If I might do a little bragging, or rather, praising God: I'm very thankful for the way that the CUAA-CUW merger has led to an increase in theology offerings and new programs which in turn required calling more theologians. We currently have a theology faculty which could staff a small seminary. Our expertise covers all the key areas of theological studies.
Rev. Dr. Phil Penhallegon (since 2004) is our Old Testament and Hebrew expert. He served as the proofreader for the Bartelt Hebrew book in use by the seminaries. Currently working on a CPH commentary on Esther, he’s also highly competent in New Testament and Greek. Among students and alumni he is probably best known for his Old Testament timeline that helps his students grasp the big picture of God’s salvific work in anticipation of Christ.
Rev. Dr. Ryan Peterson (since 2013), with a degree in leadership and ministry management, is our practical theologian and also serves as campus pastor. He covers many of the core introductory courses and also takes advanced courses with a practical emphasis. He regularly speaks and preaches at district and national events, convocations, and youth gatherings.
Dr. Peterson leads a discussion at the nursing school.
Rev. Dr. Ted Hopkins (since 2015) came from Saint Louis three years before where he taught systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, specifically Christology and soteriology. His theological interest is in the church’s relationship with the world, especially considering the challenges of the twenty-first century. The majority of his works seeks to build a theological basis for the church’s life and mission in the world, rooted in Christology. He wrote on the topic most recently in Concordia Journal (Fall 2017). In addition, he edited a book on the church with Dr. Robert Kolb called Inviting Community in 2013. He has published essays on mission, ecclesiology, ministry, theology of creation, and more. His rich engagement with modern theology includes figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse from whom he continues to find resources from the tradition of the church to challenge and address the modern world.
Rev. Dr. Scott Yakimow (since 2017) comes to us after spending five years as a mechanical engineer working in hydraulics, another four as a missionary in both East Africa and Morocco, and five years as an Associate Professor at Concordia—Portland. His academic interests cover the areas of philosophical theology and comparative religion. He investigates such diverse areas as Lutheran confessional theology, pragmatic philosophy, ethics, scriptural exegesis and Islam, which is an area where he also holds a Masters degree. He teaches ethics at CUAA as well as other upper division courses along with some of the academic core courses.
Yours Truly (since 2001) has no PhD but four masters degrees. This equips me with competence in Greek, Latin, New Testament, and early Church history. The plan for my PhD dissertation in History of Exegesis is the exegetical grounding for the patristic teaching on divinization, especially how Psalm 82:6 has been interpreted through the centuries. And when it comes to teaching Luther, we have to arm wrestle over who gets the class because we all love the 16th century restoration of clear Gospel proclamation.
We currently have a theology faculty which could staff a small seminary.
There was a point, not too long ago, when Dr. Penhallegon and I were the only men left standing. In the last 5 years, the rebuild in our department has been wonderful to witness. It’s exciting to think how God may use this strength in our department to inform and energize the work of the new Maier Center for Evangelism and Apologetics on campus. [By the way, consider inviting one of these guys to your congregation, circuit or pastors conference. They’re also great speakers and teachers.]
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