Army of Compassion

Dr. Richard N. Drake, the former Provost and Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Regents and Visitors oversaw and developed our University System. Dr. Drake was the chief founder of Phoenix University of Theology and the architect of the contemporary adaptation of the classic ecclesiastical university system. He also served as President of Spiritual Concepts International Seminary. Dr. Drake was ordained a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in 1980 and served as pastor of Presbyterian, Methodist and Independent churches for over twenty years. In addition to his duties as pastor, Dr. Drake designed and taught continuing education for pastors credited through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas. He founded Good Samaritan Ministries and the Food 4 Work Initiative in Tennessee which became the Army of Compassion. Governor Don Sundquist of Tennessee dubbed him a "four star general in the Army of Compassion" and recommended him to President Bush to direct the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Office of the Whitehouse in 2001. Dr. Drake reported that God told him to withdraw his name from consideration, after the events of September 11, 2001 and to go back to Phoenix and build the army from the ground up and that Phoenix University of Theology is to the Armies of Compassion, what Annapolis is to the navy. Prior to entering the ministry at the age of 33, he worked primarily as a corporate growth, marketing and political consultant. Building on those experiences, Dr. Drake had been an effective activist in promoting the sanctity and sovereignty of the Church and its mission against government and elitist encroachment. Dr. Drake is an alumni of Little Rock University where he majored in pre law and accounting and Bethel College where he majored in religious studies. He graduated from Spiritual Concepts International Seminary with a master in theology. He had an earned Doctor of Ministry degree form SCIS, and a Doctor of theology Degree from Phoenix Theological Seminary.