Dr. James E. Pedlar
Title & Contact Info
Donald N. and Kathleen G. Bastian Chair of Wesley Studies;
Professor of Theology; Director, ThM Program
Email: jpedlar [at] tyndale.ca
Phone: 416.226.6620 ext. 2215
Personal Website
Academic Credentials
BA (Hons), Queen’s University, 2002
MDiv, Wycliffe College / University of Toronto, 2005
PhD, University of St. Michael’s College, 2013
Areas of Specialization
Wesleyan theology, ecclesiology, unity and diversity in the church, renewal and reform movements
Biography
Rev. Dr. James Pedlar is a Wesleyan theologian whose scholarship focuses on ecclesiology – especially questions involving renewal and reform movements and the unity of the church. These themes feature in his recently-published book, British Methodist Revivalism and the Eclipse of Ecclesiology. His earlier book, Division, Diversity, and Unity, explored the use of the Pauline concept of “charisms” as a way of thinking about the unique gifts that renewal movements bring to the life of the church.
Dr. Pedlar is a past President of the Wesleyan Theological Society and a Fellow at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre, where he supervises doctoral students. He is Co-Editor of the academic journal, Wesley and Methodist Studies, and a member of the Review Board for the Wesley Works Digitization Project. Each spring, he convenes Tyndale’s Wesley Studies Symposium, an event that fosters Canadian scholarship on the Wesleyan tradition.
As an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church in Canada, Dr. Pedlar serves on the denomination's Study Commission on Doctrine and leads the worship ministry at Wesley Chapel in Scarborough. He has previously ministered in various roles with The Salvation Army and the Canadian Council of Churches, and represented the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada for seven years on the Canadian Roman Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue.
Popular Courses
- Theology of John Wesley: Renewing the Heart Renewing the Church
- Creation, New Creation, and Creation Stewardship
- Theology of Church Renewal: Movements of the Spirit
Favourite Place on Campus
I love to go to the path at the back of campus and look out over the hill leading down to the East Don River. It is a wonderful place to reflect on the beauty of God's creation!Favourite Place in Toronto
The Toronto Reference Library is one of my favourite places to work. It's an interesting building with lots of study spaces, a fantastic coffee shop (Balzac's) and a used book store with unbeatable deals.Faculty Publications
- British Methodist Revivalism and the Eclipse of Ecclesiology (2024) (Book)
- The Natural and Supernatural Worlds (2023) (Chapter)
- Methodism (2021) (Article)
- Sermons (2021) (Article)
- Schism and the Spirit in Hugh Bourne's Theology (2018) (Article)
- “Separate but Non-Sectarian: The Salvation Army’s Place in the History of Wesleyan Ecclesial Division.” (2017) (Article)
- Holiness Tradition (2016) (Article)
- “O Boundless Salvation”: Save Souls, Grow Saints, and Serve Suffering Humanity – The Army's Holistic Vision (2016) (Chapter)
- Division, Diversity, and Unity: A Theology of Ecclesial Charisms (2015) (Book)
- Universal Atonement or Ongoing Incarnation? Comparing the Missional Theologies of William Booth and Isaac Hecker (2015) (Article)
- Ecclesial Institutions as Means of Grace: A Wesleyan View of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Church (2014) (Article)
- "His Mercy is Over All His Works": John Wesley's Mature Vision of the New Creation (2013) (Article)
- Sensing the Spirit: Wesley’s Empiricism and his Use of the Language of Spiritual Sensation (2012) (Article)
- Doctrine in The Salvation Army Tradition (2010) (Article)
- Episcopacy and the Sovereignty of the Spirit: ARCIC on Authority as a Response to Miroslav Volf (2009) (Article)