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David Esterline

David Esterline Director, Institute for Cross-Cultural Theological Education McCormick Theological Seminary Chicago, IL 60615 USA [email protected]

David Esterline joined the faculty of McCormick Theological Seminary in 1997 to direct the Doctor of Ministry and Continuing Education programs. In 1999 he was elected to serve as Dean of the Faculty and Vice-President for Academic Affairs, a position he held until 2009. In 2004 he was named the James G. K. McClure Professor of Theological Education; in 2009 he was appointed Director of the Institute for Cross-Cultural Theological Education. Before coming to McCormick, David taught New Testament and served as Academic Dean at the Pacific Theological College in Fiji, where he chaired the committee on accreditation for the South Pacific Association of Theological Schools. Prior to Fiji he taught New Testament at the Presbyterian Theological College in Cameroon. He was ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in 1987.

David is chair of the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS); he has served as a member of the board of the Commission since 2006. He is a member of the Ecumenical Theological Education Executive / Accompaniment Group of the World Council of Churches.

David’s research interests include issues of race and culture, power and privilege—especially as they relate to theological education and formation for ministry; the comparison of models of preparation for Christian ministry across faith traditions and cultural locations; and world Christianity. In 2006 David edited (with Ogbu Kalu) Shaping Beloved Community: Multicultural Theological Education (Westminster John Knox, 2006), a collection of essays written by members of the McCormick faculty. More recently he has co-edited The Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity: Theological Perspectives, Regional Surveys, Ecumenical Trends (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2010), an 800 page volume with contributions from 98 leaders in theological education from around the world, and Luke-Acts and Empire: Essays in Honor of Robert Brawley. Princeton Theological Monograph Series (Portland: Pickwick Publications 2011).

Lester Edwin J. Ruiz

Lester Edwin J. Ruiz joined the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) in 2008 as Director, Accreditation and Institutional Evaluation. His work includes facilitating accrediting reviews, providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting. Before joining ATS he was Professor of Theology and Culture and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean of New York Theological Seminary. Before that he was Associate Professor of Political Science at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Lester is co-editor of four published works, including Re-Framing the International: Law, Culture, Politics, and Principled World Politics: The Challenge of Normative InternationalRelations, has contributed numerous chapters to books and has been widely published in journals and other periodicals. He has lectured in Asia, Africa, Europe, North, Central, and South America. For over thirty years, Ruiz has been actively involved with political and social movements in the Philippines and globally that are concerned with human rights, social justice, and education.

Ravi Tiwari

Prof Dr. Ravi Tiwari, since 2004, is Registrar, Senate of Serampore College (University), India. He was the Principal of John Robert’s Theological Seminary, Shillong (1995-97), Vice-Principal, Department of Theology, Serampore College (1987-92) and Dean of Doctoral and Post-graduate studies at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai (1999-2005). He taught Philosophy and Religions at various theological colleges since 1979. He is the author of two notable books, Yesudas: Witness of a Convert (2000) and Reflections and Studies in Religion (2008) and written many articles in the fields of religion and theological education. (email: [email protected])

Dietrich Werner

Dietrich Werner is an ordained pastor of the Northelbian Lutheran Church in North Germany, born 1956. He has served as a lecturer in missiology, ecumenism and World Christianity both in Germany and in India (Ecumenical Institute University of Bochum, Missionsacademy University of Hamburg, Christian Jensen Kolleg Breklum, UTC Bangalore). He has published widely in the area of missiology, history of Christian mission, ecumenism and theological education and for many years is closely related both to Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Switzerland and Commission on Theological Education of EMW, Hamburg. Since 2007 he is heading the Programme on Ecumenical Theological Education in the World Council of Churches in Geneva (ETE) and has coordinated the international study and research process on theological education which was part of the Edinburgh 2010 process. He is married and has five children.

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