As of today, I am fully underway in pursuit of a Doctor of Theology Degree at Northwest Nazarene University. These past couple of months I have been working on the introductory course (“Introduction to Online Theological Research”). Today I begin my first “real” course: Theological Method and Contextualization.

This is why I have not made a post in the last two months. As I settle into a new rhythm of research and writing, I hope to return to my weekly Monday posts. This will be a helpful outlet for me to reflect on my studies in a non-academic setting as I consider how this work gets lived out in local congregations.

Podcast

Amanda and I still hope to occasionally post podcasts with interviews with local pastors around the country. These probably will not be produced on any kind of regular basis for the foreseeable future. But if we can get a few out a year, that will be a success!

Dissertation

Ultimately, my call is to and for the local church. Any work that I do – including doctoral work – must connect to God’s work in local settings. While I am still early on in the process, I want my dissertation to focus on the local church. How does our theology impact what we think a local church is and what a local church does? What does it mean when we think of God’s “activity” in a local church? What is God’s role, and what role is left for the people who make up the congregation? These are the kinds of questions I will be asking.

To answer these questions, I will be engaging specifically the theology of John Wesley and Karl Barth. I believe that a conversation between Wesley and Barth can bear much fruit for how we think about the local church.

As mentioned previously, I still call dibs on my book idea: Wesley, Barth, and Coffee!