PTS Out and About

Dates(s)	Name	Location	Event Description
Dec. 7	Steve Tuell	Calvary United Methodist Church, Pittsburgh	Bible study
Dec. 5, 12, 19	Ron Cole-Turner	First Presbyterian Church, Burlington, N.C.	Teaching, "Christ in the Carols"
Dec. 12	Edwin van Driel	Amity Presbyterian Church, Dravosburg, Pa.	Preaching
Dec. 12	Charles Fischer	St. Paul Episcopal Church, Mt. Lebanon, Pa.	Preaching
Jan. 2, 2022	Hunter Farrell	Westmont Presbyterian Church, Johnstown, Pa.	Preaching and Sunday school
Jan. 16, 2022	Steve Tuell	Covenant-Community Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh	Preaching
Jan. 22, 2022	Asa Lee	Kiskiminetas Presbytery	Preaching
Jan. 29, 2022	Hunter Farrell	Geneva College	Lecture, "Missions in a Pandemic World"
Jan. 31, 2022	Edwin van Driel	Mount Hope Church, Pittsburgh	Preaching
Feb. 16, 2022	Hunter Farrell	Online, Association of PC(USA) College Chaplains and Ministries	Webinar, "Short Term Missions as a Liminal Space for College Students"
Feb. 17, 2022	Hunter Farrell and Bala Khyllep	Princeton Theological Seminary's Overseas Ministries Study Center, N.J.	Book event, "Meet the Authors"
Feb. 27, 2022	Edwin van Driel	Concord Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh	Preaching

 

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)
• Contextual Biblical Hermeneutics (Kaalund)
• 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 from Late Antiquity to Present (Woo)
• Church History (Burgess)
• Early Christianity (Kaalund)
• 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)
• History of Biblical Interpretation (Woo, Ferda)
• History of Christian Mission (Hagley)
• History of Presbyterian Mission (Farrell)
• John Calvin and Civil Disobedience (Hancock)
• Protestant Rhetoric and the National Socialist Revolution (Hancock)
• Quest for the Historical Jesus (Ferda)
• Reformation History (Woo)

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 (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)
• Mental Health (Davenport)
• Older Adult Ministry (Davenport)
• Religious Education for Imagination (Blier)
• Sharing the Good News (Hagley)
• Social Work (Davenport)
• Youth Ministry (Hagley, Blier, Davenport)

The Church and Contemporary Churches

• African-American Churches (D. Smith, Fischer)
• Adaptive and Missional Leadership (Owens)
• Children and Youth in Worship (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 (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)
• Contemporary Uses of the New Testament (Kaalund)
• 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)
• The Letter to the Hebrews (Kaalund)
• 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 (Davenport, Teter)
• Christianity, Race, and Class (D. Smith, Fischer)
• Cultivating Scriptural Imagination (Ferda)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Faith and Public Life (D. Smith)
• 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)
• 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 (Davenport)
• Sharing the Good News (Hagley)
• Social Work (Davenport)
• Spiritual Formation (Owens, Teter)
• Stewardship (Cranston, Teter)
• The Ten Commandments for Today (Burgess)
• Vocational Discernment and Call (Thorpe, Blier, 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 (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 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)
• Religious Identity Formation (Kaalund)
• Russian Orthodox Church (Burgess)
• What Protestants Can Learn from Eastern Orthodox Tradition (Burgess)
• World Religions (Hagley, Ferda)

Social Issues

• Christianity, Race, and Class (D. Smithf)
• 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)
• Mental Health (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 (Davenport)
• Sociology of Urban Religion (D. Smith)
• Urban Churches (D. Smith)
• When Faithful People Disagree: Deliberation as a Christian Practice (Hancock)
• Youth Culture (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 (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 (Lee, Owens, Teter)
• Spirituality for Christian Leadership (Owens)
• Spirituality in Midlife (Owens)
• Writing and Spirituality (Overton)

Theological Education

• Biblical and Theological Library Research Methods (Spomer)
• Contemporary Theological Education in North America (Esterline)
• Continuing Education for Christian Leaders (Esterline, Blier)
• Cross-cultural Theological Education (Esterline)
• Global and Ecumenical Theological Education (Esterline)
• Leadership in Theologial Eduction (Lee)
• Theological Education for Adults/Young Adults (Blier, Overton)
• Theological Education for Youth (Hagley, Davenport)

Theology

• African American Contextual Theology (Lee)
• Anglican Theology (Fischer)
• 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 Martin Luther (Woo)

Worship

• Artistic Languages of Worship (Hancock)
• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Hancock)
• Children and Youth in Worship (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 (Lee)
• 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 (Davenport)
• Mentoring (Davenport)
• Theological Education for Youth (Hagley, Davenport)
• Youth Culture (Davenport)
• Youth Ministry (Blier, Hagley, 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 Emeritus 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

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

David Esterline
Presiden Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Cross-cultural Theological Education
desterline@pts.edu

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

Tucker Ferda
Associate 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

Jennifer Kaalund
Associate Professor of New Testatment
jkaalund@pts.edu
412-924-1386

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

Asa J. Lee
President and Professor of Theological Formation for Ministry
alee@pts.edu
412-924-1366

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

L. Roger Owens
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 Emeritus of Hebrew and Old Testament
stuell@pts.edu
412-924-1407

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