Faculty & Staff Update
Every new academic year brings changes among Seminary staff and faculty. Here are updates since spring 2021 about retirements, new appointments, completed sabbaticals, and recognition of service and dedication.
Faculty Retirements
Dean David W. Kersten salutes the following distinguished faculty members and says their more than 80 years of combined service will be recognized and celebrated this fall.
Dr. James Bruckner, Professor of Old Testament, retires after 26 years teaching and preparing more than 1,500 Seminary students for ministry. An ordained pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church, Bruckner is widely recognized as a biblical scholar, lecturer, and published author.
Dr. Mary Chase-Ziolek, Professor of Health Ministries and Nursing, retires after 22 years serving as a faculty member in both the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the Seminary. A respected expert and author, Chase-Ziolek’s popular courses connected faith and health, the role of faith communities as partners to improve neighborhood health, and the influence of religion on individual health behaviors.
Dr. Timothy Johnson, Professor of Ministry / Director of Contextual and Lifelong Learning, retires after 16 years leading the Seminary’s field education program. Before joining the Seminary, Johnson pastored in three Evangelical Covenant churches around the country and held various elected offices for the Covenant, including president of the Covenant Ministerium.
Professor Ellen Kogstad, Director of the C. John Weborg Center for Spiritual Direction, retired in June 2020. In 2005 Kogstad was a founding member of the Weborg Center, serving as co-director until 2012 when she became the director. She grew the Center into a vibrant, well-established, and thriving program at NPTS. Kogstad was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Seminary in 2020.
Rev. Dr. Deborah Penny, Associate Director of Field Education, retired in August 2020 after 14 years. Penny had a primary role in developing the Seminary’s second field education reflection module (cultural competency module), and she has been a dedicated supporter of the Seminary’s work at Stateville Correctional Center.
Faculty Appointments
Dr. Nathan Clayton succeeds Dr. James Bruckner as Assistant Professor of Old Testament. Clayton joined the Seminary in 2018 as an Old Testament Teaching Fellow.
Rev. Michelle Dodson has accepted the Seminary’s invitation to serve as a Teaching Fellow in the Ministry Field. Dodson is the associate pastor of New Community Covenant Church – Bronzeville, Chicago. She is also a doctoral candidate at Loyola University Chicago where she is working on a PhD in the sociology of religion with an emphasis on multiracial congregations.
Dodson has been dedicated to the work of racial reconciliation for more than two decades, helping to plant two intentionally multiracial churches in Chicago: New Community Covenant Church – Logan Square and New Community Covenant Church – Bronzeville. Dodson received her MDiv from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and her MA in sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the co-editor of Challenging the Status Quo: Diversity, Democracy, and Equality in the 21st Century. Over the past year, Dodson has taught in the Seminary’s School of Restorative Arts.
Dr. Max Lee, Professor of New Testament, has returned to the Seminary after serving a full sabbatical year as a Henry Fellow at the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity International University. Lee’s research project was entitled, “Natural Desire as a Moral Index of What Is Good.”
Dr. Jules Martinez-Olivieri has joined the Seminary as the new Milton B. Engebretson Chair in Evangelism and Justice, succeeding Dr. Soong Chan-Rah.
Martinez-Olivieri is a theologian, practitioner, and author focusing on the intersection of social, pastoral, and systematic theology. He has taught in seminaries and universities in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Perú, and the United States.
Martínez-Olivieri’s ecclesial experiences include pastoral ministry, church planting, and community development. He is author of Un Testimonio Visible: Cristología, Liberación y Participación and the English version, A Visible Witness: Christology, Liberation and Participation. He has two forthcoming books: Contemporary Theologies and Social Justice and Deep Hope: An Introduction to Christian Theology. He holds a BA in anthropology from the University of Puerto Rico and earned his MDiv and Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
He will teach in the areas of evangelism and disciple-making, especially as they connect with the holistic gospel in the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts programs, including the School of Restorative Arts. The position also includes directing the Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry in Urban Ministry Leadership program.
Dr. Elizabeth Pierre, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, has returned to the Seminary this fall after completing a sabbatical during the Spring 2021 semester. Pierre joined North Park in 2014 and teaches graduate courses in the Seminary and the School of Professional Studies.
Dr. Bret Widman succeeds Dr. Timothy Johnson as Director of Contextual and Lifelong Learning, Director of CRUX, and Associate Professor of Ministry. An ordained Covenant minister, Widman joined North Park in 2018.
Honors
At the 135th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in June, Dr. Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, dean of faculty at the Seminary, was honored with the 2021 Irving C. Lambert Award for educational innovation and her commitment to growing a “beloved community” that centers around marginalized people.
The award is given to a member of an Evangelical Covenant Church who exemplifies a commitment to urban or ethnic ministry. Love Mercy Do Justice and the Mosaic Commission choose the recipient. It was presented virtually during the online meeting.
Clifton-Soderstrom, an ordained Covenant minister and member of North Park Covenant Church, has taught theology and ethics at the Seminary since 2002. She was appointed dean of faculty in 2020 and serves as director of the School of Restorative Arts (SRA), an initiative she conceived during a sabbatical when she researched how theological education could be introduced into the prison system. Alongside colleagues Deborah Penny and Lance Davis, Clifton-Soderstrom created a field education course for the men at Stateville Correctional Center.
Says Clifton-Soderstrom: “Receiving this award gives me a renewed sense that our work is important and meaningful. It’s wonderful to be recognized and to celebrate—and then get back to work and keep moving in our educational work, our antiracist work, and our discipleship work.”