Reformed Theological Seminary Leadership

Entrepreneur, business owner, and higher ed vice president with 7+ years of experience in brand development, digital marketing, strategic planning.

I help non-profits communicate clearly, attract their target audience, and and build trust with donors so they can reach their organizational goals.

Brad Tisdale, CPA is an Owner at Tisdale Properties and Chief Operations and Financial Officer at Reformed Theological Seminary and is based in Jackson, Mississippi. He has worked as Manager at KPMG US. Brad studied at Mississippi State University between 1996 and 2001.

David Veldkamp (MDiv ’17) serves as Chief Enrollment Management Officer and Director of Institutional Assessment, overseeing recruitment, financial aid, and retention efforts for all campuses. Previously he worked for the Orlando campus as Vice President of Administration and, before that, as Director of Admissions. In addition to his role at RTS, he also serves as a ruling elder at Reformation Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Oviedo, Fla.

Douglas E. Baker (Doug) has served on the executive staff of five governors across two decades as well as consultation with the White House and other federal cabinet agencies. As special assistant to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, he assisted the governor in his communications office and led efforts for Gov. Huckabee’s notable economic development initiative - From Fiber Optics to Fly-fishing. Baker later served under Dr. David Dockery in the Office of the President and Provost of Union University, and as a key leader in the corporate relations division of the United States Naval Academy Foundation. He has also recently assisted Dr. Dockery in his work with the International Alliance for Christian Education (IACE).

Matthew Bryant is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Matthew has spent the past 18 years working in various roles in higher education. Prior to joining RTS in 2017, Matthew served for 14 years on staff at Covenant College, working in a variety of roles related to admissions, church relations, communications, and financial aid. Upon his departure from Covenant, he was serving as interim Vice President of Admissions. He then served two years as Vice President of Advancement at Chattanooga Christian School, overseeing development, communications, and admissions.

Mike Copening became the Chief Technology Officer in August 2021. In this role, Mike provides management and oversight to all institutional technology systems and platforms, in addition to programming on various software platforms. He was previously the Director of Institutional Technology at RTS, starting in February 2010. Before joining the staff, he was previously contracted through TradeWeb to provide technology management and programming support for RTS from December 2007 - January 2010. Mike is a member of University Presbyterian Church in Orlando, FL. Mike graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida with a BSBA in Management Information Systems in 2007. Mike graduated as salutatorian from Timber Creek High School (Orlando) in 2003.

Dr. Robert J. Cara is the Hugh and Sallie Reaves Professor of New Testament at RTS-Charlotte and Provost and Chief Academic Officer for the RTS institution. He has been a professor at RTS since 1993. Dr. Cara was an engineer for seven years before the Lord re-directed him toward seminary. As a former college basketball player for Penn State-Capitol, he has developed a reputation as an energetic and challenging classroom teacher, and he is a personable scholar who is very student oriented.

In addition to the traditional New Testament topics, Dr. Cara’s academic interests include relating the New Testament to Reformed Theology, creeds, hermeneutics, Second Temple Judaism documents, and narrative criticism. In addition to numerous book reviews and articles, he has written a commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians and a book critiquing the New Perspective on Paul. Currently, Dr. Cara is working on a commentary for the book of Hebrews in the Mentor Commentary series. Dr. Cara has several courses available on RTS iTunes U and the RTS Mobile app, which can be listened to for free.

As an ordained minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Dr. Cara has been very involved at both the presbytery and synod levels. He is a former vice-moderator of the denomination and for several years was the chairman of the denominational Inter-Church Relations Committee. He preaches regularly in the Charlotte area.