Associate Professor of Mission Studies
Presbyterian Church in Canada
Phone: 604-827-2097
Email: rlockhart (at) standrews (dot) edu
Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart
Biography
Ross Lockhart is Professor of Mission Studies at Vancouver School of Theology and Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall. Ross loves teaching, researching and writing in the area of practical theology, with a special emphasis upon missiology. Ross holds a PhD from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and is author of Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil. Ross is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Courses
- Spiritual and Theological Foundations for PPL - PT500 (3)
- Practicing Evangelism in a Post-Christendom World - SAH-PT5/750
- Missional Theology in a Post-Christendom World - SAH-TH6/723 (3.0)
- I Come to the Garden Alone? Church Planting in Post-Christendom - PT5/733 (VST)
- Practicing Evangelism in a Post-Christendom World - SAH-L5/700 (3)
- Catechesis & Community in Post-Christendom - ED5/700 (3.0)
Educational Background
Master of Divinity, Toronto School of Theology, 2003 Doctor of Ministry, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, 2009.
Area of teaching specialty
Missiology, Evangelism, Reformed Worship, Homiletics, Pastoral Theology
What makes you passionate about teaching?
As a Teaching Elder, I am called to equip the people of God for their vocation as witnesses in the world. Preparing leaders for Christ’s church of tomorrow/today is a great challenge and privilege. Watching students engage God’s Word and grow in holiness through their studies, for the sake of ministry in the world, is an incredible joy!
What inspires you about teaching at VST specifically?
There is no better place to prepare leaders for Christ’s church than the “rocky soil” of the increasingly secular/individualistic/materialistic Pacific Northwest. Teaching at VST enables me to prepare missionary disciples to lead in the ruins of Christendom. Part of the joy of this work at VST is engaging Christian friends on campus at St. Andrew’s Hall, Carey College, St. Mark’s College and Regent College.
What kind of student do you love having in your class?
Engaging students are much like the best parishioners or Elders I’ve experienced in the church: holy and humble and hungry to grow in holiness in their love of God in Christ for the sake of the world.
Current academic projects
I am interested in Missional Theology, New Monasticism, Church Planting/RePlanting and Christian witness within Cascadia/Pacific Northwest.
What do you see the future holding for you in your academic profession?
I am a pastor “seconded to the seminary” for this season of my Ordained life. My work is in support of Christ’s church for the sake of the world. As a theological educator, I see my role in the future being less about delivery of knowledge and more about partnering with my students in learning about God’s revelation through experimentation in the world.
What challenges do students face today that may represent new challenges with respect to changes in practices of education?
Financial costs and lack of full time church employment beyond graduation are often cited as great challenges today for theological education. I also believe that a major challenge is helping students develop deep spiritual and discernment practices to have a pastoral imagination in their vocation beyond the traditional congregational setting. How might a theologically educated person live in the world as a witness to the resurrected Christ and build Christian community?
What gives you hope for church?
God in Christ is active in the world through the Holy Spirit gathering a people, upbuilding them by Word and Sacrament and sending them out to be witnesses until the ends of the earth. It is like the old Heidelberg Catechism question, “What is your only comfort in life and death?”
Answer: That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
What advise or guidance would you give to students thinking about coming to VST?
Talk to us as you are discerning your next steps. Professors here at VST are keen to engage with students and would love to meet you for a coffee at our Great Dane Coffee Shop to talk about your vocation and possible studies.
Besides his regular faculty responsibilities, Ross Lockhart is available to churches to teach the following courses in a Friday night lecture / Saturday workshop format:
- Evangelism for the Shy Christian: Learning to speak our faith respectfully in the world
- I Love to Tell the Story: First steps towards preaching for lay leaders
- This Old House: Missional Renovations and Congregational Revitalization
- Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership for Today