May 4, 2020
Nazarene Theological Seminary is excited to announce the first of two new faculty members beginning the 2020/2021 academic year:
Dr. David Sharpes will be joining the NTS faculty as Associate Professor of Christian Ministry and Smith/Cooper Chair in Evangelism and Christian Witness. Dr. Sharpes holds degrees from MidAmerica Nazarene University (BA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Fuller Theological Seminary (DMin). Since 2000 he has taught courses in pastoral ministry and evangelism for Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Olivet Nazarene University, MidAmerica Nazarene University, and Nazarene Theological Seminary.
An ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Sharpes has significant experience as a pastor and as a District Superintendent. He currently serves as Lead Pastor of College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, KS, a role that will continue as he takes up his ministry at NTS in a part-time capacity.
“We are very excited to deepen and expand Dr. Sharpes’s role with NTS,” notes Dr. Sweeden, Dean of the Faculty. “Dr. Sharpes has long been a valued instructor, advocate, and even board member at NTS. The faculty look forward to the increased impact he will have on students and the curriculum for the years to come.”
Dr. Jeren Rowell, President, affirmed how “this will provide a unique opportunity for Dr. Sharpes to model the ‘pastor-scholar’ for our students and the church. In these changing and complex times, models of practical and theological wisdom are needed more than ever.”
“My life and ministry have been shaped by engaging in contextual practices that place the evangelistic call to ‘make disciples in the nations’ through the ministry of the local church, at the core of the church’s missional life and practice,” said Dr. Sharpes. “My early ministerial preparation was deeply marked by this call while a student at NTS, a call that has not faded since that time. For these reasons (and more) I am very excited to begin engaging more fully with the NTS community. I appreciate the confidence that Dr’s. Rowell and Sweden, the Trustee Board, and NTS faculty have placed in me, and I look forward to all that God has for us together.”
Dr. Sharpes will bring increased depth and breadth to NTS’s pastoral and practical theological curriculum, but a primary focus of his position will be advancing teaching and scholarship in evangelism. The Smith/Cooper Chair of Evangelism and Christian Witness, fully endowed in 2017, provides NTS a unique opportunity to resource the church for faithful ministry for generations to come.
