Dr. David C. Kirkpatrick: On Latin American Evangelicals and the Holistic Healing of the Gospel

03/29/22 • 39 min

Joining Foreword this week is Dr. David C. Kirkpatrick, Assistant Professor of Religion at James Madison University. David is a historian of religion, politics, and social movements working at the intersection of Latin America and the United States. He completed a PhD. at the University of Edinburgh’s prestigious Centre for the Study of World Christianity, but not before passing his way through TEDS, earning an MDiv and MA in Intercultural Studies. Dr. Fellipe do Vale and Dr. Madison Pierce have a lovely conversation about David’s work on Latin American Evangelicals and their contributions to understandings of how evangelicalism is defined.

David’s work focuses on 20th-century figures like René Padilla, Samuel Escobar, and Orlando Costas, evangelical theologians who called for a holistic understanding of the gospel that extended to concern for the poor as a corrective to approaches that neglected such dimensions. They trained alongside and in conversation with familiar figures like John Stott and Carl F.H. Henry, yet often speaking from convictions forged in their own Latin American contexts. There is something noticeably distinct about these figures; while they are recognizably evangelical in their doctrinal commitments, they also differed strongly from their North American conversation partners on social issues, even whether Christians ought to engage them, and David brings out these differences well. This, of course, is a fundamental question about what the gospel is and its relationship to every element of life, and the answer of these evangelicals is illuminating for the contemporary concerns of many Christians. Finally, David shares about his rewarding experiences teaching in a research university as a Christian.

Along the way, listeners will discover...

What makes the state of Wisconsin so wonderful
What Madison was like as a seminary classmate
Which TEDS professors had the biggest impact on David in shaping his studies

To learn more about Dr. David C. Kirkpatrick, we encourage you to check out his book, and keep an eye out for his two other forthcoming books, Global Visions of Violence: Agency and Persecution in World Christianity and Blood and Borders: Violence and Intolerance at the Intersection of Latin America and the United States. See also his department page at JMU, where he teaches some excellent courses!

Along the way, listeners will discover...

What makes the state of Wisconsin so wonderful
What Madison was like as a seminary classmate
Which TEDS professors had the biggest impact on David in shaping his studies

Previous Episode

Leslie Rogers: On Developing Leaders and Caring for Students

Leslie Rogers, who is the Director of the Intercultural Development Office here at Trinity, joins Dr. Joshua Jipp and Dr. Michelle Knight for a conversation. The IDO serves to “promote unity in diversity through engaging students in each of their journeys through identity development, spiritual formation, and intercultural competency,” and Leslie’s brilliant vision and commitment helps make it the beautiful place that it is.

Josh and Michelle begin by asking Leslie about her story, a truly inspiring account of how she originally did not want to attend university but was inspired to do so by Rev. Dr. Charlie Dates (a friend of the pod!). During her time, positive interactions with professors and nourishment from her community helped her to find an inroad in academic study, ultimately earning both her undergraduate degree and MDiv at Trinity. During this time, Leslie developed a passion for developing leaders with a special focus not so much on garnering a platform but in shaping their character in the entirety of who they are. Being well-acquainted with the school, Leslie also shares what she considers to be the blessings and shortcomings of being at TIU. She loves the togetherness and proximity a Christian university offers, but realizes that there is a challenge to being a Black woman in an evangelical institution, especially in its limitations with regard to offering students of color an opportunity to learn deeply from their own communities. She helpfully provides some advice for those facing similar challenges, assuring students that God sees them, validates them, and grants them dignity and worth. She also recommends having designated places of “refilling” in order to avoid being burnt out.

Along the way, listeners will also discover...

Which Foreword spouse has preached alongside Leslie
How good of a cook Michelle really is
The value and benefit of having a good community as one studies

Leslie’s directorship of the Intercultural Development Office is truly impressive, and you can learn more about it here. You can also enjoy Leslie’s preaching and writing here, and be sure not to miss her podcast, In Process, which explores Christian leadership.

Next Episode

Dr. Ahmi Lee: On Preaching God’s Grand Drama

Our final guest for the season is Dr. Ahmi Lee, author of God’s Grand Drama: A Biblical Theological Approach. Ahmi is an MDiv. graduate of TEDS, and she also gave the 42nd Annual Rohm Lectures on Preaching on campus this year. She has taught at Fuller Theological Seminary, and is now the Chief Partnership Officer at Resource Global, a Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping young professionals for having an impact for the gospel in their contexts. She is interviewed by Dr. Michelle Knight and Dr. Madison Pierce.

Ahmi begins by sharing her calling to develop Christian marketplace leaders to make a difference for Christ at Resource Global, along with her prior experiences teaching preaching at Fuller. Her discovery of this calling originated from a life of preaching and ministry, beginning in South Korea and Japan. The secular and pluralistic environment she encountered in Japan instilled in her a desire to share the gospel to those around her. Ahmi reflects how these experiences taught her how to be a flexible preacher who listens to her or his people in order to identify areas where God is already working. She also speaks about how the church can be both faithful and faithless, beautiful and ugly, but how God still operates through all of it. The group then shift to discuss Ahmi’s book on preaching. She notes how her approach splits the difference between a more traditional, propositional approach and a more listener-based approach. To do so, she recommends four “perspectives” to which the preacher ought to attend when she or he preaches. From there she talks about her future project on the office of the pastor and the benefits the early church can provide. In particular, there are lessons to be learned from these figures on how to preach during difficult times. She concludes with some recommendations on how to prepare sermons, the role of delight in that process, and how one’s understanding of God ought to be formative.

Along the way, listeners will discover...

What it’s like to do street preaching in Japan when you’re a highschooler
Ahmi’s hopes for pastors and teachers as they construct beautiful things
The best tools for preaching in a way that invites others into God’s great drama

To learn more about Dr. Ahmi Lee, you can watch her Rohm Lecture here, you can watch the follow-up Q&A here, you can acquire her book here, or you can see the kind of work she does with Resource Global here.