Center for Pastor Theologians
Joel Lawrence
Dr. Joel Lawrence serves as the President of the Center for Pastor Theologians. Joel holds a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a PhD from Cambridge University. Prior to his role with the CPT, Joel served as Associate Professor of Theology at Bethel Seminary in St Paul, MN, Teaching Pastor at Calvary Church in White Bear Lake, MN, and Senior Pastor of Central Baptist Church in St Paul, MN. Joel is the author of numerous books and articles, including Bonhoeffer: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum Press, 2010), Confronting Racial Injustice: Theory and Praxis for the Church, co-editor (Cascade, 2022), and Reconstructing Evangelicalism, co-editor (Cascade, forthcoming). Joel serves on the board of numerous organizations and has an active preaching and teaching ministry at churches, seminaries, and conferences around the world.
What is the ministry challenge keeping you up at night?
The challenge that keeps me up at night is the challenge of pastors who are ill-equipped to shepherd their churches through the complexities of our time. I am passionate about calling pastors to be the theological shepherds of the church, and see such a deep gap between that identity and the current reality for most pastors, who are functionaries in church structures that keep them from operating out of the core identity of theologian.
What is the greatest hope for God’s work in 2023 you’re dreaming about?
I am convinced that, through the deep and severe challenges facing the church in our time, through all the instability that marks our ecclesial life, the Spirit of God is at work to bring renewal among
What is a non-ministry activity that brings you joy and energy?
I am a very amateur guitarist, but I love to find the zone where music brings a sense of great peace. I also like to run among the Minnesota lakes.
What are the top 1-3 essentials for the Church in America to address to reach those who are spiritually open, but not yet following Jesus?
1. We must renew our vision of the nature and mission of the church. We have allowed the church to be captured by sociological definitions that keep the church from being who we are called to be, and so that have taken control of our mission in the world. Spiritually open people are longing for a community whose world story is not defined by the age we are living in, but that offers true transcendence and union with God. The church must renew her ecclesial identity in order to meet this longing.