Courtney McBath has shaped a varied career in engineering, ministry and higher education around a consistent focus: developing leaders.
After more than three decades leading Calvary Revival Church in Norfolk, McBath is president of Virginia Christian College, a role he has held since 2021.
“I took the job because I said, ‘OK, I know that my legacy is to develop leadership for the world, especially in this next generation of leaders,’” said McBath, who also is an executive coach and consultant.
Now McBath, 66, is leading Virginia Christian College into a new phase. The college, which began in Northern Virginia and has expanded to Hampton Roads, opened two schools in May: the School of Business and Leadership and the School of Human Services. They join the original School of Christian Ministry.
The new schools reflect a broader direction for an institution McBath said had been known primarily as a small Bible college. Under his leadership, the college changed its name from Virginia Bible College to Virginia Christian College. The shift came about because “I wanted us to develop leaders for the world in every sector of life,” including business, education and human services, he said.
Virginia Christian College had about 125 students before the new schools opened. McBath expects enrollment to double within a year as the college adds offerings and begins wider promotion.
Leadership and communication will be woven throughout the curriculum, McBath said, regardless of a student’s degree program. That reflects what he has heard from business supporters about the needs of today’s workforce.
“At some point you need to have a conversation with people,” he said. “And now you’re not really very well prepared for those conversations.”
McBath’s interest in leadership began long before he came to Hampton Roads. He grew up in Alcoa, Tennessee, near Knoxville. As a teen, he worked as an engineering aide at a nuclear power plant.
“I was 15, 16, and I knew what it meant to go to work in an office from 9 to 5,” he said.
The experience taught him early how to get along with people, work on a team and work with engineers and non-engineers alike, he said.
A National Merit Scholar, McBath applied to only one college, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied humanities and engineering while also beginning ministry as a freshman. After graduation, he worked as a nuclear licensing engineer, then in quality assurance roles at companies including Texas Instruments.
McBath has never stopped learning. At 63, he enrolled in the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, flying to England every few months while continuing his work in Hampton Roads. He earned a postgraduate diploma in organizational leadership in 2024.
He moved to Hampton Roads in 1990 to start Calvary Revival Church. The congregation grew rapidly, eventually reaching 7,000 to 8,000 members. That growth showed McBath that engineering had prepared him for ministry in unexpected ways.
“My process engineering background was better training than seminary could have ever been,” he said. “Engineering school was my seminary.”
McBath began planning his succession in 2020. His daughter, Lydia Osborne, and son-in-law, David Osborne, now lead Calvary Revival Church.
McBath and his wife, Janeen, have five children and seven grandchildren. He said he is grateful to be healthy and active enough to keep up with what he calls his “second assignment.”
“This new assignment is to develop leaders for this next generation,” he said. “And I get to do it academically through the college. I get to do it as a coach. I get to do it through writing books and content.”
McBath said Hampton Roads needs leaders who can think strategically and work together across city lines and institutions.
He believes leadership should be measured not by position or size, but by service and impact.
“You cannot measure your success by size,” McBath said. “You measure your success by impact.”