[Trinity School for Ministry] Trinity School for Ministry announced that the Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett has accepted an offer to become the Interim Director of the Robert E. Webber Center at Trinity. Dr. Scandrett’s work will begin on July 1, 2012.

The Robert E. Webber Center for an Ancient Evangelical Future was founded by David Neff and Joanne Webber, widow of Robert Webber. Its purpose is to carry on Dr. Webber’s vision for an evangelical future that is rooted in the consensus of the ancient Church. This vision was outlined in a collaborative document titled A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future which was issued in 2006 and signed by more than 500 evangelical leaders. While visiting Trinity as a speaker at the first Ancient Wisdom Anglican Futures Conference (AWAF) in 2009, David Neff suggested that Trinity School for Ministry might be a good match for the Robert E. Webber Center. Talks began shortly thereafter about what it would look like to house the Center in Ambridge. Today’s announcement marks a significant step towards the formal relocation of the Robert E. Webber Center. Dr. Scandrett will oversee this transition.

The mission of the Robert E. Webber Center is: To inspire and equip evangelical church leaders to teach their people to interpret their world according to the biblical story, rooted in the Church’s historic interpretation. Specifically, this work will be accomplished through the development of catechetical materials to resource the Church, and through a series of conferences entitled Ancient Evangelical Futures Conference (AEFC). Additional projects and programs of the Center will be developed in due course.

Dr. Scandrett received his PhD in Historical and Systematic Theology in 2005 from Drew University where he studied under Thomas Oden and served as both a Research Director and Translations Project Director for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. He has already taught a number of online Systematic Theology courses at Trinity as one of the school’s adjunct professors. Dr. Scandrett also has experience teaching at Wheaton College, Northern Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In addition to his academic credentials, Dr. Scandrett has a background in the Christian publishing industry, having served as an Associate Editor at InterVarsity Press.

“This is a very exciting moment for Trinity,” remarked the Very Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry, Dean and President of Trinity School for Ministry. “The vision of the Robert E. Webber Center is a very good fit for our own identity as a global center for Christian formation. We are pleased to come alongside the Center and to engage in this pioneering work.”

“I have been delighted that Trinity School for Ministry has recognized the many points of contact between the work of the late Robert Webber and Trinity’s mission” stated David Neff, Editor in Chief of Christianity Today and co-founder of the Robert E. Webber Center. “The new Robert E. Webber Center at Trinity School for Ministry will be a place where Dr. Webber’s theological and social insights can be brought to bear on the ministry challenges of 2012 and beyond. I’m also thrilled that Joel Scandrett has agreed to take on responsibility for directing the renewed Webber Center through its early years. Joel’s experience in teaching and his ministry in a renewed Anglican context complement his personal history with Robert Webber to make him an ideal choice for this initiative.”

Joel Scandrett commented, “The mission of the Robert E. Webber Center holds immense promise, not only for the future of global Anglicanism but for the future of global Christianity. Drawing on Scripture and ancient Christian tradition, it seeks nothing less than the renewal and maturity of the church today. I am profoundly honored and grateful to be appointed to this task, and thrilled at the prospect of joining the Trinity community. Thanks be to God!”

Trinity School for Ministry is an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition. Begun in 1976, the seminary has trained more than 1,000 students from all over the worldwide Anglican Communion. As a global center for Christian formation, Trinity continues to produce outstanding leaders who can plant, renew, and grow churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ.