-
December 22, 2009 by Gerald Hiestand
Who Needs the Pastor-Theologian?
The pastor-theologian programs of organizations such as the Center for Theological Inquiry, and the Presbyterian Church USA (both programs are discontinued) follow a nearly identical organizational model as the SAET—we each host symposiums, bring together a diverse body of pastor-theologians and academic theologians, present papers, and pursue publishing, etc. Yet for the CTI and the PCA, such activities are meant to further the pastor’s effectiveness as a local-theologian, not primarily to season the body of orthodox theological reflection.
The SAET however, is primarily concerned to further the pastor’s ability to serve as an ecclesial theologian to the broader theological community. We encourage writing not primarily because the pastor is lacking (or even his local church), but because orthodox theology is lacking. Orthodox theology itself is most fundamentally in need of the pastor-theologian.
Leave A Comment
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.
Contributors
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.
SAET Blogs
Blog Categories
- 1 Samuel (3)
- Academic Theology (14)
- Advent (1)
- Anglican (2)
- Apocalyptic (2)
- Apologetics (5)
- art (1)
- Articles (2)
- Ascension (1)
- Athanasius (2)
- Augustine (9)
- authority (1)
- Bernard (1)
- biblical studies (34)
- Biblical Theology (26)
- Bonhoeffer (3)
- Book Review (15)
- Book Reviews (8)
- Calvin (6)
- Carl Trueman (2)
- Chris Bruno (1)
- Chris Wright (2)
- Christology (15)
- Church (3)
- Church History (7)
- Commentaries (2)
- Conference (3)
- Creation (7)
- creeds (1)
- Cross (6)
- Culture (5)
- D. A. Carson (2)
- David Rudolph (2)
- discipleship (1)
- Doctrine of God (5)
- Doctrine of Scripture (7)
- Doug Sweeney (1)
- Ecclesial Theologian (11)
- Ecclesial Theology (43)
- Ecclesiology (6)
- Ecumenism (1)
- Eric Bargerhuff (1)
- Eschatology (6)
- Ethics (3)
- ETS (3)
- Evangelicalism (4)
- Evangelism (1)
- First Fellowship (5)
- Gender (1)
- General (265)
- George Marsden (1)
- Gerald Hiestand (74)
- Global Christianity/Theology (2)
- Gospel (3)
- grace (3)
- Hell (6)
- Hermeneutics (5)
- Historical Method (1)
- Holy Spirit (3)
- Idolatry (5)
- Image of God (3)
- Incarnation (2)
- Inerrancy (1)
- Interviews on Politics and Theology (13)
- Isaiah (2)
- James Jordan (1)
- Jason Hood (138)
- Jay Thomas (1)
- Jeff Hubing (2)
- Jew/Gentile Relations (1)
- Joel Lawrence (1)
- John (1)
- John Frame (5)
- John Piper (4)
- John Stott (2)
- John Webster (7)
- John's Gospel (1)
- Jonathan Edwards (2)
- justice (1)
- Karl Barth (3)
- Kevin Vanhoozer (6)
- kingdom (6)
- Kingdom of God (1)
- Literature (6)
- Love (4)
- Luke's Gospel (4)
- Lying (1)
- Mainline Protestantism (3)
- Mark Noll (2)
- Mark's Gospel (3)
- Martin Hengel (1)
- Martin Luther (2)
- Matt Kim (1)
- Matthew Mason (35)
- Messianism (4)
- Michael LeFebvre (2)
- mission (2)
- Music (1)
- noetic effects of sin (3)
- off-topic (7)
- Oliver O'Donovan (2)
- Owen Strachan (4)
- Pastor Ministry (1)
- Pastor-theologian (30)
- patristics (1)
- Paul (3)
- Poetry (3)
- Political Theology (16)
- Popular Theology (3)
- porn (1)
- prayer (1)
- Preaching (5)
- Predestination (2)
- Preston Sprinkle (4)
- Psalms (3)
- Redemption (8)
- repentance (1)
- Resurrection (4)
- Revelation (5)
- Richard Hays (2)
- Robert Jenson (2)
- Romans (2)
- sacraments (2)
- SAET Fellow Publications (18)
- SAET Fellowship (9)
- sanctification (8)
- SBL (4)
- Scripture (2)
- Second Fellowship (10)
- sexuality (4)
- sin (5)
- sonship (2)
- Soteriology (11)
- sovereignty (2)
- Spirituality (3)
- Stephen Witmer (1)
- suffering (1)
- Symposium (6)
- Systematic Theology (9)
- The Bible (1)
- The SAET (9)
- Theodicy (1)
- Theological Education (10)
- Theological Method (6)
- Theology (7)
- Thomas Aquinas (2)
- Tolkien (1)
- Tom Wright (11)
- Trinity (4)
- Truth (1)
- Uncategorized (8)
- via moderna (1)
- ways to scare your children (2)
- Wider Theologians (3)
- wisdom (4)
- Worship (2)
- writing (2)
- Zacharius Ursinus (1)
Recent Comments
Good points; I wonder, too, if another reason is that orthodoxy is more closely preserved in the local church than in academia?
At least historically, it seems to be the case that heterodoxy has been primarily introduced via academic channels, with the local church the last bastien of orthodoxy. (Witness, too, the same course of influence in the opposite direction, taking place in some parts of the Southern Baptist conference, wherein the seminaries– especially Southern– have engaged in a deepened recommitment to orthodoxy, which has slowly resulted in the local churches also increasing in their orthodoxy.) Could this be coincidence in history? Or could Ecclesial Theology/Theologians be a means for protecting orthodoxy because of this tendency?
Also, two minor points of question/correction: first, I believe you may have the above references (to the other institutions) backwards, as it appears at first glance that CTI is still active, while the program for the PC-USA is now defunct. Second, I’m sure it was a typo for you to refer to the “Presbyterian Church of America” instead of the “Presbyterian Church- USA” which is the current iteration of the former. But some of your readers, less acquainted with American Presbyterian history, might mistake you to mean the Presbyterian Church IN America, which is a very different denomination.
12/26/09 1:10 PM | Comment Link
Ed,
Thanks. Good point about the local church being more theologically stable than the academy. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but I’d have to think more about why there’s a correlation.
And thanks for the corrections. CTI is still active, but their pastor-theologian program is not.
12/26/09 3:08 PM | Comment Link