Baiyu Andrew Song Joins College Core Faculty as Assistant Professor and Director of General Education Studies

As Baiyu Andrew Song begins his new role as Assistant Professor and Director of General Education Studies at Heritage College, he explains that he sees this as the start of a tremendous opportunity to form life-changing friendships with his colleagues and students while contributing to the meaningful mission of the school.

“As the mission of Heritage College is to provide an evangelical, faith-based, university-level education to equip students for life and service in the church, community, and the world, I believe Heritage College is the place where I can train the future generation of Christians in Canada, for the greater glory of God,” says Prof. Song.

Song brings a combined passion for both education and the local church that Dr. J. Stephen Yuille, Vice President of Academics and Dean of Seminary, believes will be a welcome addition to our faculty and will serve current and future students of Heritage well.

“His rigorous academic training, resolute church commitment, and unique life experience will strengthen our institution and prove to be a tremendous blessing to our students,” says Dr. Yuille.

Currently, Song is in the process of finishing his PhD dissertation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky looking at the ecclesial spirituality of late eighteenth-century English Baptist minister Joseph Kinghorn. Before his doctoral studies, Song studied at Toronto Baptist Seminary for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Alongside his work at Heritage, Song works as a volunteer editor for The Gospel Coalition Canada and an editorial board member of The Gospel Coalition Chinese. He has also gained significant academic experience serving as an adjunct lecturer at Redeemer University and the Chinese campus of Toronto Baptist Seminary. Song is also a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and an early career member of the Royal Historical Society.

Since 2014, Song has also worked with The Andrew Fuller Centre for Baptist Studies alongside the Centre’s Director and Heritage Theological Seminary’s Professor of Church History, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin. As he continues to serve in the role of Research Associate and Teaching Fellow, Song says that he has had the blessing of both learning and working with Dr. Haykin as well as observing the life and learning of someone he describes as a mature Christian scholar and a model he aspires to follow as a teacher and follower of Christ.

“For decades, Prof. Haykin has dedicated his time to mentoring students and developing Christian friendships. Furthermore, he has a praying heart for lost souls,” says Song. “For me, he is a global historian by default. As a model, I wish my students will also know me as a Christian historian of love and humility.”

As Director of General Education Studies, Song will have the unique opportunity to now teach college students a variety of topics from critical thinking to anthropology to history. Though he has been trained primarily as a Christian historian, Song sees that interdisciplinarity has also been a major feature of his academic career and, as a result, to have the opportunity to teach a variety of fields and disciplines is both challenging and enriching.

“For me, being a professor is not merely a job; instead, it is a commitment to a lifestyle––to glorify and experience God through a life of learning,” explains Song. “Thus, Heritage College provides me with an opportunity to continue exploring God’s revealed mystery with my Christian brothers and sisters.”