After prayerful discernment, Rev. Dr. Dennis R. Edwards will be stepping down from his role as Dean of the Seminary and Vice President of Church Relations June 30.
Dr. Edwards has served North Park Theological Seminary with distinction since joining the faculty in 2019 as Associate Professor of New Testament, bringing with him more than three decades of pastoral ministry in Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis. A graduate of Cornell University (BS in chemical engineering), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (MDiv, Urban Ministry), and the Catholic University of America (MA and PhD in Biblical Studies), Dr. Edwards has combined rigorous scholarship with a deep commitment to the flourishing of the church. As Dean of North Park Theological Seminary and Vice President for Church Relations, he has championed pastoral formation, strengthened connections with the Evangelical Covenant Church, and contributed significantly to theological discourse through his writing and teaching.
As he prepares to step down from his administrative role and transition into full-time scholarship, Dean Edwards reflects on his years of leadership and his hopes for the seminary community he has so faithfully served.
You’ve had a remarkable journey from engineering to pastoral ministry to academic leadership. Looking back, what threads of calling have connected these professional chapters?
Asking an older person to look back can be inviting more stories and details than you want, but I’ll be brief! The throughline is that ever since I was a young teenager, I wanted to know God, hear from God, and honor God with my life. It turns out that teaching and shepherding have always been part of my identity, and I think I first noticed that when I was the captain of both my high school football and wrestling teams. Eventually, I taught math and science at high schools (and a community college) before and during my times as a pastor. I sometimes hear from people I taught over the past forty years! They recall my pastoral concern for them more than the math and chemistry I taught them. Similarly, people in the churches that I’ve served recall my teaching and pastoral care. Along with my desire to be a good shepherd for people is my ongoing quest to understand the Scriptures as best I can. But more than anything, I want God to be pleased that I sought to give my best in service with all that I have.
What first drew you to North Park Theological Seminary back in 2019, and what made the seminary a place where you felt your gifts could flourish?
I taught as an adjunct at NPTS sometime around 2014 and 2016, shortly after I became senior pastor of the Sanctuary Covenant Church. During that time my family went through a very challenging season that involved sickness. For years afterwards, whenever I saw Dr. Klyne Snodgrass, he would always check on how my family was doing. I found others at NPTS, like Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, to care about who I am and not just what I do. There is something special about the NPTS community, and I was eager to be part of it. Dr. Dave Kersten reached out to me when Dr. Stephen Chester moved to a different teaching position, and I was excited to join the faculty.
The seminary has experienced both challenges and growth during your tenure as Dean and Vice President for Church Relations. What accomplishments or initiatives stand out as particularly meaningful to you? What aspects of the community have encouraged you most?
The NPTS staff and faculty are top-notch. It has been an honor to serve alongside godly, brilliant, conscientious, humorous, kind, and emotionally healthy people. The landscape of theological education is treacherous at this moment in time. I knew that reality coming into my Dean and VP role, even if many onlookers did not. Furthermore, we were facing some internal challenges with personnel changes. Yet, with the range of obstacles we faced then—and still confront—I am pleased that I got to minister in various churches and conferences throughout the ECC. I have heard many people articulate their appreciation for our seminary over the last few years and I will long recall fondly the spontaneous and warm ovation I received at the 2024 Midwinter Conference. Of course, NPTS having recently been awarded a competitive Lilly Endowment grant through the hard work of Dr. Hauna Ondrey and Alexandria Hofmann Macias is especially exciting as I step down from administrative leadership.
As you shift your focus toward full-time research and writing, what scholarly projects or themes are you most eager to pursue? How do you imagine this new season allowing you to deepen or expand your significant contributions to biblical studies and public theology?
During the search process for the Seminary Dean and Vice President role, I hesitated to stay in the running because of my writing commitments. Yet, after prayer and counsel, I decided to accept the job if it was offered. I did so with the hope that I could continue writing and researching as an administrator. However, it simply did not work that way for me. Too much of my writing was put on hold or moved too slowly. I am eager to complete the 1 Peter update for the Word Biblical Commentary series, as well as work in 1, 2, 3 John (Cascade Books), and a biblical theology of race and ethnicity (Zondervan). I am also an associate editor for the new Dictionary of the Later New Testament (IVP Academic). Those are the large projects I have in the queue. About thirty years ago a professor in my PhD program described scholarly writing as “a labor of love” because such books do not become best sellers or make their authors rich. However, they can last a long time and serve to ignite the curiosity of many Bible readers and Christians from many different denominations. That’s an amazing thing, and I hope to make even a small contribution to someone’s spiritual growth.
As North Park enters its next chapter, what excites you most about the seminary’s future? What encouragement or blessing would you want to offer to the students, staff, and faculty who will continue shaping this community in the years ahead?
I am excited about our young staff and faculty. They represent the present and future of theological education. They are discerning people who observe what is happening in the world, in churches, and in their disciplines. The aforementioned Lilly grant will help strengthen NPTS for decades to come. My encouragement for the seminary is to stay true to our mission even in the face of opposition within and without the Christian community. Our first president, David Nyvall, addressed critics and skeptics but seemed to know that God was at work in what became North Park. In July 1892 he wrote, “For me, it is a family matter to belong to the Covenant. This must happen both ‘in joy and in sorrow.’ I do not know if the Covenant’s school will succeed or fail. But I do not need to know this in order to find my place of service. I belong to the Covenant not merely to harvest, but sow; not merely to be victorious, but to struggle; not merely to be joyful, but to suffer.” Ultimately, North Park is in God’s hands. I leave knowing that I tried to do my best and know that everyone in our seminary community is committed to doing their best.
We thank God for Dean Edwards’ faithful leadership, pastoral integrity, and unwavering commitment to theological education, and we look forward to celebrating his faithful service with our larger ECC community at Gather this June. Join our expression of thanks by sending notes of appreciation to seminary@northpark.edu.
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