PTS Out and About

Archaeology

• Archaeology of the Ancient Near East/Old Testament World (Tappy)
• Biblical Archaeology (Tappy)
• Jerusalem and Samaria: Royal Cities of Ancient Israel (Tappy)
• The Samaria Ostraca (Tappy)
• Tel Zayit: A Biblical Village in the Foothills of Judah (Tappy)
• The Tell Dan Inscription and the House of David (Tappy)

Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Exegesis

• Aramaic (Tuell)
• Biblical Hebrew and Exegesis (Creach, Tappy, Tuell)
• New Testament Greek and Exegesis (Ferda)
• Northwest Semitic Languages (Tappy, Creach)
• Ugaritic (Tuell)

Biblical Backgrounds

• Biblical Archaeology (Tappy)
• Biblical Literature of the Early Persian Period (esp. Ezekiel, Chronicles) (Tuell)
• Dead Sea Scrolls (Ferda)
• Extrabiblical Texts and What They Tell Us about Biblical Israel (Tappy)
• Hellenistic Jewish Literature (Ferda)
• Historical Geography of the Holy Land (Tappy)
• History of the Ancient Near East (Tappy)
• History of the Religions of Israel (Tappy)
• Jerusalem and Samaria: Royal Cities of Ancient Israel (Tappy)
• Kinship and Covenant in the Biblical World (Tappy)
• The Tel Zayit Abecedary and the Origins of the Alphabet (Tappy)

Christian History

• Asian-American History and Theological Perspectives (Woo)
• Book of Acts (Esterline, Ferda)
• Christian Responses to Persecution (Woo)
• Christianity in America (Vacek)
• Christianity from Late Antiquity to Present (Woo)
• Church Architecture (D. Davenport)
• Church History (Burgess)
• The Early Church/Church Fathers (Burgess, Ferda)
• Evangelicalism in North America (Hagley)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Graphic Novels in American Christianity (D. Davenport)
• History of Biblical Interpretation (Woo, Ferda)
• History of Christian Mission (Hagley)
• History of the Christian Tradition (Vacek)
• History of Presbyterian Mission (Farrell)
• John Calvin and Civil Disobedience (Hancock)
• Protestant Rhetoric and the National Socialist Revolution (Hancock)
• Protestant-Catholic Tensions in Early America (D. Davenport)
• Protestants and Mental Illness in America (Vacek)
• Quest for the Historical Jesus (Ferda)
• Reformation History (Woo)
• Twentieth-century American Protestantism (Vacek)

Christian Leadership

• Adaptive and Missional Leadership (Owens)
• Church Planting and Revitalization (Rohrer, Teter)
• Congregational Discernment (Owens)
• Congregational Mission and Leadership (Farrell, Hagley, Khyllep)
• Continuing Education for Christian Leaders (Blier, Esterline)
• Creative Liturgy (Fischer)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Leader as Educator (Blier)
• Leading Bible Studies (Ferda)
• Motivating Congregations for Mission (Hagley)
• Nurturing Missional Mindset through Global Worship Music (K. Smith)
• Small-Church Dynamics (Brall)
• Spiritual Formation (Owens, Teter)
• Spirituality for Christian Leadership (Owens)
• Stewardship (Fischer, Cranston, Teter)
• Teaching through Sacred Music (E. Davenport, K. Smith)

Christian Ministry

• Adult/Young Adult Ministry (Blier)
• Christian Education and Faith Formation (Blier)
• College Ministry/Chaplaincy (Overton)
• Death, Dying, and Grief (Fuller)
• History of Protestants and Mental Illness in America (Vacek)
• Mental Health (E. Davenport)
• Older Adult Ministry (E. Davenport)
• Religious Education for Imagination (Blier)
• Sharing the Good News (Hagley)
• Social Work (E. Davenport)
• Theologies of Disability and Suffering (Vacek)
• Youth Ministry (Hagley, Blier, D. Davenport, E. Davenport)

The Church and Contemporary Churches

• African-American Churches (D. Smith, Fischer)
• Adaptive and Missional Leadership (Owens)
• Children and Youth in Worship (E. Davenport)
• Christian Responses to Persecution (Woo)
• Church Leadership (Thorpe)
• Church Planting and Revitalization (Rohrer, Teter)
• Church and Politics in Russia and Ukraine (Burgess)
• Church Unity and Division: How to Think Faithfully (Burgess)
• The Church around the World (Esterline)
• The Church in Africa (D. Smith, Farrell)
• Churches in the African Diaspora (D. Smith)
• Churches and Social and Demographic Change (D. Smith)
• Conflict in Congregations (Fuller)
• Congregational Discernment (Owens)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Family Systems Theory and Congregational Life (Fuller)
• Global and Ecumenical Theological Education (Esterline)
• The Missional Church: Its Identity (Hagley)
• Safe Church Practices (E. Davenport)
• Urban Churches (D. Smith)
• What It Means to “Be” Church (van Driel)
• When Faithful People Disagree: Deliberation as a Christian Practice (Hancock)

Faith and Science

• Christian Learning from Science (Cole-Turner)
• Christianity and Human Origins in the Light of Evolutionary Biology (Cole-Turner)
• Creation in Scripture (Tuell)
• Science and Theology: Their Relationship (Tuell)
• Transhumanism: Living as a Christian in an Age of Human Enhancement (Cole-Turner)

Global and International Issues

• Christian Responses to Persecution (Woo)
• Christianity and African Traditional Religions (Farrell)
• Christianity and U.S. Foreign Policy (D. Smith)
• Church and Politics in Russia and Ukraine (Burgess)
• The Church around the World (Esterline)
• The Church in Africa (D. Smith, Farrell)
• The Church in Latin America (Farrell)
• Churches in the African Diaspora (D. Smith)
• Cross-cultural Conflict (Farrell)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Global and Ecumenical Theological Education (Esterline)
• Global Gender Justice (Riggle Young)
• Preaching in a Global Context (Khyllep)
• Religion and Social Movements (D. Smith, Riggle Young)
• World Mission and Justice (Farrell, Khyllep)

Mission

• Adaptive and Missional Leadership (Owens)
• Anthropological Tools for Cross-cultural Mission (Farrell)
• Christian Mission (Hagley)
• Church Planting (Hagley, Rohrer)
• Congregational Mission and Leadership (Farrell, Hagley, Khyllep)
• Cross-cultural Theological Education (Esterline)
• Cultural Proficiency (Farrell)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Evangelism, Compassion, and Justice in Mission (Farrell)
• Gospel and Cultures (Hagley)
• Living Missionally (Hagley)
• Nurturing Missional Mindset through Global Worship Music (K. Smith)
• Presbyterian Mission (Farrell)
• Short-term Mission (Hagley, Farrell, Khyllep)
• World Mission (Farrell, Hagley)
• World Mission and Justice (Farrell, Khyllep)

New Testament

• Book of Acts (Esterline, Ferda)
• Discipleship in the New Testament (Ferda)
• First Corinthians (Esterline)
• Gospel of Luke (Esterline, Ferda)
• Gospel of Mark (Ferda)
• Gospel of Matthew (Ferda)
• Gospels and the Life of Jesus (Ferda)
• History of New Testament Scholarship (Ferda)
• Life and Thought of Paul (Ferda)
• The Old Testament in the New (Ferda)
• Provocative Parables of Jesus (Hancock)
• Writings of John (Ferda)

Old Testament

• The Battle of Lachish and the Theology of Jerusalem (Tappy)
• Biblical Literature of the Persian Period (Tuell)
• The Book of the Twelve (Minor Prophets) (Tuell)
• Book of Psalms (Creach)
• Chronicles (Tuell)
• Daniel and Apocalypse (Tuell)
• Ezekiel (Tuell)
• Genesis and the Moral Imagination (Creach)
• Jacob, Esau, and Binding Kinship Ties (Tappy)
• Life and Times of Amos the Prophet (Tappy)
• Old Testament Ethics (Creach)
• Old Testament Historical Books (Tappy)
• The Old Testament in the New (Ferda)
• Old Testament Prophets (Creach, Tuell)
• Prophecy and Priesthood (Tuell)
• Psalm 23 and the Psalms of Trust (Tappy)
• The Ten Commandments for Today (Burgess)
• Violence in the Bible (Creach)
• Wisdom Literature (Creach)
• Women in the Bible (Tappy)
• The Worship, Faith, and Temple Ideology of Ancient Israel (Tuell)

Practical Christian Living

• The Bath: Living into Your Baptism (Hancock)
• Christian Counseling (E. Davenport, Teter)
• Christianity, Race, and Class (D. Smith, Welch, Fischer)
• Cultivating Scriptural Imagination (Ferda)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Faith and Public Life (D. Smith, Welch)
• How to Listen to a Sermon (Hancock)
• How to Pray (Burgess)
• How to Read the Bible (Burgess, Tuell, Ferda)
• Leading Bible Studies (Ferda)
• Living Missionally (Hagley)
• Memory, Memorization, and Memory Tricks (D. Davenport)
• Practical Theodicy: What Do Christians Do when Bad Things Happen? (Hancock)
• Practical Theology (Thorpe, Overton)
• Praying the Psalms (Hancock)
• Public Theology (Overton)
• Safe Church Practices (E. Davenport)
• Sharing the Good News (Hagley)
• Social Work (E. Davenport)
• Spiritual Formation (Owens, Teter)
• Stewardship (Cranston, Teter)
• The Ten Commandments for Today (Burgess)
• Vocational Discernment and Call (Thorpe, Blier, D. Davenport, Teter)

Prayer

• Corporate Prayer (K. Smith)
• How to Pray and Read the Bible (Burgess)
• Liturgical Prayer (K. Smith)
• Prayer (Owens)
• Prayer in the Trinity (Cole-Turner)
• Praying the Psalms (Hancock)

Reformation Studies

• Anatomy of Grace (Hancock)
• Basics of Reformed Theology (Burgess)
• John Calvin and Civil Disobedience (Hancock)
• John Calvin and the Reformed Tradition (Woo)
• Karl Barth and Biblical Interpretation (Hancock)
• Reformation History (Vacek, Woo)
• Reformed Spirituality (Cole-Turner)
• Theology of Martin Luther (Woo)

Religions and Religious Traditions

• Anglican and Episcopal Church Tradition (Fischer)
• Christianity and African Traditional Religions (Farrell)
• Christianity and Other Religions (Burgess)
• Evangelicalism in North America (Hagley)
• Gospel and Cultures (Hagley)
• History of the Christian Tradition (Vacek)
• History of the Religions of Israel (Tappy)
• John Calvin and the Reformed Tradition (Woo)
• Lithuanian Church Practices (Thorpe)
• Mythologies and Comparative Religions of the Ancient Near East (Tuell)
• Religion of Ancient Israel (Tuell)
• Russian Orthodox Church (Burgess)
• What Protestants Can Learn from Eastern Orthodox Tradition (Burgess)
• World Religions (Hagley, Ferda)

Social Issues

• Christianity, Race, and Class (D. Smith, Welch)
• Christianity and U.S. Foreign Policy (D. Smith)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Educational Diversity (Esterline, Riggle Young)
• Ethnicity and Race Relations (Welch)
• History of Christianity and Politics in America (Vacek)
• Mental Health (E. Davenport)
• Pulpit, Politics, and Pathos: Protestant Rhetoric and the National Socialist Revolution (Hancock)
• Race and Church (Thorpe)
• Religion and Public Life (D. Smith)
• Religion and Social Movements (D. Smith, Riggle Young)
• Social Work (E. Davenport)
• Sociology of Urban Religion (D. Smith)
• Urban Churches (D. Smith)
• When Faithful People Disagree: Deliberation as a Christian Practice (Hancock)
• Youth Culture (D. Davenport, E. Davenport)

Social Justice

• Addressing Socio-cultural Systems of Injustice (Riggle Young)
• Christian Responses to Persecution (Woo)
• Global Gender Justice (Riggle Young)
• Justice for the Poor and Marginalized (Riggle Young)
• Mediation (Thorpe)
• Old Testament Prophets and the Call for Justice (Creach)
• Race, Racism, and White Privilege in the U.S. (Esterline, Teter)
• Social Justice and Social Work (E. Davenport)
• Social Justice and the Teachings of Jesus (Ferda)
• Violence against Women and Girls (Riggle Young)
• World Mission and Justice (Farrell, Khyllep)

Spirituality

• Christian Spirituality (Owens)
• Discipleship in the New Testament (Ferda)
• False Self and True Self in Christian Spirituality (Owens)
• Lectio Divina (Overton)
• Prayer (Owens)
• Reformed Spirituality (Cole-Turner)
• Spiritual Formation (Owens, Teter)
• Spirituality for Christian Leadership (Owens)
• Spirituality in Midlife (Owens)
• Writing and Spirituality (Overton)

Theological Education

• Biblical & Theological Library Research Methods (Spomer)
• Contemporary Theological Education in North America (Esterline, Vacek)
• Continuing Education for Christian Leaders (Esterline, Blier)
• Cross-cultural Theological Education (Esterline)
• Global and Ecumenical Theological Education (Esterline)
• Theological Education for Adults/Young Adults (Blier, Overton)
• Theological Education for Youth (Hagley, D. Davenport, E. Davenport)

Theology

• Anglican Theology
• Asian-American History and Theological Perspectives (Woo)
• Biblical Interpretation/Hermeneutics (Hancock, Ferda)
• Biblical Theology (Ferda)
• Black Feminist Theology (Overton)
• Black Theology (Riggle Young)
• Christ and the Incarnation (van Driel)
• Ecclesiology and What It Means to “Be” Church (van Driel)
• Eschatology (van Driel, Ferda, K. Smith)
• Feminist Theology (Overton, Riggle Young)
• History of Biblical Interpretation (Woo, Ferda)
• The Idea of Scripture in Ancient Israel (Tuell)
• Liberation Theology (Farrell, Riggle Young)
• Practical Theodicy: What Do Christians Do when Bad Things Happen? (Hancock)
• Practical Theology (Thorpe, Overton)
• Prayer in the Trinity: Recovering a Theology of Prayer (Cole-Turner)
• Public Theology (Overton)
• Reformation Theology (Woo)
• The Significance of the Hebrew Bible as Scripture for Christians and Jews (Tuell)
• Theological (and Creative) Writing (Overton)
• Theology of Disability (Vacek)
• Theology of Martin Luther (Woo)
• Theology of Suffering (Vacek)

Worship

• Artistic Languages of Worship (Hancock)
• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Hancock)
• Children and Youth in Worship (E. Davenport)
• Christian Worship and the Sacraments (Burgess, Fischer)
• Church Planting and Revitalization (Rohrer, Teter)
• Congregational Song (van Driel, K. Smith)
• Creative Liturgy (Fischer)
• Exploring Christian Worship (Hancock, K. Smith)
• How to Listen to a Sermon (Hancock)
• Nurturing Missional Mindset through Global Worship Music (K. Smith)
• Preaching in a Global Context (Khyllep)
• Prayer (Cole-Turner, Hancock, Owens, K. Smith)
• Taizé-style Worship (K. Smith)

Youth Focus

• Children and Youth in Worship (E. Davenport)
• Mentoring (D. Davenport, E. Davenport)
• Theological Education for Youth (Hagley, D. Davenport, E. Davenport)
• Youth Culture (D. Davenport, E. Davenport)
• Youth Ministry (Blier, Hagley, D. Davenport, E. Davenport)

Helen Blier
Director of Continuing Education
hblier@pts.edu
412-924-1346

John P. Burgess
James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology
jburgess@pts.edu
412-924-1430

Jennifer Christmas
Associate Curator of the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology
jechristmas@pts.edu
412-924-1394

Ronald Cole-Turner
H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics
coleturn@pts.edu
412-924-1426

Jerome F. D. Creach
Robert C. Holland Professor of Old Testament
jcreach@pts.edu
412-924-1428

Carolyn Cranston
Director of Alumnae/i and Church Relations
ccranston@pts.edu
412-924-1375

Derek Davenport
Director of the Miller Summer Youth Institute and Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects
ddavenport@pts.edu
412-924-1385

Erin Davenport
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects and the Miller Summer Youth Institute
edavenport@pts.edu
412-924-1443

David Esterline
President, Professor of Cross-cultural Theological Education
desterline@pts.edu
412-924-1366

Hunter Farrell
Director of the World Mission Initiative
hfarrell@pts.edu
412-924-1402

Tucker Ferda
Assistant Professor of New Testament
tferda@pts.edu
412-924-1391

Charles L. Fischer III
Vice President for Seminary Advancement
cfischer@pts.edu 
412-924-1362

Leanna K. Fuller
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care
lfuller@pts.edu
412-924-1459

Scott J. Hagley
Associate Professor of Missiology
shagley@pts.edu
412-924-1399

Angela Dienhart Hancock
Associate Professor of Homiletics and Worship
ahancock@pts.edu
412-924-1451

Bala Khyllep
Associate Director of the World Mission Initiative
bkhyllep@pts.edu
412-924-1364

Mary O'Shan (Shan) Overton
Director of the Center for Writing and Learning Support
moverton@pts.edu
412-924-1454

L. Roger Owens
Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality and Ministry
lowens@pts.edu
412-924-1458

Tracy Riggle Young
Senior Director of Enrollment Services
triggleyoung@pts.edu
412-924-1423

Karen Rohrer
Director of the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry
krohrer@pts.edu
412-924-1412

Kendra Buckwalter Smith
Coordinator of the Worship Program
ksmith@pts.edu
412-924-1419

R. Drew Smith
Professor of Urban Ministry and Director of the Metro-Urban Institute
rsmith@pts.edu
412-924-1457

Michelle Spomer
Donald G. Miller Librarian and Director of the Clifford E. Barbour Library
mspomer@pts.edu
412-924-1408

Ron E. Tappy
G. Albert Shoemaker Professor Emeritus of Bible and Archaeology and Director of The Zeitah Excavations
rtappy@pts.edu
412-924-1427

Ayana Teter
Associate Dean for Students and Formation
ateter@pts.edu
412-924-1398

Denise Thorpe
Interim Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program
dthorpe@pts.edu
412-924-1421

Steven Tuell
James A. Kelso Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament
stuell@pts.edu
412-924-1407

Heather Vacek
Associate Professor of Church History
hvacek@pts.edu
412-924-1453

Edwin Chr. van Driel
Directors' Bicentennial Professor of Theology
evandriel@pts.edu
412-924-1425

Kenneth Woo
Assistant Professor of Church History
kwoo@pts.edu
412-924-1350