Staff & Faculty

Guided by the Holy Spirit, Lutheran Theological Seminary prepares courageous, compassionate leaders who serve our church, respond to the world’s deep needs, engage in ecumenical collaboration, and draw from the richness of diverse wisdom and traditions.

Faculty

A bit about me: I think of myself as a theologian and an agent of change. I come to the role of President with a background both inside and outside the academy.

I have a PhD in Systematic Theology, along with prior degrees in Theology, English Literature, and Political Science, and have served as Professor of Theology at The College of Emmanuel & St. Chad (ESC). At ESC, I was also Registrar and then Vice-Principal. In the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay, I helped to bring Kootenay School of Ministry into existence and served as its first Principal. In addition to academic life, I have been Director for Mission and Ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Huron, helping congregations to discern their futures, training people in evangelism, and introducing the “Education for Ministry” program.

I believe that tomorrow’s church will look very different from yesterday’s; supporting today’s church institutions as they find their tomorrows is at the heart of who I am.

WRONG BIO: A bit about me: I think of myself as a theologian and an agent of change. I come to the role of President with a background both inside and outside the academy.

I believe that tomorrow’s church will look very different from yesterday’s; supporting today’s church institutions as they find their tomorrows is at the heart of who I am.

Education

Education:

PhD (Systematic Theology with an Allied Field in History) – Graduate Theological Union, 2013
MDiv with Honors – Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, now United Lutheran Seminary, 2002
BMus (Voice) – McGill University, 1998

Ministerial Experience

Ministerial and pastoral experience:

Moderator of the Lutheran World Federation’s Theological Education and Formation Steering Committee; Advent Lutheran Church, Calgary (2017- 2020); St John’s Lutheran Church, Calgary (2014-2017); Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Toronto (2002-2005); ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament (Pastor) in the ELCIC in 2002.

Interests

Teaching and Research Interests:

postcolonial systematic theology; history of Christian-Jewish relations; nonsupersessionist Christology; contemporary Lutheran theology; queer and feminist theologies; inclusive (UDL) pedagogy.

Publications

Selected Publications:

“Visiting the Daughter-Land.” Crossing the Shores and Horizons: Pacific, Asian, and Asian American Women Doing Transnational Feminist Theologies. Edited by Boyung Lee, Laura Cheifitz, Nami Kim, and Wohnee Anne Joh. Forthcoming.
The Women’s Christian Theology Reader. Edited by Beth Ritter-Conn and Steven R. Guthrie. Wiley-Blackwell Press. 2025.
“A Theological Hermeneutic of Disability Justice.” Beyond Saints and Superheroes. Edited by Allen Jorgensen, Laura McGregor, and Tom Reynolds. Lexington. 2025.
“Considerations for Preaching on International Transgender Day of Visibility.” Journal of Lutheran Ethics. 23 (4).
“‘In all times and places:’ Reflecting on the Transcendence and Immanence of the Holy Spirit in an Online Body of Christ.” In Church after the Corona Pandemic: Consequences for Worship and Theology. Edited by Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero. Springer, 2023.
“A Christology of Jesus the Jew.” In Christologie Zwischen Judentum and Christentum. Edited by Christian Danz, Kathy Ehrensperger, and Walter Homolka. Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
“Free to Die: A Lutheran-Process Approach to Medical Assistance in Dying.” (11)4. Special Edition: Luther and Feminism.
“The Subaltern’s Witness: Examining Luther’s Explanation to the Eighth Commandment in Light of Clergy Sexual Abuse Claims.” In The Alternative Luther –– Lutheran Theology From the Subaltern. Edited by Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen. Lexington Books, 2019.
“Multiplicity and Ultimate Concern(s).” In The Body and Ultimate Concern: Reflections on An Embodied Theology of Paul Tillich. Edited by Adam Pryor and Devan Stahl. Mercer University Press, 2018.
Dual Citizenship: Two-Natures Christology and the Jewish Jesus. London: T&T Clark, 2015.

WRONG BIO: A bit about me: I think of myself as a theologian and an agent of change. I come to the role of President with a background both inside and outside the academy.

I believe that tomorrow’s church will look very different from yesterday’s; supporting today’s church institutions as they find their tomorrows is at the heart of who I am.

Education

Education:

PhD (Liturgical Studies with an Allied Field in Systematic Theology) – Graduate Theological Union, 2015
MDiv – Luther Seminary, 2007
BA summa cum laude (History and German Studies) – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2003

Ministerial Experience

Ministerial and Pastoral Experience:

Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament (Pastor) in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; bridge pastor, St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Philadelphia (2022-2023); Co-Director of Worship Life, United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg/Philadelphia (2021-2023); lay congregational leader, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco (2014-2019).

Interests

Teaching and Research Interests:

vocation and leadership; digital and hybrid church; ethnography; Lutheran history; practical and sacramental theology; missional church; technology and theological education

Publications

Selected Publications:

“Online Liturgies.” In The Oxford Handbook of Digital Theology, edited by Jonas Kurlburg, Alexander Chow, and Peter Phillips. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
“Congregations and Faith Communities” (with Renee Ford). In Handbook on Succession Planning, edited by William J. Rothwell, et al. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Press, forthcoming.
“Networked Leadership in the Church.” Canada Lutheran 39, no. 7 (October/November 2024): 15.
Preface, Introduction, and “Worship in the Face of Corona: Ritual, Place, People, Things.” In Church After the Corona Pandemic: Consequences for Worship and Theology, edited by Kyle K. Schiefelbein-Guerrero, v-xi, 3-21. Cham: Springer, 2023
“Consolation and Medicine in Luther’s ‘Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague’.” Dialog: A Journal of Theology 61, no. 2 (June 2022): 112-118.
“Healing Creation or Hearing Confession? Protestant Liturgy and the Role of Agency, Sickness and Repentance in the Current Ecological Crisis.” In Religion & Sustainability: Interreligious Resources, Interdisciplinary Responses, edited by Rita D. Sherma Purushottama Bilimoria, 135-141. Sustainable Development Goals Series 18. Cham: Springer, 2022.
“Whether One May Flee from Digital Worship: Reflections on Sacramental Ministry in a Public Health Crisis.” Dialog: A Journal of Theology 59, no. 2 (June 2020): 49-55.
“Lutheran Marriage Rites: Ritual Approaches to Truth-Telling, God-Blessing, and Community-Praying.” Liturgy 34, no. 3 (August 2019): 21-30.
“Defining Digital Theology: Digital Humanities, Digital Religion and the Particular Work of the CODEC Research Centre and Network” (with Peter Michael Phillips and Jonas Kurlberg). Open Theology 5, no. 1 (March 2019): 23-43.
“Preaching in Advent,” “Preaching in Christmas,” and “Preaching in the Time after Epiphany.” In Sundays and Seasons: Preaching 2019: Year C, edited by Laurie J. Hanson, 16, 34, 56. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2018.

Additional:

Co-Editor, Teaching Theology & Religion
Co-Editor, Consensus: A Canadian Journal of Public Theology
Contributor, Working Preacher

Staff & Faculty

Guided by the Holy Spirit, Lutheran Theological Seminary prepares courageous, compassionate leaders who serve our church, respond to the world’s deep needs, engage in ecumenical collaboration, and draw from the richness of diverse wisdom and traditions.

Faculty

Instructors

Staff