New Year’s Day 2017 marked our welcoming of the Rev. Dr. B. Hunter Farrell as director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. With 30 years of involvement in various aspects of Christian mission, Hunter comes to us most recently from his nine-year directorship of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville, Ky. Last fall, when an interviewer asked Hunter how he felt about the impending change in his call, he responded, “I’m very much at peace. . . . The Spirit’s really saying, ‘It’s time to stop and discern where is the space you can connect with the next generation and with what God’s doing in the world.’ I’m looking forward to that.” And so are we at PTS!

In that same interview, Hunter observed, “I’ve been really hungering to engage the next generation in thinking together about global mission. I see millennials as very focused on specific global issues that impact all our lives and draw us together as a global family. I think the church needs to step up and show how we’re engaging in those global issues with our partners around the world. It’s a good time to work at a seminary and look for ways to connect young adults with what God’s doing in the world.”

With a doctorate in anthropology and more than two decades of overseas field service himself, Hunter was well prepared to manage a 180-member staff in 52 countries as the PC(U.S.A.)’s director of World Mission—and at the same time oversee the areas of strategic direction and partnerships, funds development, operations, and communications. Earlier, while serving in Peru as a Presbyterian mission co-worker, he had organized and accompanied an international network of churches, non-profit organizations, and universities that linked social capital in Peru and the U.S. to address issues of poverty and justice. And in East and West Africa he’d supervised the service of mission workers in seven African nations in programs of health, development, evangelism, education, and theological education. Today he serves on the board of the American Society of Missiology, the executive committee of the Council on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches, American Anthropological Association, and National Association of Practicing Anthropologists.

Hunter’s extensive experience in global mission work has given him keen insights into the task of Christian mission today. To read about some of them, and to get a sense for how Hunter views his current call, read the full interview by The Presbyterian Outlook.

New Year’s Day 2017 marked our welcoming of the Rev. Dr. B. Hunter Farrell as director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. With 30 years of involvement in various aspects of Christian mission, Hunter comes to us most recently from his nine-year directorship of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville, Ky. Last fall, when an interviewer asked Hunter how he felt about the impending change in his call, he responded, “I’m very much at peace. . . . The Spirit’s really saying, ‘It’s time to stop and discern where is the space you can connect with the next generation and with what God’s doing in the world.’ I’m looking forward to that.” And so are we at PTS!

In that same interview, Hunter observed, “I’ve been really hungering to engage the next generation in thinking together about global mission. I see millennials as very focused on specific global issues that impact all our lives and draw us together as a global family. I think the church needs to step up and show how we’re engaging in those global issues with our partners around the world. It’s a good time to work at a seminary and look for ways to connect young adults with what God’s doing in the world.”

With a doctorate in anthropology and more than two decades of overseas field service himself, Hunter was well prepared to manage a 180-member staff in 52 countries as the PC(U.S.A.)’s director of World Mission—and at the same time oversee the areas of strategic direction and partnerships, funds development, operations, and communications. Earlier, while serving in Peru as a Presbyterian mission co-worker, he had organized and accompanied an international network of churches, non-profit organizations, and universities that linked social capital in Peru and the U.S. to address issues of poverty and justice. And in East and West Africa he’d supervised the service of mission workers in seven African nations in programs of health, development, evangelism, education, and theological education. Today he serves on the board of the American Society of Missiology, the executive committee of the Council on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches, American Anthropological Association, and National Association of Practicing Anthropologists.

Hunter’s extensive experience in global mission work has given him keen insights into the task of Christian mission today. To read about some of them, and to get a sense for how Hunter views his current call, read the full interview by The Presbyterian Outlook.