New IACE Service Award honors stellar leadership in Christian education

FORT WORTH (February 6, 2025) IACE announced the first two recipients of a new annual award that honors those who make significant contributions in the field of Christian education.

The IACE Board of Directors made the decision to offer the awards as well as the choice regarding the initial recipients. 

IACE president David S. Dockery presented the IACE Service Award to Alliance Defending Freedom president Kristen Waggoner and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor John D. Woodbridge.

Dockery said Waggoner and ADF were foundational partners in IACE’s first months of existence and encouraged many of the current advances in membership and service possible. He credited her leadership for the close partnership that continues today.

Waggoner was unable to attend the 2025 annual conference in Fort Worth, but recorded an acceptance video from her office in Arizona.

“I am so thankful for groups like IACE who are walking boldly into the wind and staying true to God’s calling,” Waggoner said in the video. “You are raising up a new generation of leaders who will carry the banner of Jesus Christ.”

Dockery called Woodbridge, the research professor of Church history and historical theology at TEDS, one of the leading historians in evangelical life. His exceptional classroom teaching and scholarly research spans five decades.

“We’re all in the same Christian ‘sandbox,’” Woodbridge said in accepting the award. “This sandbox is a great place for us to be; it extends around globe and it is a place where we can thrive in this life, particularly as we ask the Holy Spirit for His help each day to live faithfully.”

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