Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • 10 reasons to come to Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota

    Bethel Seminary:

    1. Has a superbly-trained faculty from places like Cambridge, Duke, and Harvard who present at Society of Biblical Literature, American Academy of Religion, and Evangelical Theological Society, and publish widely in both popular settings and academic journals. 

    2. Emphasizes developing the Christian character and spiritual formation of the student. 

    3. Trains students in uniquely practical and academically rigorous ways in the areas of leadership, marriage and family therapy, and children's ministry.  

    4. Is located close to a marvelous variety of urban, hipster, edgy churches and ministries as well as megachurches in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

    5. Is less than 20 minutes from the centers of both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minneapolis-St. Paul is rated among the highest places to live in terms of physical health, parks, sports, arts, family life, economic growth, and affordability. See Infographic: 2013 Chart Topping American City: Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Aug 2, 2013).

    6. Has a medium-sized faculty which facilitates personal interaction between students and faculty. The faculty is also warmly supportive of women in ministry and encouraging to people from diverse backgrounds.  

    7. Is part of and shares the facilities of Bethel University–one of the largest of the Christian colleges. The seminary is located just a hundred yards along Valentine Lake from the gorgeous multi-million dollar student center–complete with leather chairs, coffee shop, dining center, and wireless internet. With permission, one might even take an elective or guided study with the excellent undergraduate faculty in biblical and theological studies or even integrate theological reflection with an art, history, science, or literature course. 

    8. Hits the liberal to conservative spectrum in a way that will resonate with many young evangelicals. 

    9. Is one of the most experienced schools in having their full-time faculty teach quality online and hybrid courses. It is at the forefront of schools offering seminary education to those already in ministry who want to take courses online and in 1-week intensives. 

    10. Offers many of these strengths through its East and West coast campuses: Seminary of the East in New England (Auburn, MA) and Washington, DC (Landover, MD) and Bethel Seminary San Diego.

    Of all the seminaries and divinity schools out there, Bethel is truly one of the top schools I would encourage people to consider. The graduates end up being very fine ministry practitioners–biblically and theologically-grounded, innovative, emotionally healthy, intellectually-serious, and well-rounded. So, crank through that application, register for a class online, and get started. Or stop by and sit in on a class and meet some students and faculty–say hello to me when you're here. We'd love to have you join us.

  • New Bethel Seminary Contact Information

    I have an office, phone, and email address at Bethel so thought I would post it.

    Andrew D. Rowell
    Instructor of Ministry Leadership
    Bethel Seminary 
    Mail Service Center box #7006
    3949 Bethel Dr
    Saint Paul, MN 55112
    Office phone: 651.638.6226
    Office: A207
    Email: a-rowell@bethel.edu
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyRowell
    Blog: http://www.andyrowell.net/

     

    http://seminary.bethel.edu/academics/faculty/st-paul/

    Name Andrew D. Rowell
    Email a-rowell@bethel.edu
    Department Ministry Leadership
    School SEM
    Title Instructor of Ministry Leadership
    Year started at Bethel 2013
    Education B.A., Taylor University; M.Div., Regent College; Th.D. (in progress), Duke Divinity School
    Bio Rowell is a new full-time tenure-track faculty member beginning in the fall of 2013. He brings pastoral experience in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and experience teaching Christian educational ministries at Taylor University. Most recently, he has been at Duke Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, NC the last six years doing his doctorate in theology. He is presently finishing his dissertation on Karl Barth's theology of the church. He has also written about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lesslie Newbigin, John Howard Yoder, church planting, church consulting, megachurches, trends in theological education, leadership literature, the quantitative study of congregations in sociology, university ministry, models of practical theology, and 1 Corinthians. He teaches evangelism, discipleship, and leadership at Bethel Seminary.
    URL http://www.andyrowell.net/

  • My Fall 2013 Required Textbooks at Bethel Seminary for Discipleship, Evangelism, and Leadership courses

    Here are the textbooks I am requiring for my three Ministry Leadership (ML) courses this fall at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN). I am teaching each of these courses this three times this year and I am teaching each in both traditional format as well as in an online or intensive format. I would love to have you. Registration begins today: July 1st, 2013. 

     

    ML 506: Discipleship in Community

    Parrett, Gary A., and S. Steve Kang. Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful: A Biblical Vision for Education in the Church. Downers Grove, IL.:
    IVP Academic, 2009. 

    This is a thoughtful theological treatment of teaching and theological formation in the church–drawing on the richness of the literature in Christian education, social science, and spiritual formation. Parrett is known as a superb person and teacher as well as (along with Kang) being cognizant of the need to be sensitive and thoughtful about diversity in the church. This is the preeminent text today for helping pastors grasp the spiritual formation task while equipping them for teaching effectiveness. Too many pastors know nothing beyond preaching and thus try to bring the lecture method into all settings including small groups and classrooms and are oblivious of the challenges and rewards of seeing adults, youth, children really learn and grow. 

     

    Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible. Vol. 5.
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1996.

    Bonhoeffer's Life Together is both a classic warning against pride in ministry leadership while also being an inspirational description of a passionate, creative, ecumenical, emergency attempt to form pastors for ministry. It is a classic and it only gets richer as one learns more about Bonhoeffer's life and his theological work from the beginning of his career to the end of it which reinforces his ideas here.

     

    ML 507: Missional Outreach and Evangelism

    Bowen, John P. Evangelism for "Normal" People: Good News for Those Looking for a Fresh Approach. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2002. 

    Bowen, with years of experience in post-Christian university contexts with Inter-Varsity university ministry as well as steeped in the biblical and theological thoughtfulness of evangelical Anglicanism, describes the process of inviting outsiders into Christian community. This textbook in evangelism by a leading professor of evangelism sketches the biblical and theological case behind virtually all of the thriving contemporary approaches to church and ministry today.

     

    Keller, Timothy J. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.
    New York: Dutton, 2008. 

    Keller, one of our most articulate theologically-interested church leaders is also one of the best examples of an effective evangelists in 2013. Here he plies his craft–knocking down objections to the Christian faith and making his case for it so as to make intellectually plausible the winsome life with Christ which he hopes Christians live out before their non-believing neighbors. 

     

    Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Grand Rapids,
    MI: Eerdmans, 1989.

    Newbigin, in his life and in this book, demonstrate the full scope of sophisticated philosophical reflection on epistemology in a pluralist world, strong biblical sensibilities, as well as an emphasis on the sociological demonstration of the gospel in the church. In Newbigin, we see a first-rate apologist, academic, missionary, pastor, and leader. 

     

    ML 523: Introduction to Transformational Leadership

    Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 6th ed., Thousand
    Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 

    Both of my colleagues teaching leadership at Bethel Seminary, Mark McCloskey and Justin Irving, also require this classic leadership textbook which familiarizes students with the latest in leadership theory and modeling.  

     

    Wren, J. Thomas. The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages. New York: Free Press, 1995. 

    This books provides readings from a variety of figures throughout history on leadership–fleshing out the analytical contemporary models and theories in the Northouse volume. 

     

    Yoder, John Howard. Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1992.

    This 80-page gem by genius theologian and ethicist John Howard Yoder gives a compelling description of what the church should look like. A leader in the church has the task for wrestling with how this vision compares with the status quo. We'll start the course with this to catalyze our reflection.