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Board of Advisors
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James V. Brownson
His passion is to equip students to understand the gospel both in its stunning simplicity and in its incredibly diverse applications to our lives. His scholarly and teaching interests include the Gospel of John, the Synoptic Gospels, biblical hermeneutics, contextual theology, and theology in service to the church. Dr. Brownson also serves Western Theological Seminary as Academic Dean, James and Jean Cook Professor of New Testament, and has contributed significantly to recent revisions in Western?s M.Div. curriculum He is deeply involved in service to the Reformed Church in America, both in theological scholarship and in theological education. He is a long-standing member of the Gospel and Our Culture Network and a contributor to its ongoing research and publication. Dr. Brownson is the author of Speaking the Truth in Love: New Testament Resources for a Missional Hermeneutic, and a co-author of StormFront. He often contributes to a variety of journals and magazines as well. Inagrace T. Dietterich
Inagrace's research and writing form the biblical and theological foundations for the Center's consulting and teaching processes. She has participated as part of an ecumenical team from the Gospel and our Culture Network for the writing of two books published by Eerdmans: Missional Church: A Theological Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America and StormFront: The Good News of God. Inagrace is married to Paul Dietterich, the Executive Director of the Center for Parish Development, and together they have six children and ten grandchildren. Richard Foster
Richard Foster grew up among Evangelical Friends. In adult life, he has been a Friends pastor and a professor of theology at Friends University among the many positions he has held. In his books and speaking, he frequently makes reference to Quaker historical figures and his own Quakerism. Foster is the founder of Renovaré, which "is committed to working for the renewal of the Church of Jesus Christ in all her multifaceted expressions." Renovaré holds regional and local conferences bringing together Christians across denominational lines for renewal. Darrell GuderDr. Guder was appointed to the Henry Winters Luce Chair of Missional and Ecumenical Theology effective January 1, 2002. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hamburg in Germany and has served on the faculties of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Columbia Theological Seminary. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister whose scholarship focuses on the church and its mission. Dr. Guder drafted chapter one of "Missional Church: From Sending to Being Sent"; chapter eight, "Missional Structures: The Particular Community"; and chapter nine, "Missional Connectedness: The Community of Communities in Mission." In 2000 he published The Continuing Conversion of the Church: Evangelization as the Heart of Ministry. George Hunsberger
Dr. Hunsberger is coordinator of the Gospel and Our Culture Network in North America, whose administrative home is Western Seminary, and he edits the network's newsletter. He is the author of Bearing the Witness of the Spirit: Lesslie Newbigin's Theology of Cultural Plurality, co-author of Missional Church: A Theological Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, and co-editor of Christian Ethics in Ecumenical Context: Theology, Culture, and Politics in Dialogue and The Church Between Gospel and Culture. He has also contributed many articles and reviews to missiological, Reformed, and Presbyterian journals. Pat KeifertPatrick Keifert is Professor of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. He has also been an adjunct professor at the School of Law, Hamline University, St. Paul, since 1984. Brian McLaren
He has also written and published music, having been a semiprofessional musician back in his college days. In fact, several of his compositions are favorites at Cedar Ridge. In his free time he is an avid outdoorsman with a keen interest in nature. Leon@rd SweetAuthor of more than one hundred articles, over four hundred published sermons,and eighteen books, Len was the writer (along with his wife Karen Elizabeth Rennie) for nine years of Homiletics, which became under his watch the premier preaching resource in North America. His best-selling book FaithQuakes (1994), selected that year as one of the "10 best religion books" and "10 must-read books" was followed by Health and Medicine in the Evangelical Tradition (1994), Communication & Change in American Religious History (1994), Strong in the Broken Places (1995), an audio seminar with Rick Warren called The Tides of Change (1995) and The Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life (1996). More recent books include Eleven Genetic Gateways to Spiritual Awakening (1998), A Cup of Coffee at the SoulCafe (1998), and his successor book to FaithQuakes, the new best-seller SoulTsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture (1999). SoulTsunami wa the first in a trilogy of third millennium resources to help leaders come to terms with postmodern culture. The second installment, AquaChurch, was published in July of 1999. Where SoulTsunami covers the waterfront and scans the upcoming horizon, AquaChurch is designed specifically to show how to "do church" in this new world. How to "do life" is the focus of the third volume, SoulSalsa: 17 Surprising Steps to Godly Living, which hit the bookstores in May 2000 at the same time an original theme song for the book "SoulSalsa" hit the charts (you had to be age six to like it). Each book in Len's pmX trilogy has its own website and multi-medial components, some of which have already received national awards. One was even nominated for a Grammy. In 2000 two more books appeared. Postmodern Pilgrims: 1st Century Passion for a 21st Century World, and the first religion e-book on Amazon.com written as an e-book, The Dawn Mistaken for Dusk: If God So Loved the World, Why Can't We? The e-book will come out in expanded print form in early 2001 under the title Carpe Manana. Also appearing in 2001 is a leadership text based on the life of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. It is tentatively entitled The Music of Leadership: The Power of Voice. Founder and President of SpiritVenture Ministries (SVM), in 1995 Len launched Sweet's SoulCafe, a spirituality newsletter for postmoderns that was purchased by Broadman & Holman Publishing. His privately published notebook ChartNotes sold-out even before it was published. Current projects include The Jesus Meme, a biography of Phoebe Palmer in the American religion biography series, The ABCs of Postmodern Ministry: A Postmodern Primer, And Glory Crowns the Mercy Seat: The Art of Abductive Preaching, a group creativity game (Futuribles), a Web-based preaching resource (PreachingPlus.com), Len's first novel (Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress), and a multi-media leadership resource yet untitled. Len has served a term on the council of the American Society of Church History, was an associate editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion for ten years, and is a member of numerous professional groups. An honors and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Richmond, he earned his Master of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. The recent recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Richmond (Virginia), Baker University (Kansas), Otterbein College (Ohio) and Lebanon Valley College (Pennsylvania), Len has held distinguished lectureships at various colleges, universities and seminaries, and has presented academic papers before major professional societies. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences, state conventions, pastors' schools, retreats, anda featured columnist for REV. Eugene Peterson
Dallas Willard
His undergraduate studies were at William Jewell College, Tennessee Temple College (B.A., 1956, Psychology) and Baylor University (B.A., 1957, Philosophy and Religion); and his Graduate education was at Baylor University and the University of Wisconsin (Ph. D., 1964: Major in Philosophy, Minor in the History of Science). His philosophical publications are mainly in the areas of epistemology, the philosophy of mind and of logic, and on the philosophy of Edmund Husserl, including extensive translations of Husserl's early writings from German into English. His Logic and the Objectivity of Knowledge, a study of Husserl's early philosophy, appeared in 1984. He also lectures and publishes in religion: Renovation of the Heart was published in April 2002, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God was released in 1998 and selected Christianity Today's "Book of the Year" for 1999. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives appeared in 1988, and Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God (1999) first appeared as In Search of Guidance in 1984 (2nd edition 1993). He has served on the boards of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University, and is a member of numerous evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (accreditation). Former AdvisorsBill BrightIt is with a sadness and a deep sense of loss that I confirm the death of Dr. Bright, on July 19th, 2003. I had the privelidge to know Bill Bright since 1998 and currently serve as a board member of the Bill Bright Foundation. His friendship and commitment to Jesus had a profound impact on my life. His encouragement and words will forever live on in the deepest part of my heart and continue to shape my life. I will miss him. — Mark Priddy, Founder and Director Allelon Foundation; Eagle, Id. August 2003 William R. ("Bill") Bright (1921-2003) graduated from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and a minor in sociology. While a student, Dr. Bright served as editor of the university yearbook, was student body president, was chosen as a ember of Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, and was selected by students and faculty as the year's outstanding graduate. After graduation, he joined the extension faculty of Oklahoma State University. He later moved to Los Angeles where he launched a successful business career. While in California, Dr. Bright attended the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood. Largely through the influence of his mother's prayers and that church, he became a Christian in 1945 and then began an intensive study of the Bible. His studies led him to almost five years of graduate work at Princeton and Fuller theological seminaries, while still continuing his business interests. It was while a seminary student at Fuller that the young Bright felt the call of God to help fulfill Christ's Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). He began by sharing Christ with students on campus at UCLA, an activity that soon became a full-time calling, and which gave birth to the present worldwide ministr of Campus Crusade for Christ International. From a small beginning in 1951, the organization he began and still directs now has, in January 1, 2002, more than 25,000 full-time staff and over 553,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population. What began as a campus ministry now covers almost every segment of society with more than 70 special ministries and projects which reach out to students, inner cities, governments, prisons, families, the military, executives, musicians, athletes, and many others. Stanley J. Grenz
Allelon Remembers and Honors Stan Grenz Stanley J. Grenz was born in Alpena, Michigan, on January 7, 1950, the youngest of three children of the Rev. and Mrs. Richard A. Grenz. Stan is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder (Bachelor of Arts with distinction, 1973), Denver Seminary (M.Div. with honors, 1976), and the University of Munich, Germany (D.Theol. magna cum laude, 1978), where he wrote a dissertation entitled "Isaac Backus--Puritan and Baptist" under the supervision of Wolfhart Pannenberg. Stan's academic excellence as a student was applauded through membership in Phi Beta Kappa (University of Colorado) and by being the recipient of the Robert G. Kay Scholastic Award (Denver Seminary). During his professional career, he has been the recipient of a Fulbright Grant for sabbatical study in Munich, Germany (1987-1988) as well as a Theological Research Fellowship awarded by the Association of Theological Schools (1993), and he was named a fellow with the Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theoloy program (1999-2000). Stan has also been included in two editions of Who's Who in Religion, as well as in the 2002 edition of Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, and Poets. On June 13, 1976, Stan was ordained into the gospel ministry. He has served as youth director and assistant pastor (Northwest Baptist Church, Denver, CO, 1971-1976), pastor (Rowandale Baptist Church, Winnipeg, MB 1979-1981), and interim pastor on three occasions. In addition he preached and lectured in numerous churches, colleges, universities and seminaries in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. Stan authored or co-authored twenty-three books, the most recent being The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of the Imago Dei (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001). He has seved as editor or co-editor for two Festschriften, contributed articles to over two dozen other volumes, and has seen to print over a hundred essays and an additional eighty book reviews. These have appeared in journals ranging from Christianity Today and the Christian Century to Christian Scholars Review, Theology Today, and the Journal of Ecumenical Studies. Several of these essays and books have won writing awards in the USA and Canada. | ||||||||||||
What is the gospel, and how does it address and transform our lives? This is the question that has shaped Jim Brownson?s academic and theological work. Jim?s teaching and thinking tends to move between close and careful readings of the biblical text and wide-ranging exercises in theological imagination that bring the biblical text into conversation with life in the modern and postmodern world.
Inagrace T. Dietterich is an ordained United Methodist minister who serves as the Director of Theological Research at the Center for Parish Development in Chicago, IL. She is a graduate of Wartburg Theological Seminary and has a Ph.D. in Christian Theology from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Reflecting a continuing interest, her Ph.D. dissertation was entitled "Toward A Theology of the Holy Spirit."
Perhaps the best known Quaker in the world today is Richard J. Foster, although many are at most dimly aware that he is associated with the Religious Society of Friends. He is clearly one of the leading contemporary writers and speakers on Christian spirituality. While maintaining his ties with Friends, Foster deliberately speaks to a much broader audience. 
George Hunsberger brings to the teaching of missiology a rich variety of personal experience. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he has been a campus staff member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; a pastor; a missionary team leader for Africa Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya; and a teacher at Princeton Theological Seminary and at his alma mater, Belhaven College. He came to Western in 1989, where he continues his special interests in exploring how the gospel speaks within and across cultures and in fostering congregations in North America who are missionaries for the encounter of the gospel with Western culture.
Brian McLaren is the founding pastor of 
Through his passion for the gospel as a pastor, professor, scholar and author, Eugene Peterson had demonstrated the power of the written word as a means of spreading the gospel. In addition to writing and contributing to more than 30 books, his most recognized work is the internationally acclaimed rendering of the Bible, titled The Message. Peterson has taught biblical languages and English Bible at New York Theological Seminary and served as a Presbyterian pastor for 35 years. A professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, he currently spends time in his Montana home working on book writing projects. Peterson's life spent interacting with people and observing the ways they think, talk, express feelings, and communicate urgency, fblueration, joy and hope, provided the foundation, coupled with his familiarity of the biblical languages, for his writing of The Message. In addition to The Message and his other book publications, Peterson has been a regular contributor to magazines read by pastors and scholars as well as other, less formal religious publications. He is often in demand as a guest lecturer and speaker. 
Dallas Willard is a Professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He has taught at USC since 1965, where he was Director of the School of Philosophy from 1982-1985. He has also taught at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, 1960-1965), and has held visiting appointments at UCLA (1969) and the University of Colorado (1984). 
As you are undoubtedly aware, the death of Dr. Stanley J. Grenz was a significant loss to the theological community and far beyond. A friend of Allelon, his contribution was greatly appreciated. 