| Thomas Ascol | |
| Pseudonym: | Tom Ascol |
| Birth Name: | Thomas Kennedy Ascol |
| Birth Place: | Beaumont, Texas, United States |
| Occupation: | pastor, author, theologian |
| Genre: | Theology, Culture |
| Spouse: | Donna |
| Children: | 6 |
Thomas Kennedy Ascol is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, and president of Founders Ministries. He is currently the senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, where he has served for 37 years as of June 2023.[1]
Tom Ascol has served as a pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida since 1986. Prior to moving to Florida he served as a pastor and associate pastor of churches in Texas. He has a B.S. from Texas A&M University (1979), a M.Div and Ph.D from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He has served as an adjunct professor of theology for various colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary, the Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, African Christian University, Copperbelt Ministerial College, and Reformed Baptist Seminary. He has also served as a visiting professor at the Nicole Institute for Baptist Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.
Ascol is the president of Founders Ministries and the Institute of Public Theology. He has edited the Founders Journal, and has been a regular contributor to TableTalk, the monthly magazine of Ligonier Ministries. Ascol regularly preaches and lectures at various conferences throughout the United States and other countries, and hosts a weekly podcast called The Sword & The Trowel.
Ascol believes that abortion is murder, and is in favor of equal protection under the law for unborn children.[2] [3] [4]
In June 2008, Ascol was successful in spearheading Resolution No. 6 "On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration" and an accompanying amendment that encouraged Southern Baptist Convention churches to repent for failing to maintain biblical standards in the membership of their churches and obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members.[5] [6]
In 2019, Ascol offered an amendment to Resolution No. 9 “On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality” arguing that the amendment would strengthen the resolution by acknowledging the roots of these ideologies and making it more explicitly theological.[7] The amendment failed in a split vote and the controversial resolution was adopted.[8]
In 2021, Ascol joined with others in submitting a new resolution, “On CRT/I Being Incompatible with the Baptist Faith and Message;” however, the committee on resolutions declined to bring the new resolution to the convention floor despite its being signed and submitted by more than 1300 Southern Baptists.[9] After the resolutions committee declined to bring the new resolution, Ascol led an attempt to rescind Resolution 9, adopted in the 2019 convention. That motion was ruled out of order by President J. D. Greear and the convention did not get to vote on it.[10]
Ascol was a primary drafter of the 2018 Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, a statement of 14 resolutions and denials on topics like the church, sexuality and marriage, and racism.[11] The statement was publicly released on September 4, 2018 and has garnered more than 17,000 signers worldwide.[12]
In 2019, Ascol was asked to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Oxon Hill, Maryland where he spoke on the "progressive ideological challenges" to Biblical Christianity.[13] [14]
Begun in 1982, Founders Ministries exists for the recovery of the Gospel and the reformation of local churches.[15] Ascol serves as president of the organization and is a regular contributor both in the quarterly academic publication, The Founders Journal and the Founders Ministry Blog.[16] Ascol also co-hosts a weekly podcast, The Sword & The Trowel, which currently has over 200 episodes and 4.8 stars out of over 600 ratings.[17] The podcast regularly engages with issues at the intersection of culture, politics, and theology.
In 2021, Founders Ministries opened the Institute of Public Theology, with Ascol as the founding president. Ascol taught the inaugural course, “The Pastor in the Public Square,” in the Fall 2021 semester.[18]
Ascol and his wife Donna have six children, four sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and eighteen grandchildren.[19]