spearheaded the establishment of the Alpha Mu Phi chapter of Theta Alpha Kappa in 2016 to recognize the academic achievement of Christian Studies majors, created the “BIB 322 Distinctive Theological Ideas in the Bible” course, and wrote two books: “Reclaiming the Real Jesus” in 2004 and “When Life Meets the Soul: Everyday Lessons from the Book of Job.”

Nominated twice as the Distinguished Professor from the School of Christian Studies and the Arts, Parke was named MC’s 2024-25 Distinguished Professor of the Year and has also received the 2017-18 SGA Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award. The 2013-14 Tribesman was dedicated in his honor.