I occasionally teach courses for other institutions, but my main place of work is a fascinating school called the Scottish Baptist College. Located on the Paisley campus of the University of the West of Scotland, it offers various modes of study (on-site, online, full-time and part-time), and has been supporting people preparing for Christian service for over 125 years. As it seeks to equip people to participate in God’s kingdom through the church and in the wider world, its ministry is primarily focussed on Scotland, but international (online) students are very welcome too.

I have been involved in the field of education for most of my adult life – first as a language teacher, and later as a theologian. Teaching, for me at least, is first and foremost a privilege of participating in the transformation of others – and, inevitably, of myself.

I prefer to work in small institutions, which meant that over the years I’ve taught a whole range of subjects. Sometimes I’ve been cross with myself for saying ‘yes’ to teaching in an area outside of my immediate specialisms, but by the end of the process I’ve always been grateful for that spur to delve into yet another fascinating field of study.

Here, then, is a list of the main areas:

  • Spiritual Formation
  • Theology and Academic Skills
  • Theology and Practice of Preaching
  • Theology and Practice of Worship
  • Theology and Practice of Leadership
  • Sermon on the Mount: Text–History of Interpretation–Ethical Implications
  • Theology and Environment
  • World Religions
  • Ethics

Photo credit: Viljar Roosimaa

I am a Senior Research Fellow and doctoral supervisor at the IBTS – a collaborative centre within the Faculty of Religion and Theology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. IBTS has a strong communal ethos and doctoral supervision is done in teams. Working together with another supervisor allows for an even more vibrant and enriching process for all involved, and especially for the PhD candidate.

Doing a PhD is a long journey – often longer, more transformative and more challenging than a doctoral student envisions at the start of their studies! My role as a supervisor is to accompany them in this journey: to offer advice and feedback, to help them to keep going, and, perhaps most importantly, to listen to them really attentively so that I can help them discern what would be at the heart of their project. This is especially important in the early stages of the doctoral journey, when a student is juggling and wrestling with too many ideas and questions, but it can play a key role later on, too, as their work develops and matures. Needless to say, I learn a lot from and with each of my PhD students.  

Completed PhD projects:

  • Christian Peacemaking in the context of Convictions, Scripture and Conflict
  • Traditional Worship in Baptist Churches in Belarus: Formation, Features, and Internal Conflicts

 

Current PhD projects:

  • Inviting Response(ability): Developing a Learning-Centered Homiletic
  • Free Church Identity & Conversion: Exploring Danish free church ecclesial identity through recent converts life stories in an urban context
  • Listening Well: Pastoral Ethnography as Baptist Congregational Discernment
  • The Rule of God in a Baptist Approach to Scripture