PTS Out and About

Name	Dates(s)	Location	Event Description
Helen Blier	July 7	Webinar	Leading discussion with Frank Yamada on new Association of Theological Schools' standards on life-long learning
Derek Davenport	July 12	Sewickley, Pa.	Preaching at The PC Sewickley
Ron Cole-Turner	July 16	Online	Moderating webinar, hosted by the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, titled "Theology and Covid-19: Etiological and Teleological Models at the Nexus with Science"
Ayana Teter	July 17-19	Online	Teaching Bible and leading worship for the New Wilmington Mission Conference
Carolyn Cranston	Aug. 2	Pleasant Hills, Pa.	Preaching at Pleasant Hills Community PC
Hunter Farrell	Aug. 3-10	Guatemala City, Guatemala	Teaching mission leaders at the Central American Center for Pastoral Studies
Steve Tuell	Aug. 14-16	Monroeville, Pa.	Leading United Methodist Church Retreat: "Grace, Sweet Grace!"
Ron Cole-Turner	Aug. 18	Online	Moderating webinar, hosted by the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, titled "The Unifying Potential of a God that is Real in the Scientific Universe"
Angela Hancock	Aug. 27	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Speaking on political deliberation in the church at Pittsburgh Presbytery's West Branch gathering (#3 of 4)
Ken Woo	Aug. 30	Noblestown, Pa.	Preaching at Noblestown UPC
Carolyn Cranston	Aug. 30	Pleasant Hills, Pa.	Preaching at Pleasant Hills Community PC
Hunter Farrell	Oct. 4	Online (via Zoom)	Preaching for  PC of New Castle Pa.
David Esterline	Oct. 18-22	Jakarta, Indonesia	Representing PTS at the conference on doctoral theological education at Jakarta Theological Seminary
Hunter Farrell	Oct. 20	Online (via Zoom)	Guest lecturing for Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Jim Downey	Oct. 20-22	Durham, N.C.	Representing PTS at the Fellowship Gathering
Hunter Farrell	Oct. 23-25	Columbus, Ohio	Preaching and speaking for Mission Weekend at Broad Street PC
Edith Humphrey	Oct. 30	Online	Serving as the Orthodox representative on a panel discussing The Victory of the Cross for a conference of The Aqueduct Project
Hunter Farrell	Nov. 1-2	Online (via Zoom)	Representing PTS at the U.S. Catholic Mission Association board meeting, Chicago, Ill.
Denise Thorpe	Nov. 5-8	Washington, D.C.	Serving as a Panelist for the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Heather Vacek	Nov. 6	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Representing PTS and giving the benediction at the Pittsburgh Prayer Breakfast
Angela Hancock	Nov. 12	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Speaking on political deliberation in the church at Pittsburgh Presbytery's West Branch gathering (#4 of 4)
Drew Smith	Nov. 16	Dallas, Texas	Speaking and leading a workshop at Perkins School of Theology for Fall 2020 Convocation
Edith Humphrey	Nov. 19-24	Online	Serving as a panelist for the Christian Theology and the Bible group at the Society of Biblical Literature's annual meeting; a panelist for the adjacent Symposium on Deificiation; and a respondent for a session co-supported by the Biblical Exegesis from Eastern Orthodox Perspectives Unit and the Pauline Letters Unit
Edwin van Driel	Nov. 21-24	Online	Serving as a panelist for the Pauline Theology group at the Society of Biblical Literature's annual meeting
Carolyn Cranston	Dec. 20	Pleasant Hills, Pa.	Preaching at Pleasant Hills Community PC
David Esterline	Jan. 3, 2021	Woodbury, N.J.	Preaching at the PC at Woodbury

 

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 (Humphrey, 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, Humphrey, 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, Humphrey, Ferda)
• Evangelicalism in North America (Hagley)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Mission of the Church in a Religionless Age (Burgess)
• Gnosticism and the Church Fathers (Humphrey)
• 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)
• Irenaeus (Humphrey)
• 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)
• Worship in the Bible and the History of the Church (Humphrey)

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)
• Healing Prayer (Brall)
• 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)
• Small-Church Dynamics (Brall)
• 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 (Young)
• Preaching in a Global Context (Khyllep)
• Religion and Social Movements (D. Smith, 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, Humphrey, Ferda)
• Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature (Humphrey)
• 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 (Humphrey, 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 (Humphrey, 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)
• Benedictine Spirituality
• 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)
• Sanctity of Human Life (Humphrey)
• Sexuality and the Church (Humphrey)
• 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, Welch)

Prayer

• Corporate Prayer (K. Smith)
• Healing Prayer (Brall)
• 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)
• Doctrine of the Church (Humphrey)
• 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)
• Scriptures and Tradition (Humphrey)
• Wesleyan Tradition (Morse)
• 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, 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, Welch)
• Religion and Public Life (D. Smith)
• Religion and Social Movements (D. Smith, 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 (Welch, Young)
• Christian Responses to Persecution (Woo)
• Global Gender Justice (Young)
• Justice for the Poor and Marginalized (Welch, Young)
• Mediation (Thorpe)
• Old Testament Prophets and the Call for Justice (Creach)
• Race, Racism, and White Privilege in the U.S. (Esterline, Welch, Teter)
• Social Justice and Social Work (E. Davenport)
• Social Justice and the Teachings of Jesus (Ferda)
• Violence against Women and Girls (Young)
• World Mission and Justice (Farrell, Khyllep)

Spirituality

• Benedictine Spirituality (Brall)
• 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 and the Holy Trinity (Humphrey)
• 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)
• Education for Ministry through Field Placements (Brall)
• 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 (Humphrey, Ferda)
• Black Feminist Theology (Overton)
• Black Theology (Young)
• C. S. Lewis and Theology (Humphrey)
• 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, Young)
• History of Biblical Interpretation (Woo, Ferda)
• The Idea of Scripture in Ancient Israel (Tuell)
• Liberation Theology (Farrell, 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 Imagination
• 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)
• Worship in the Bible and the History of the Church (Humphrey)

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

Cathy Brall
Director of Field Education
cbrall@pts.edu
412-924-1404

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
ddavenport@pts.edu
412-924-1385

Erin Davenport
Director of the Miller Summer Youth Institute
edavenport@pts.edu

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
Visiting 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
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

Edith M. Humphrey
William F. Orr Professor of New Testament
ehumphrey@pts.edu
412-924-1424

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

David Morse
Adjunct Professor of Methodist Studies
dmorse@pts.edu
412-924-1383

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 Church Planting Initiative
krohrer@pts.edu
412-924-1412

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

R. Drew Smith
Professor of Urban Ministry
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 of Bible and Archaeology
rtappy@pts.edu
412-924-1427

Ayana Teter
Director of Vocational Discernment and Placement
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
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty and 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

John Welch
Vice President for Student Services and Community Engagement / Dean of Students
jwelch@pts.edu
412-924-1401

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