Joel Willitts, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in Biblical and Theological Studies. He has had a wide breath of experience within both the Christian community and academia. After graduating with a BS (’93) he spent 7 years in youth ministry in Texas, Florida and Illinois. He eventually earned a Th.M. (’00) and then a M.Phil. (’02) and Ph.D. (’07) from Cambridge University in England. Joel has published books, essays and journal articles in the areas of New Testament and the Dead Sea Scroll studies. He is married to Karla (16 years) and they have twin toddlers, Zion and Mary.

Joel blogs regularly  over at euagelion. Welcome,  Joel!

-Fellowship Prospectus
-Fellowship Application

SAET Overview
The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology (SAET) is an organization dedicated to assisting pastor-theologians in producing biblical and theological scholarship for the renewal of the local church.

Operating within the historic evangelical tradition, the SAET believes the contemporary bifurcation between the pastoral calling and theological formation has resulted in the loss of a distinctly ecclesial voice in orthodox theology. The SAET seeks to resurrect this voice. In an age that has rightly emphasized the relationship between social location and theological formation, our vision is to bring together a unique kind of pastor-theologian—not simply those particular pastors who desire to pursue a theologically informed parish ministry—but even more, pastors and priests who feel called to function as writing theologians to the broader ecclesial community.

Armed with the conviction that pastors can—indeed must—once again serve as the church’s most important theologians, it is the aim of the SAET to provide a context of theological engagement for those pastors who desire to make ongoing contributions to the wider theological/scholarly community for the renewal of orthodox theology, for the renewal of the church.

Fellowship Overview
Toward this end, the SAET hosts two Fellowships—each representing a small nucleus of pastor-theologians from nearly every major Protestant tradition: Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopal, Baptist, Messianic Jewish, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Free Church, and independent Bible church traditions.

The majority of our SAET Fellows are young pastors who have—or are completing—terminal degrees from some of the finest theological institutions in the world (Cambridge, Oxford), and all are committed to bringing the strengths of their respective traditions into conversation with the Great Tradition, with a view to being shaped by, and shaping, the theological reflection of the broader ecclesial theological community.

The Fellowship Symposia
Each Fellowship meets annually for a three-day working symposium (Sunday evening through Tuesday lunch) at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago, O’Hare. The Symposia bring together a diverse body of both pastor-theologians and ecclesially sensitive academic theologians, with a view to establishing collegial relationships and collaborating on theological projects relevant to the life of the church. Meals, lodging, and travel expenses (as needed) are covered by the SAET.

Fellowship Benefits
Fellowship benefits include:

• The opportunity for Fellows to have their work peer-reviewed by a diverse group of ecclesial and academic theologians.
• An all-expense paid, three-day theological symposium with noted academic and ecclesial theologians (includes lodging and meals, and travel as needed).
• A robust network of scholarly, ecclesially diverse relationships.
• Opportunities for publication.
• Additional interaction with other Fellows via quarterly conference calls.

Fellowship Responsibilities
The SAET Fellowship strives to balance the demands of parish ministry and the theological calling. Fellowship responsibilities include:

• Submission of one chapter length essay for review and critique every other year at a Fellowship Symposium.
• Reading and critiquing Fellowship papers prior to symposium.
• Regular attendance at an annual three-day Fellowship Symposium. The First Fellowship meets Columbus Day Weekend; the Second Fellowship meets the last weekend in May.
• Participating in quarterly conference calls as able.

Ideal Candidates
Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply for membership to one of our SAET Fellowships. The ideal candidate is:

• A vocational pastor who views the writing/publication of ecclesial theology as a significant ministry calling.
• Has a ThM or PhD.
• Has a demonstrated publishing record in ecclesial theology.
• Is a young(er) pastor who is in the early years of his pastoral and writing ministry.

Each Fellowship is limited to eight-teen Fellows. Applicants who do not fit the “ideal” description are nonetheless encouraged to apply if strength in one qualification offsets a deficiency in another. For instance, the applicant who does not have a ThM or PhD, but does have a demonstrated publishing record, is encouraged to apply.

To apply to one of our SAET Fellowships, please download a Fellowship application. For general inquiries, please contact Gerald Hiestand at ghiestand [at] saet-online.org.

1. All individuals are called to draw a circle of theological protection around themselves, taking responsibility for their own relationship with Christ.
2. Some have a wife and children, and their circle of theological protection must extend to include their families as well as themselves.
3. Some individuals are called to the pastorate and must draw a circle of theological protection around themselves, their families, and an entire local assembly of Christians.
4. And even more broadly, some individuals are gifted and called to draw an even wider circle, serving as theologians for large swaths of the Christian tradition, or even the whole of the tradition.

In our present day, the church has looked to the academy to draw the wider circles (number 4 above).  Historically, this hasn’t always been the case. Theologians such as Athanasius, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, etc. were all churchmen, and it was understood that the “wider theologians” would be drawn mainly from the pastorate. But today, we no longer look for pastors to fill this role. Those who feel a sense of theological calling beyond the local church do not remain in the church, but move into the academy, in as much as the academy has become the new theological center of  gravity. Now certainly not every pastor is gifted or called to this broader function. But we do the church a grave disservice when suggest, (implicitly or explicitly,  that pastors need not aspire to this role. The bifurcation of theological formation from the womb of the church has been good for neither the church nor her theology. There’s been too much of an,  “Ah, let the academy take care of the theological needs of the church” sort of mindset today.

Thus the SAET is about trying to get (some) pastors to once again pick up the mantle of theological responsibility for the wider church – to step up and draw the wider circles. And it is those particular pastors the SAET is trying to serve and gather together. And it’s for this reason that I press so hard for a writing ministry as definitional to what the SAET pastor is about. Without a writing ministry, I don’t see how someone can effectively function as a wider theologian for the broader church. Transcribed sermons can serve this role in part, but I’m not sure that all the theological needs of the church (spanning epistemology, soteriology, eschatology, philosophy, church history, etc.) can or should be addressed in a sermon. Frankly, there are many subjects that theologians need to wrestle with, that lay people do not need to be burdened with.

So in sum, rather than co-opting the term pastor-theologian, perhaps we could drop the term pastor-theologian all together and say it like this:

1. All pastors are called to be local theologians to their own congregations.
2. Some pastors are called to be popular-theologians, writing “deep” theology down to the laity.
3. (Perhaps) some pastors are called to be academic-theologians, writing theology to the wider academic community.
4. And some pastors are called to be ecclesial theologians, writing theology for the wider ecclesial community.

Maybe it’s OK to call all four kinds of pastors “pastor-theologians”. But it needs to be pointed out that all four are doing something different. And I think that’s really what I’m trying to say with my Taxonomy series. Further, while all four models are in short supply, the fourth model – the pastor as ecclesial theologian – is the most important to resurrect, inasmuch as it serves as the foundation for the other three. I think a big part of the reason we see so few pastors functioning as local theologians is because theology is no longer being done by pastors, but by academicians. When we moved theological formation into the academy, we implicitly suggested that theology was an academic enterprise, thus demotivating  pastors from serving as local theologians.

If the theological gate-keepers of the church were once again pastors, this would not only leaven orthodox theology with ecclesial yeast, but would also bring back a level of theological credibility to the pastorate overall. This in turn would  increase the number of pastors who effectively serve as popular theologians and local theologians.

At present, the Second Fellowship is seeking representation from the Messianic Jewish, Lutheran, and Baptist traditions. Evangelical pastor-theologians from these traditions are encouraged to apply. See below for details.

Fellowship Openings
The SAET is now accepting applications to our second Fellowship. Ideal candidates:

• Are full-time pastors who views the writing/publication of ecclesial theology as a significant ministry calling.
• Have a ThM or PhD.
• Have a demonstrated publishing record.
• Are young(er) pastors who are in the early years of their pastoral and writing ministry.
• Are available to attend the annual Fellowship Symposium.

To download a Fellowship Prospectus, click here. To download a Fellowship Application, click here.

For more information regarding the SAET Fellowships, contact Gerald Hiestand at ghiestand[at]saet-online.org.

1. Doug Sweeney, this year’s Senior Theological Consultant, reminded us of the need for a healthy division of labor between the academy and the church.  His insight here was worth the whole conference for me. I’ve got more to say about this in a future post, but Doug’s basic point (as I remember it) was that academic scholars such as himself should continue to do primary level research, but that systematic theology  should move back into the pastorate. This is a profound insight, and something that has lurked around in the back of my mind before, but not with the clarity that Doug articulated it. The present division between the academy and the church is “Professors should do the thinking,  pastors should take care of the practical stuff.” But Doug was suggesting, “Professors should do the research, pastors should do the theology.” This comports with Vanhoozer’s comments, which I just saw today (see his closing sentence).

2. We saved a few seats this year for doctoral students who are not yet in pastoral ministry, and I think that worked well. The intent was to give the next generation of theologians a view of what ecclesial theology in a local church context might look like. So it was great to meet Dane Ortlund (PhD candidate at Wheaton) and Mark Rodgers (PhD Candidate at TEDS), both of whom seem like great guys positioned to make significant theological contributions to ecclesial theology.

3. The number of guys who showed up this year was very encouraging. Frankly, we’re maxed out in our current Fellowship. Adding more guys would begin to erode the collegial nature of the Fellowship, but we hate to limit participation, as there are so many great guys out there who have a vision for the sort of thing we’re doing. In light of this, the SAET board has decided to explore the possibility of starting a second Fellowship. This second Fellowship would meet in late Spring and run parallel with the first Fellowship (same topic, same Senior Consultant, etc., just a different group of guys). Ideal candidates to the SAET Fellowship are full-time pastors with a demonstrated publishing record and a terminal degree. More information on a Second Fellowship will be forth-coming.

4. The paper presentations went well, and it seemed that each of us resonated with different papers. I was assigned as a respondent to Joel Lawrence’s paper on Bonhoeffer, which worked well as I found Joel’s treatment of Bonhoeffer fascinating. Joel is one of our dual-vocational pastors (he teaches at Bethel Seminary, as well), and his discussion of Bonhoeffer as an ecclesial theologian who worked within the context of the academy was insightful.

5. It was great to finally meet Preston Sprinkle (another one of our dual vocational Fellows), who joined the Fellowship for the first time this year. Preston and I met online back in 2005  before the SAET was the SAET, and exchanged a number of e-mails about the need for such a project. I tried to talk Preston into locking arms with me, but he was headed to the academy and wouldn’t budge. Perhaps to get me off his back, he recommended I connect with Todd Wilson, whom he had met over in the UK, and who had subsequently taken a pastoral position at  College Church (a few miles from where I was living). Meanwhile, Jonathan Cummings (one of the early board members) had recently begun an internship at College Church and told me I needed to connect with his supervisor who was none other than (you guessed it) Todd Wilson. So Todd’s name came up twice in the span of a week. As I joked with Preston, Todd has been the equivalent of a theological venture capitalist for the SAET. So Preston was instrumental in connecting the SAET with Todd, who has been instrumental in connecting the SAET with, well, everyone else. So it’s been fun to go full circle and now have Preston as part of the Fellowship.

All in all, the Symposium was great. It was a bit of a let-down to settle back into the day to day routine of local church ministry, though mentally I was done in. Regardless, it’s time to get back to the hard work of being a pastor and writing theology.

Pulling together a diverse body of evangelical pastor-theologians from across the country, the Fellowship includes representation from the Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopal, Baptist, Messianic Jewish, Presbyterian, and independent Bible church traditions. The SAET Fellowship meets annually for a two-day working symposium at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, where Fellows present essays on a given theme. Additional Fellowship interaction takes place through quarterly conference calls, as well as informal communication between Fellows.

The SAET is looking to expand the Fellowship to include representation from the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition. The ideal candidate to the SAET Fellowship is:

• A vocational pastor who views the writing/publication of ecclesial theology as a significant ministry calling.
• Has a ThM or PhD.
• Has a demonstrated publishing record.
• Is a young(er) pastor who is in the early years of his pastoral and writing ministry.
• Is available to attend the Fellowship Symposium.

To download a Fellowship Prospectus, click here. To download a Fellowship Application, click here.

For more information regarding the SAET Fellowship, contact Gerald Hiestand at ghiestand[at]saet-online.org.