SAET » Pastor-theologian or Pastor-scholar? » The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology

December 13, 2008 by Gerald Hiestand

Pastor-theologian or Pastor-scholar?

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A few of the SAET board members and I have talked in the past about the best moniker for describing the sort of pastor the SAET envisions. “Pastor-scholar” is perhaps the better known term, but lately I’ve been thinking “pastor-theologian” is best. Here’s why:

The term scholar tends to evoke images of someone mining data. The term theologian tends to evoke images of someone synthesizing the data. And even though all scholars should be theologians, and all theologians should be scholars, there’s a tendency to focus on one or the other. It would seem to me, then, that pastors will tend to be more theologians than scholars. The very nature of our profession forces us to work toward constructing a cohesive world view. We don’t have the luxury of simply mining the data of the various theological disciplines and then calling it a day.

Categories: Ecclesial Theology
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  [...] I wrote about here, the pastor-theologian–by the very nature of his calling as a pastor–cannot afford the [...]
  
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About the SAET Blog

Welcome to the SAET blog. Herein you will find the theological/pastoral ramblings of the Rev. Matthew Mason, the good Doctor Jason Hood, and Pastor Gerald Hiestand. All three write under the premise that theology and the pastorate belong together, and that (at least some) pastors must once again function as writing theologians for the wider church, for the ecclesial renewal of theology and the theological renewal of the church.

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Gerald Hiestand
Gerald has served as the SAET board president since 2006. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1999, and serves currently as the Senior Associate Pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL.

Jason Hood
Jason is a graduate of Rhodes College, Reformed Theological Seminary, Highland Theological College and the Univ. of Aberdeen. Jason works as Scholar-in-Residence and director of Christ College Residency Program at Christ UMC. He's trying to figure out the twitter thing, @jasonbhood, and sometimes writes for ChristianityToday.com.

Matthew Mason
Matthew earned an MTh at Oak Hill College, London. He is an Assistant Pastor at Church of the Resurrection, Washington D. C. (Anglican Mission in the Americas), and edits Ecclesia Reformanda, a journal of Reformed theology.

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Pastor-theologian or Pastor-scholar?

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