We Need Pastor-Theologians in Canada
Defining My Potential Future
When I created this Substack, I had in mind Philippians 4:8, where Paul says we should think about whatever is noble. I also had in mind my last name. But further, “Whatever is Noble” fits well with 1 Timothy 3:1, which says:
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
Ever since the summer of 2009, I’ve wanted to become a pastor/overseer/elder (interchangeable names in Scripture). I’ve had the privilege of doing a bit of that, formally and informally, even while it has never been my full-time vocation.
In the last three years, my desire to be a pastor in general has narrowed into becoming a pastor-theologian in particular.
But what is a pastor-theologian? And do we need more of them in Canada?
What is a Pastor-Theologian?
In 1 Tim. 5:17, Paul says some pastors labor in preaching and teaching — therefore, some do not. There can be different kinds of pastors. For example, some pastors may have the spiritual gift of administration, others the gift of encouragement, others the gift of teaching, and others the gift of “putting forth” what is required to their church (or “leading,” see Romans 12:8 and the different uses of προϊστάμενος). Different combinations of gifts might be one way to distinguish different kinds of pastors.
A pastor-theologian is an intellectually mature believer who meets the requirements of 1 Timothy 3 and serves their local church body and the global church with their diagnosis and response to theological issues.
Kevin Vanhoozer thinks of a Pastor-Theologian as a First Responder. Firefighters and paramedics are specialists who work directly with people rather than primarily in the laboratory. Likewise, pastor-theologians are “in the trenches,” helping those with “broken lives, fractured families, death, and despair.” Vanhoozer says they are on “the front lines of debates about ethics, spirituality, and politics.”
Paramedics still spend time “in the lab” when they go to school and in continuing education. A family doctor is another kind of first responder, though they tend to spend more time in school and have higher requirements for continuing education. Within the broad category of pastor, then, there are pastor-theologians, and within the category of pastor-theologian, there’s a spectrum of valid options.
According to Hiestand and Wilson, the identity of a “pastor-theologian” can be understood in three ways: as a local theologian, a popular theologian, and an ecclesial theologian. The local theologian constructs theology for the laity of his local congregation. The popular theologian provides theological leadership to Christian laity beyond his own congregation. And the ecclesial theologian constructs theology for Christian theologians and pastors (p. 80).
Ronni Kurtz gives the following chart at TGC, showing how pastors can engage to varying degrees with “the lab” of the academy.
One important thing to note is that the “lab” is not the only place of learning. And it is not as if academic theologians have exclusive access to truth, or as if all Christians are downstream of the the academic lab.
Knowledge flows from many places, not just seminaries! As Alastair Roberts notes, pastor-theologians can serve an intellectual ministry without formal ties to academia, equipping pastors and congregations alike. They are a vital part of the body of Christ—essential collaborators, not isolated experts.
The Need for Pastor-Theologians in Canada
Two years ago, Tim Keller wrote a strategy for evangelical renewal. I wish more people talked about it and read it. Keller proposed seven projects for Christian renewal:
1. Church planting and renewal.
2. ‘Counter-Catechesis’ discipleship.
3. Post-Christian Evangelism.
4. A Justice Network.
5. A Faith-work Network.
6. The “Christian mind” project.
7. A new leadership pipeline.
These are all very important to me. A pastor-theologian fits most into 6. In the “Christian mind” project, Keller says:
Evangelicalism has a strongly anti-intellectual cast to it that must be overcome without losing its appeal to the majority of the population.
I’ve felt this. I’ve heard the joke many times that seminaries are cemeteries — where living faith goes to die — even while I was in seminary. That’s flatly wrong. But it represents a cultural tone, an anti-intellectual tone. (And don’t mishear me; I’m not suggesting that we should love God with only our minds and not our hands and feet. I just think that if we are called to love God with all our heart, that includes our heads.)
Looking around Canada, I see a growing lack of theologically mature leaders. The largest two Baptist denominations have recently discussed the rising problem of a lack of pastors. How will we see more pastors if we don’t have pastor-theologians to train and encourage them, and model a potential path for them? They do exist, and I’ll list three of them in a footnote,1 but I wish there were more.
Pastor Paul Carter (based in Orillia, Ontario) recently pointed out, “if you send your young people down to the States for seminary, you will NEVER GET THEM BACK.” This was in reference to the cost of living in Canada compared to the salary levels of Canadian pastors.
Perhaps he’s exaggerating, but he’s making a point. The US has more money, more prominent roles, and more robust institutions. Many theologians begin or briefly teach in Canada, only to head south. Examples include Don Carson, J.I. Packer, Hans Boersma, James K.A. Smith, Derek Schuurman, and John Webster. In the case of Schuurman, it wasn’t his fault. He was laid off from Redeemer University due to financial pressure and ended up at Calvin University, just south of the border. (Redeemer has since apologized for this.)
I think it’s fair to say that Canada lacks the institutional infrastructure to retain theologians and, therefore, the infrastructure to raise up new ones. I once asked Michael Haykin, a history professor who teaches in both Canada and the States, whether a school like Heritage Seminary would ever be able to start a PhD program. He laughed. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t like it to happen. It’s just that a school like Heritage is too small to support that.
I’m concerned for the church in Canada. I’m concerned about poor theology because we serve a holy God; we ought to speak rightly about him. The United Church of Canada is an example of what happens when theologians get trained elsewhere and then come back to Canada with anti-biblical doctrines, as Kevin Flatt has shown. I don’t think it’s wrong to be trained outside Canada (I think there are many great online options now, some of which I’ve listed before). My concern is the brain drain and where that leaves Canadian churches.
Where Should We Go From Here?
I’m not ready to propose a holistic solution to this problem. I’m not sure how. But Jake Meador has helped me think about this when he described “the lost ecclesial office [of being] a doctor of the church.”
I appreciate how practical Jake is:
One of the most obvious strategies here would be for large, well-resourced local congregations to hire someone to serve as a “theologian-in-residence” or “doctor of the church.” This person would likely be in charge of the church’s Sunday school or education hour offerings as well as perhaps leading some book studies or discussions during the week. They could also potentially facilitate an Alpha course at the church or simply teach the church’s own version of an “Introduction to Christianity” class designed for spiritual seekers and others who are curious about Christianity.
This shows a helpful development path for theologians. Churches can provide roles and stepping stones for training and encouraging the growth of pastor-theologians. Who in your church is the one you go to for book recommendations? That person is likely functioning in some way as a theological first responder. And perhaps they could continue in the direction they are already going down. Perhaps they should be encouraged to do just that.
As Jake Meador later wrote, for Keller’s projects to be successful, we need far more than a bunch of Substack writers working independently. We need institutions. We need churches, seminaries, denominations, coalitions, journals, websites, podcasts, and more. So, I pray for Canadian institutions. Join me in doing that.
In this post, I’ve tried to articulate what I’m trying to grow into, as well as try to think through how to prioritize what is needed. I’m continuing in my schooling so that I can grow into a pastor-theologian. It’s my noble desire, even if God might change my plans, as God sometimes does. For now, I’m trying to describe a goal. It is very difficult to reach a destination if you do not know where it is.
I pray for Canada. I pray for our Christians. I pray for our leaders. I pray for our uncertain future held in God’s certain plan. May God give us grace. May God raise up men and women who love God with their whole person, who serve Christ’s church, who study His Scriptures, and who shepherd His people in love and truth.
There are a bunch of solid Canadians within the “Christian mind” project. Here are three examples:
Craig Carter serves at a church I attended briefly as a teen. He is officially a “Theologian in Residence” for his congregation, has written his church’s catechism to teach theology at a lay level, and is involved in scholarly research, too.
Ian Vaillancourt has spent time pastoring and is now training pastors at Heritage College and Seminary. Ian also writes for pastors and has a forthcoming commentary on 1st and 2nd Samuel.
Wyatt Graham serves with The Gospel Coalition Canada as editor-in-chief and helps lead The Davenant Institute, which offers online seminary education. He also just started a Substack.
I could list many more examples. But we see three different models in these men. Craig is more church-based. He’s a local theologian. Ian is more seminary-based; an ecclesial theologian. Wyatt works with multiple organizations as a popular theologian. Though, to be fair, none of them fit neatly into these categories.
It’s also interesting how these three men are connected to American-based theological societies, publishers, or seminaries. I don’t want to make too much of a distinction between Canada and America. We have very similar cultures and influence each other a great deal.