Dr. David Lynn Cassady Edit

Education

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1. 1. www.thebrainstormlab.com

   www.thebrainstormlab.com/about - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/25/2008   Last Visited: 1/25/2008

   David Cassady
   
   David joined The Brainstorm Lab in 2007. He is a Mac user, while Mark is a PC. (David is convinced Mark will ultimately see the folly of his ways). David is much better with words and images than with numbers, and has been prohibited from using a calculator or spreadsheet in the office. A gadget addict, he's pretty sure paradise looks a lot like Best Buy.

2. 2. Contact Us

   www.helwys.com/about/directory - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/20/2008   Last Visited: 5/20/2008

   David CassadyPublishing Consultant

3. 3. Macon Telegraph | 10/31/2005 | 'It is a calling': Religious publisher finds a niche in rewarding career

   www.macon.com/mld/macon/busine - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/31/2005   Last Visited: 10/31/2005

   Some say David Cassady can do both.
   
   Cassady, the executive vice president and publisher of Smyth & Helwys Publishing in Macon, has spent a lifetime preparing for the success he enjoys these days.
   ...
   Cassady, 45, said, "it is a sense of a mission for me. It is a calling."
   
   That calling began in 1991 when Cassady began working part-time for the Macon-based publishing company as the youth editor when he was still attending Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He managed his editorial duties all while keeping up with his doctoral studies, serving as an associate pastor at a Louisville church and starting a family with his wife, Rejeana.
   
   After graduation, Cassady became the first full-time employee of Smyth & Helwys Publishing and moved to Macon as managing editor of the children's, youth and adult curriculum.
   
   "Several people said to me that it was a big mistake." he said. "I knew I was taking a risk, but it never scared me."
   
   The risk paid off for Cassady: He was named vice president of Christian education in 1995 and held a couple of other jobs at the company before being named publisher in 2003.
   
   Smyth & Helwys, which is privately owned by four partners, including Sen.
   ...
   "In the next three years, we are building the foundation for the next 10 to 15 years," Cassady said.
   
   That foundation will be strengthened by focusing on deepening the editorial offering of Smyth & Helwys to meet the needs of churches, he said. Whether it is a Bible study, a book study or a teen retreat, Smyth & Helwys would like to provide the content and the study tools.
   
   "What keeps me grounded is that we have to ask the good questions about studying the Bible," he said.
   
   Web portals, hymnals, CDs, e-books and newsletters are just some of the areas that Cassady gets excited talking about as resources for churches.
   
   "You go into churches now, and there are all kinds of worship happening - book studies, even watching 'The Andy Griffith Show,'," he said.
   
   While Cassady can get enthusiastic talking about the future, he knows that the bread and butter of the Christian publishing business lies in pleasing local churches.
   
   "One of our hallmarks is that we are incredibly personal. It is one of our advantages," said Cassady, who personally reads all the comments sent from readers. "If you get out of touch, it is deadly."
   
   Cassady losing touch doesn't seem likely, McElroy said.
   ...
   "It is the local folks that energize him," said McElroy, who first got to know Cassady in 1988 when Cassady was a graduate assistant at Southern Seminary.
   ...
   Cassady was raised in Hampton, Ark., a town of 1,500 people 90 miles south of Little Rock, Ark.
   
   "My dad was the high school band director, and my mom was the high school secretary," he said. "It was the only school in town - high school, middle school and elementary all together."
   
   Cassady left Hampton after high school and went on to earn a religion and philosophy degree at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark. Then he went to study toward a master's degree in philosophy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and earn a master's degree and a doctorate in Christian education at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
   
   While Cassady didn't complete his degree at Baylor, the two years there were his "most formidable years," he said.
   
   "My (philosophy) studies there called me to question all that I had learned growing up in the church."
   
   Questioning his beliefs at Baylor was a necessary part of development, Cassady said.
   
   "The asking of crazy and ridiculous questions was all a normal part of the journey. It was a breakdown, and then it was a choice," he said.
   
   Rejeana Cassady agrees.
   
   "Looking back on it, we needed to ask 'why this?' and 'why that?' The questions were not answered immediately, but (it was a) process we had to go through."
   
   The answers that came to Cassady directed him to Southern Seminary with a focus on a church career. Initially wanting to study pastoral care, Cassady soon gravitated toward Christian education.
   
   "It just clicked," he said of a Christian education class. "It awoke the educator in me."
   
   Cassady, who said being a part-time professor would be a neat retirement plan, is enthusiastic to continue to follow his current mission. In fact, he is enthusiastic about most things.
   
   "I think he has a hard time resting because his brain is always going," said Rejeana Cassady, who said he approaches his personal life as colorfully as his professional life.
   
   "Most things, he is really hands-on, and he can really get into it," she said.
   
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