Dr. Paul W. Lewis, associate dean of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary of Evangel University, has been elected to the executive committee of the Association of Professors of Mission (APM).
APM is an international organization founded in 1952 to help foster Christian missions and its teaching in colleges and seminaries.
Dr. Lewis was voted in as the second vice president at the APM’s annual meeting, held June 15, at St. Mary’s College at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
He is the first member from the Assemblies of God or its seminary to serve this organization in a leadership position. Next year he will serve as first vice president, and in 2020, he will be the president of APM.
“APM meets annually to discuss contemporary issues in missions,” said Dr. Lewis. “The conference is a great place to learn and grow to become better professors.”
Staying focused
“Christianity is fundamentally a mission-oriented-driven movement,” said Dr. Lewis, professor of Historical Theology and Intercultural Studies at AGTS. “Jesus the Christ is the foundation, and the ‘mission’ of the church is to proclaim this foundation to a lost and dying world. This mission is central to the purpose and nature of the church.
“The church and its schools cannot fulfill this mission without quality teachers and scholars of mission — without whom ‘mission drift’ will be the tendency, if not a certainty.”
Dr. Lewis joined the faculty of AGTS in 2012. He and his wife, Dr. Eveline Lewis, served as appointed AG missionaries for almost 23 years, including 11 years in Northern Asia, and for six years as academic dean of the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in the Philippines, before coming to AGTS.
He has two main goals for his participation in the leadership of APM.
“It is important to focus on learning about what is happening in missions and the teaching of missions within other Christian traditions,” he said. “As an AG missions teacher, with humility, it is important to learn to be better practitioners and teachers of missions from others.
“Secondly, it is just as important is to provide a place for AG missiology and AG missions practices to have a voice into the broader conversations in missions, and teaching of missions. I am convinced that God has done great things in AG missions, not only for ourselves alone, but also to assist the church universal.”
Paul Lewis holds a B.A. and M.A. from Missouri State University; an M.Div. from AGTS; and a Ph.D. from Baylor University.
He also serves as the editor of the International Journal of Pentecostal Missiology.
AGTS serves the larger Pentecostal and Evangelical traditions with 21st-century leadership for the Church and its mission. AGTS is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and The Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada.
AGTS is the embedded seminary of Evangel University, which serves more than 2,100 students from all 50 states and numerous countries, offering 65 undergraduate majors and 19 masters and doctoral degrees.
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*** AS PUBLISHED in the Springfield News-Leader — Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018 (CLICK TO ENLARGE) ***
