Ed Lewis will be stepping down as the president of CE National, a role he has held for more than 35 years in an organization where he has worked for nearly 50 years, according to a statement released this week by Joel L. Hawthorne, chairman of the board of directors. In addition, Jeff Bogue, senior pastor of Grace Church of Greater Akron, Ohio, has agreed to take on the leadership role of CE National as its next president.
Below is the complete statement.
After nearly fifty years of ministry work at CE National, Ed Lewis, CE National’s longest serving president, is retiring from the role of leading CE National, but is looking forward to continuing to live ON MISSION as he retires. Ed Lewis has been president of CE National for over 35 years and only the third president since the formation of CE National in 1966, and the longest leader with its roots of ministry dating back to 1938 in the Charis fellowship.
The CE National board has worked with Ed over the last two years in planning for an orderly leadership transition process that will continue the vision and mission forward for CE National.
After evaluation of many options available to the succession of Ed, both internal and external, and much prayer, the CE National Board of Directors determined that a path moving forward would be to have a strong partnership with a growing and dynamic ministry leader within the Charis Fellowship.
The CE National Board is pleased to announce that Jeff Bogue, senior pastor of Grace Church of Greater Akron, has agreed to take on the leadership role of CE National as its next president. Jeff will continue to serve as the senior pastor of Grace Church while taking on this role.
Jeff began serving as president effective January of 2020. The board believes this will be a win-win relationship between Grace Church of Greater Akron and CE National since the philosophy of the two organizations is identical—to see people living ON MISSION.
Jeff has been an active partner and supporter of CE National for over 30 years, including being a board member for six years, a speaker for Momentum Conference for over twenty years and is a proven leader in the Charis fellowship. Jeff has a deep passion for CE National as reflected in his ministry approach within his community. He has a passion to see the local church be involved in making the hope of Jesus tangible to every person. Jeff will be taking a more active role working with Ed and the CE National staff in the months ahead in addition to what he does with overseeing his local church ministries.
Ed Lewis will remain affiliated with CE National as president emeritus and is committed to work with Jeff until he is fully up to speed on all the current ministries of CE National. Ed plans on transitioning to retirement this summer.
Ed Lewis has been an exceptional leader and replacing his energy, compassion, heart for evangelism and passion for helping individuals to live ON MISSION will be missed. Under Ed’s leadership CE National has transformed itself into a ministry that has been a catalyst for tens of thousands of believers over the years to be trained and mobilized to be a follower of Jesus that uses their lives, talents, abilities, and resources to impact people within their sphere of influence with the good news of Jesus.
The board of CE National cannot thank Ed enough for his amazing dedication and service to the ministry and the lasting contributions of lives changed under his leadership over the forty-seven years he has served at CE National.
We are excited about the future of CE National under Jeff’s leadership. With the continued leadership of the board, the faithful staff, and the army of volunteers and supporters of CE National, we believe the best days are ahead as we continue to pursue the mission to be a catalyst for all believers to be trained and mobilized to be ON MISSION.
For His Kingdom