Brian Stogner to step down as president of Rochester Christian University
Brian Stogner, president of Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills,…
Rochester Christian to inaugurate 11th president
Reggies Wenyika becomes first RCU president not associated with Churches of Christ.
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Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills, Mich., will inaugurate its 11th president Oct. 24 in a campus investiture during homecoming festivities.
Reggies Wenyika
Reggies Wenyika began work at RCU on June 1, replacing Brian Stogner, who resigned last December after leading the university for nearly nine years.
Wenyika previously served as president of Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., which is affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA, from 2018 to 2024. He was president of Southwestern Christian University, a Pentecostal institution in Bethany, Okla., from 2014 to 2018.
Inaugural activities begin with a Community Blessing Service on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Westside Central Chapel. The official investiture is planned for Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. in the Alumni Center.
Wenyika is the first president among universities associated with Churches of Christ who is not a member of that fellowship.
In an interview with Lora Hutson, editor of RCU’s North Star magazine, Wenyika said he had been on several campuses associated with Churches of Christ.
“I know what the Church of Christ stands for,” Wenyika told North Star. “I’m familiar with the Stone-Campbell theological heritage. … While I didn’t grow up in the Church of Christ, I’ve had deep exposure to its theology and practice.”
Related: Brian Stogner to step down as president of Rochester Christian University
The new president said RCU was founded by people who believed God had a purpose for it.
“We’re not here to glorify the past, but we do need to discern what in our past reflects God’s will for our future. What makes RCU unique? We’re not Lipscomb, Harding, Abilene, York or Pepperdine. We are RCU — and we must understand what makes us who we are.”
Richard Watson, chair of the RCU board of trustees, told The Christian Chronicle that Church of Christ membership wasn’t a determining factor “one way or another.”
“From the beginning we were looking for the best faith-based candidate we could find,” Watson said. “We will always have that heritage and let our people understand that’s where we’ve come from. We love the Church of Christ. But it’s not necessarily a priority to maintain that relationship but rather to be a faith-based, Christ-centered institution. That’s who we want to look like.”
“We will always have that heritage. … We love the Church of Christ. But it’s not necessarily a priority to maintain that relationship but rather to be a faith-based, Christ-centered institution.”
Watson, who became board chair in 2025, has served two terms on the 14-member board, totaling 14 years. He attends the Community Church Cedar Creek in West Toledo, Ohio.
Wenyika earned his Doctor of Education degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He is pursuing a second doctorate in ethnomedicine and Indigenous knowledge systems from Chinhoyi University of Technology in Zimbabwe. He has degrees from Southwestern Christian University, Logos University and the University of Zimbabwe.
CHERYL MANN BACON is a Christian Chronicle contributing editor who served for 20 years as chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Abilene Christian University. Contact [email protected].
