Seminary Faculty Updates
Tyndale Seminary faculty members are researching and teaching across a diverse range of academic disciplines. The following are some recent contributions that faculty members have made to their fields:
Dr. James Beverley, Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics, is the editor of Volume 2 of the ninth edition of Gordon Melton’s famous encyclopedia Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions. Volume 2 covers 340 religious groups in Canada. On July 5, Dr. Beverley underwent open heart surgery and is on medical leave for the fall semester.
Dr. Mark Chapman, Associate Professor of Research Methods and Assistant Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, co-authored the article “Canadian Christian Churches as Partners in Immigrant Settlement and Integration” to be published in the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies. He was also a co-author of a forthcoming article titled “Canadian Christian Churches and Immigrant Support: An Organizational Ecology Perspective” for the Review of Religious Research. In June he participated in the Canadian Evangelicalism Researchers Panel at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s Evangelicalism Forum in Toronto, Ontario. He was also promoted over the summer from assistant professor to associate professor.
Dr. Rupen Das, Research Professor of Social Justice, Compassion and Development, published the article “Relevance and Faithfulness: Challenges in Contextualizing Theological Education” in InSights Journal for Global Theological Education with the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). He also wrote a book review of Bruce W. Longenecker’s Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty and the Greco-Roman World for the Journal of European Baptist Studies.
Dr. Rebecca Idestrom, Associate Professor of Old Testament, travelled to Durham, England, in July to present her paper "Show Me Your Glory (Exodus 33:18): An Exegetical Analysis of Moses' Request in the Context of Exodus 32–34" at the Exploring the Glory of God conference. This paper comes out of her research for her forthcoming book Show Me Your Glory: The Glory of God in the Old Testament.
Dr. Ronald Kydd, Associate Professor of Church History, spoke at the 5th International Conference on Jingjian, Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia in June. The event was held in Salzburg, Austria, and his lecture was titled “More Light on Dunhuang Christianity.” His paper “Growing Evidence of Christianity’s Establishment in China in the Late-Patristic Era,” which he presented at the XVII International Conference on Patristic Studies in Oxford last August will be appearing in Studia Patristica. He is continuing to focus on Christianity in Central Asia and China prior to 1400 AD, which involves reviewing artifacts he was shown during an extensive trip through China in 2014.
Dr. Barbara Leung Lai, Research Professor of Old Testament, published her article titled “Father, Eternal and Unchanging” in the journal NIV, Understand the Faith Study Bible, Hardcover: Grounding Your Beliefs in the Truth of Scripture. She travelled to Beijing, China, in June along with Rev. Warren Lai, Director of the Hudson Taylor Centre for Chinese Ministries. They visited the Department of Chinese Culture and Language at Renmin University and the Yanjing Theological Seminary and met with the presidents, faculty and graduates at both schools. They also met with the pastoral staff of Haidian Church and preached at the English Service and Bible Study Hour of Fengtai Church.
Dr. Kevin Livingston, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry, gave three talks from the Book of Ruth during the St. Andrew’s Scarborough Presbyterian Church Retreat at Geneva Park YMCA Camp in Orillia, Ontario, on April 16 and 17. His lectures were titled “No Little People – Life Lessons from the Book of Ruth.” Currently on sabbatical from Tyndale Seminary, Dr. Livingston has been selected to be a Visiting Fellow at New College, University of Edinburgh, in Scotland for the fall term. He is conducting research on the theology of preaching and biblical models of unity in times of deep conflict among God’s people.
Dr. Dennis Ngien, Professor of Systemic Theology, Director ThM Program, hosted the annual Centre for Mentorship and Theological Reflection event in the Tyndale Chapel on June 4. The event included a lecture by Dr. Robert Henry, and Rev. Dr. Peter Au, the principal of Canadian Chinese School of Theology (CCST), was honored with the Senior Churchman Award in recognition of his contributions as scholar-teacher-shepherd. Dr. Ngien also gave a lecture at the event titled “The Triune God of Comfort: God’s Pain and Human Sorrow.” From June 9 to 12, he spoke at the Mission and Revival in Chinese Evangelical Church event in Manila, Philippines. His lecture was titled “Rekindled by the Gospel.” On June 19, he preached his sermon “Grieve Not the Holy Spirit” at Telok Ayer Methodist in Singapore. He also attended Dr. J.I. Packer’s 90th birthday celebration at Regent College and contributed a chapter titled “The Economic Actions of the Holy Spirit in Luther’s Sermons on John” to the Festschrift for Dr. Pack at the occasion.
Dr. James Pedlar, Assistant Professor of Wesley Studies and Theology, authored a chapter in the book Saved, Sanctified, and Serving – Perspectives on Salvation Army Theology and Practice, edited by Denis Metrustery, in the Paternoster Theological Monographs series. The chapter is titled “‘O Boundless Salvation’: Save Souls, Grow Saints, and Serve Suffering Humanity – The Army’s Holistic Vision.”
Dr. Pedlar and his family spent the summer in the United Kingdom, where he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre. He spent the majority of his time at the world-renowned John Rylands Library, looking through rare books and unpublished manuscripts written by Hugh Bourne (1772-1852), co-founder of the Primitive Methodist Connexion. This research was part of Dr. Pedlar's ongoing work on Wesleyan ecclesiology.
Dr. David Sherbino, Professor of Spirituality and Pastoral Ministry, published his book A Basic Guide for a Personal Retreat with Castle Quay. It won the Word Guild Award for the best publication in the Instructional category. In May 2016, he spoke at the Conference on Ministry and Disability at the Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, in preparation for the introduction of a new program on ministry and disability at Tyndale. Dr. Sherbino was also the presenter at the North Toronto Minister’s conference on Spiritual Formation in Ministry and concluded a year-long assignment as the lead minister at Paris Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Yau Man Siew, Associate Professor of Christian Education and Formation, wrote an article titled "Forming the Practice of Theological Education", published in Insights Journal for Global Theological Education. The article was part of a series by former doctoral students to honour the late Ted W. Ward, who after 30 years as Professor Emeritus of Education at Michigan State University, occupied the Aldeen Chair of Missions, Education and International Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The full article is titled "Ted Ward: A Global Legacy."
Dr. Siew also presented a paper at the Annual Conference of Society of Professors of Christian Education from October 27 to 29 in Orlando, Florida. His paper was titled "A Case Study in Adult Discipleship: Insiders' Stories of Apprenticeship to Jesus in Community at an Anglican Church in Urban Toronto." His study explored how discipleship is understood, envisioned, facilitated and expressed among clergy and adults at one of the largest evangelical Anglican churches in Toronto, Ontario. He also presented the study to the ministry team at St. Paul's Bloor Street Anglican Church on April 12.