Seminary Faculty

Philip J. Anderson, Professor of Church History, began teaching at North Park in 1979. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota, his M.Div from Bethel Theological Seminary and his Th.M. from Princeton Seminary.  His D.Phil. from England's Oxford University (1979) was focused on English Puritanism. He is ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church. His publications include a history of the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. He has edited volumes on Swedish-American life in Chicago and Swedish-American life in the twin cities. Anderson also edited a collection of essays by long-time North Park College professor Zenos Hawkinson, Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience. Anderson has renovated a cabin on the north shore of Lake Superior where he and his family spend their summers, and he recently restored a 1934 MG P-type sports car.

James K. Bruckner is Professor of Old Testament at North Park Theological Seminary. He began teaching at North Park in 1995. Dr. Bruckner has earned degrees in Scripture (Ph.D., Luther Seminary, 1998), in Divinity (M.Div., Luther-Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1990), in Christian Spirituality (M.A.T.S., North Park Theological Seminary, 1983), and in History (B.A., North Park College, 1979). He served congregations in St. Cloud (1988-89) and Edina, Minnesota (1989), and in Federal Way, Washington (1990-93). He was ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1992. He is the author of three books and numerous articles. Jim and his wife Kris have three grown sons.

Richard Carlson is Professor of Ministry and Director of the Center for Spiritual Direction. He has served on the faculty at North Park Theological Seminary since 1975 and teaches a variety of courses in Spiritual Formation and Ministry. He earned his M.Div from Union Theological Seminary in New York and his D.Min from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago. Carlson has served churches in New York, New Jersey and Chicago and was ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1967. As Director of the Center for Spiritual Direction, he gives oversight to the Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction.

Mary Chase-Ziolek, Professor of Health Ministries, joined the seminary faculty in 1999. She is the director of the Faith and Health Initiative, a joint appointment with the NPU School of Nursing that combines the disciplines of health care, theology and spirituality. She received her B.A. from Beloit College in 1974 and her B.S. in nursing from Rush University in 1977. Her master of science in public health nursing was awarded by the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1982. She completed her doctorate in nursing at Loyola University in 1998. Chase-Ziolek was on the nursing faculty at North Park College from 1982-1987 and was coordinator of geriatric health ministry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from 1991-1999. She has published extensively on health ministries and her book, Health, Healing and Wholeness: Engaging Congregations in Ministries of Health, was published in 2005.

Stephen Chester is Professor of New Testament and is serving as Acting Associate Academic Dean. He joined the faculty at North Park in 2006, having previously served at International Christian College, Glasgow (Scotland). Stephen is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, with a particular interest in urban ministry. His Ph.D dissertation was published as the book Conversion at Corinth: Perspectives on Conversion in Paul’s Theology and the Corinthian Church (T&T Clark, 2003). Stephen is convinced that fruitful interpretation of Scripture for today requires attention to the theological traditions of the church. His current research interests lie in the history of interpretation of Paul. He is working on a book about Reformation interpretations of Paul. His passion in teaching is to equip students to think critically about the interpretation of Scripture in the conviction that true faith grows through wrestling with the text of God's word.

Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom began teaching at North Park Theological Seminary in 2006. She graduated from NPTS in 1995, studied German at the University of Heidelberg, and completed her Ph.D work at Loyola University Chicago in 2005. Michelle is a life-long member of the Evangelical Covenant Church and is ordained to Word and Sacrament. She serves on the ECC’s Christian Action Committee and has published work in medical and political ethics journals. She recently received a Grant from the Association of Theological Schools to complete a book on German Lutheran Pietism, Angels, Worms, & Bogeys: The Christian Ethic of German Lutheran Pietism. Michelle’s interests include travel, food, and friends (and sometimes pranks aimed at Richard Carlson). Her husband Karl teaches philosophy at NPU, and they have two children.

Jim Dekker is Associate Professor of Youth Ministry and Co-Director of the Center for Youth Ministry, a University/Seminary joint appointment. He has served at North Park since 2002, and previously taught at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois as well as teaching Bible at several Christian high schools. He earned his B.Th in Pastoral Studies at Ontario Bible College (Tyndale College), his M.A. in Christian Education from Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his Ph.D in Educational Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of numerous articles and book reviews and he enjoys camping, fishing, kayaking and sailing.

Paul DeNeui is Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Studies and Director of the Center for World Christian Studies. He and his wife, Gretchen, served as Evangelical Covenant Church missionaries to Thailand from 1987 to 2005, working with national leaders in a variety of contextualized holistic ministries. Paul's P.D dissertation, String Tying Ritual as Christian Communication in Northeast Thailand, explored the missiological implications of contextualized forms from within a Buddhist culture. Paul has served as contributor and editor of several volumes with SEANET, a group of practitioners in mission in the Buddhist world. Paul and Gretchen have four children: J.P., Anna, Andrew, and Nettie. He enjoys bicycling, swimming, organic gardening, and learning of the creative ways God is at work in the myriad of cultures in the world.

Bob Hubbard Hubbard joined the NPTS faculty in 1995 after teaching at Denver Seminary from 1976-1995. He served as an active duty chaplain in the U.S. Navy for four years and chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1974 to 2000. He is author of The Book of Ruth: New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 1988), which received the Christianity Today Critics Choice Award as the best commentary of 1989. He is also author and co-author of numerous other books and serves as general editor of several commentary series. Fluent in Spanish, he is liaison to the Hispanic Summer Program, of which North Park is a member. He is ordained by the Evangelical Free Church of America and he and his wife Pam are members of Grace Covenant Church.

Timothy L. Johnson is Director of Field Education and Associate Professor of Ministry. He earned a B.A. in History and English from North Park College in 1975, an M.Div. from North Park Theological Seminary in 1980, and a D.Min. from Hartford Seminary in 1991. He has pastored congregations in East Hampton, Connecticut, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and Oak Lawn, Illinois, and served as the president of the ministerium of the Evangelical Covenant Church from 1997-2000. He presently serves on the Board of Benevolence of the ECC as well as the North River Commission (Chicago, IL). He is married to Kari Lindholm Johnson, also a pastor, who serves as a chaplain at Swedish Covenant Hospital. They have a son, Gabriel, and a daughter, Chloe.

Paul Koptak is Associate Academic Dean and Paul and Bernice Brandel Professor of Communication and Biblical Interpretation. He joined the Seminary faculty in 1993. He completed his B.A. at Rutgers University in 1977 and was an InterVarsity campus staff member from 1977 to 1982. He received his M.Div from North Park in 1986 and his Ph.D. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary/Northwestern University in 1990. He is author of The NIV Application Commentary: Proverbs (Zondervan), and numerous articles. He is ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church and serves as parish advisor for the Chicago D.Min in preaching program. In his off hours, he plays guitar and dobro with The Lonesome Theologians, the seminary old-time country gospel band.

Brent Laytham, Professor of Theology and Ethics, is an elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church where he served in pastoral ministry for eight years (1991-99). His doctorate from Duke University is in theology and ethics. Laytham taught at Lambuth University in Tennessee before joining the Seminary faculty in 2001. He is the editor of God Is Not (Brazos, 2004), and God Does Not (Brazos, 2008). He is coordinator of The Ekklesia Project, an ecumenical organization that seeks to foster radical commitment to the gospel in the church. His teaching and writing focus on the intersections of Christian thought and practice, Christian theology and worship, and the church and popular culture.

Max Lee has been a member of the seminary faculty since 2006. Prior to 2006, he taught at Wheaton College for three years and at Westmont for one year. He received his B.A. in English literature from U.C., Berkeley, his M.Div from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and his doctorate from Fuller. He is currently working on the monograph Moral Transformation in Greco-Roman Philosophy of Mind for the WUNT series with Mohr-Siebeck. Dr. Lee's primary research area is the Apostle Paul in his Greco-Roman philosophical, cultural, and literary environment. His short commentary on Revelation will appear in the revised Baker Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Ordained as a Baptist minister, Dr. Lee has served as a pastor, preacher, college staff member, youth leader, and short-term missionary to Japan.

Carol Noren is the Wesley W. Nelson Professor of Homiletics and serves as the Director of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program. She joined the North Park Theological Seminary Faculty in 1993, after serving as Assistant Professor of Homiletics at the Duke Divinity School from 1986-1993. She earned her B.A. at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, her M.Div from Garrett-Evangelical in Evanston, Illinois and her Ph.D at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the author of three books and numerous articles as well as many published sermons.

Jay Phelan was appointed Senior Professor of Theological Studies in 2010, after serving for 14 years as President and Dean of North Park Theological Seminary. His previous positions include 2 years as Executive Director of Publications for the Evangelical Covenant Church, pastorates in Salina, Kansas and Coral Springs, Florida, and 6 years as the Dean of Students at NPTS. Jay earned his advanced degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Northwestern University (Garrett).

Soong-Chan Rah is the Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, joining the NPTS faculty in fall, 2006. He was founding pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban, post-modern generation church in Cambridge, MA. Soong-Chan serves on the boards of Sojourners, the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), World Vision, and the Catalyst Leadership Center. His speaking engagements include numerous college campuses and conferences, the 2003 Urbana Student Missions Conference, the 2006 Congress on Urban Ministry, and the 2009 CCDA National Conference. He has been published in Reconcilers Magazine and Leadership Journal and has been featured in Christianity Today. His books include The Next Evangelicalism, which was named one of the 10 best books of the year for 2009 by the journal Leadership, and Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church, which won an award from Outreach Magazine as a best resource for multi-cultural ministry in 2010.

Klyne Snodgrass, Paul W. Brandel Professor of New Testament Studies, has been a member of the Seminary faculty since 1974. He has been a visiting scholar at Tyndale House (Cambridge), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, University of Tübingen, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Duke University Divinity School. Snodgrass is ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention. He is coordinator of the North Park Symposium on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture, an annual conference that explores and discusses issues of relevance to the church. Snodgrass edits the symposium papers that are published in the journal Ex Auditu. In 2008, his award-winning Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Eerdmans) was published. He returns to his native Tennessee whenever possible for horseback riding and relaxation.

Norma Sutton is the Seminary Librarian and Professor of Theological Bibliography. She has served at North Park since 1979, shaping the theological and biblical collections, and teaching couses in the Spiritual Formation Program. She has been a primary coordinator of the course "Prayer and Life in the Spirit," which has brought together seminaries in the Chicago area to study and learn about a yearly topic. She has an M.A. in Librarianship from Emory, a M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame, an M.Div from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, and a B.S. in Nursing from Goshen College.