South Cook News

Trinity International University issued the following announcement on Nov. 1

The 2021–22 recipients of the John Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement are Mike Strand, Jamie Thompson, Ben Wayman, Bob Munshaw, Nic Gibson, Chris Ganski, and Daniel Houck. This year, the Creation Project is focusing on the Christian doctrine of humanity, and these churches will be engaging the topic in ways that attend to the intersection of theology and science in the church.

In his book “Balanced Christianity,” John Stott gave the following assessment of the evangelical theology of his day: “We have tended to have a good doctrine of redemption and a bad doctrine of creation. Of course we have paid lip service to the truth that God is the Creator of all things, but we seem to have been blind to its implications.”1 Stott had in view the assumption, often implicit, made by evangelicals that God’s primary concern is religious in nature—worship services, prayer meetings, and the like—rather than being concerned with the whole of life.

While progress within evangelical theology has been made since Stott first penned those words, much work remains, and the stakes have only gotten higher. Many of the most culturally divisive issues facing the church today have roots in the Christian doctrine of the creation of humanity. Questions of identity, whether social or individual; the grounds of our common humanity, whether theological or scientific; the existence or nonexistence of a discernible human nature. Not only do the answers of Christian teaching to these questions speak to the divisions which mark our current moment, they also hold implications for the most intimate of all questions that confront us: who and what are we?

These questions present an urgent challenge to the church. And now, just as in Stott’s day, it is pastors who are charged with the task of guiding the church—through study; through discussion and teaching; and through proclamation of what Scripture teaches about who and what we are as creatures made in the image of God.

The Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement is the program of the Creation Project that is designed to support pastors and their congregations as they seek to live faithfully as Christians in an age of science. This year’s recipients and their congregations will be seeking to better understand the Christian doctrine of humanity with the courage and humility that Stott himself modeled and encouraged. We are pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Stott award.

2021–22 Recipients

The Award is given to six pastors and congregations each year, and the Award recipients are determined on a competitive basis. This year’s recipients include a range of denominations and they come from across the United States.

Mike Strand the Lead Pastor of South Suburban in Apple Valley, Minnesota. He has served churches in Wyoming and Colorado in various positions before coming back home to Minnesota and South Suburban.

Jamie Thompson serves as executive pastor at Edgewood Community Church in Waupun, WI. Jamie holds an MDiv from TEDS and a DMin from Denver Seminary where his studies focused on how God uses nature to grow our faith.

Ben Wayman is senior pastor at St. Paul’s Free Methodist Church and the James F. and Leona N. Andrews Chair in Christian Unity & Associate Professor of Theology at Greenville University. Bob Munshaw is the Pastor of Christian Education at St. Paul’s Free Methodist Church and Instructor of Theology at Greenville University.

Nic Gibson has been leading Christian ministries in the secular landscape for over 20 years and has pastored in three growing churches in Illinois, Florida, and Wisconsin. He has been the Lead Pastor of High Point Church in Madison, WI, for 11 years.

Chris Ganski is founding pastor of City Reformed Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He holds an M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Marquette University.

Daniel Houck has served as senior pastor of Calvary Hill since 2018. He holds an M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in theology from Southern Methodist University.

Original source can be found here.