Faculty News and Updates

FACULTY NEWS & UPDATES

Mark Garcia: On July 1, 2021, Dr. Mark Garcia joined the voting faculty at Westminster, where he will serve as Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. Dr. Garcia joins Westminster with many years of experience in pastoral ministry, academic research, and teaching. Dr. Garcia is ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and has served as pastor at Immanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Coraopolis, PA for the past fourteen years. He currently serves as the President and Fellow in Scripture and Theology at Greystone Theological Institute. He will continue as President of Greystone as he joins Westminster’s faculty. Dr. Garcia has also held research positions at Wolfson College, Cambridge and the University of East Anglia. Many students are keen to welcome Dr. Garcia as he has already proved to be a focused, careful, and accurate exegete and systematician with a considerable awareness of pastoral issues. We warmly look forward to the ways in which the Lord will continue to use Dr. Garcia as he provides valuable expertise to our faculty, staff, and students.

Alfred Poirier: With immense gratitude, Westminster recently appointed Dr. Alfred Poirier to the position of Professor of Pastoral Theology. Prior to his arrival at Westminster, Dr. Poirier held several additional teaching positions and was engaged in pastoral ministry for thirty-eight years, twenty-six of which were served at Rocky Mountain Community Church (PCA) in Billings, Montana. These experiences afforded Dr. Poirier the opportunity to engage faithfully in pastoral ministry and teaching, strengthening his ministry and expository preaching experience, both of which prepared him for this new role at Westminster. Many students who have already taken courses with Dr. Poirier can attest to the wisdom and insight with which he expounds and applies biblical wisdom. We are very grateful indeed to the Lord that, in His providence, the Westminster community continues to be blessed with a world-class faculty. David Briones has an upcoming article to be published on Desiring God about justification by faith alone in light of recent criticisms, titled “A Word of Surest Consolation: Justification by Faith Alone.” He also contributed to Tabletalk Magazine with an article entitled, “Greco-Roman Control of the Jews.” Additionally, he formulated two dictionary entries on Friendship and Financial Support. Finally, he has another essay called “Circularity of Grace: Romans 11:36 in Retrospect and Prospect,” which will be published in an Eerdmans festschrift this year.

Stephen Coleman co-edited a new collection of Reformation era treatises Faith in the Time of Plague. This volume will be released this fall.

Brandon Crowe has a book due out with Baker Academic this October titled Why Did Jesus Live a Perfect Life? The Necessity of Christ’s Obedience for Our Salvation In November he will deliver a paper at the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meeting in San Antonio. The title of that paper is “The Kingdom of Heaven and Baal-Perazim: New Light on Matthew 11:12.”

John Currie has several upcoming speaking engagements. He will be speaking at Westminster’s Faith in the Public Square conference in Holland, MI, on October 9th. He will also join Dr. Garner in Nashville in November for Westminster’s Seminary on Saturday. Additionally, he will speak at the Quakertown Conference on Reformed Theology on November 12–13. He has one upcoming article that will be published in Unio Cum Christo titled “The Priority of Preaching in the Church’s Global Mission.”

Iain Duguid has two recent publications. He wrote an essay for Tabletalk Magazine in July titled “The Fifth Commandment and the Household.” He also offered commentary on 1 Kings in the Grace and Truth Study Bible published by Zondervan in August of this year.

William Edgar recently preached at a memorial service for the Class of ‘66 at his Harvard University reunion. At the same reunion one of his jazz concerts was featured. This year he also spoke at the European Leadership Forum and gave a lecture on “Ministry and Temptations” for a Westminster extension course on “Evil” which was hosted by Nate Shannon.

Dave B. Garner has several upcoming speaking engagements. He will be speaking at Seminario Reformado Latinamericano’s annual Reformed Convention September 23–24, 2021. Additionally, he is hosting a Westminster Theological Seminary symposium on theological education in Latin America. In the States, he will be speaking at a Missions Conference at Christ Church Presbyterian in Charleston, SC October 1–3, 2021, as well as at Westminster’s Seminary on Saturday at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN on November 6, 2021.

Vern Poythress has two upcoming books that will be published with Crossway later this year and early next. They are, respectively, Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach, and Truth, Theology, and Perspective: An Approach to Understanding Biblical Doctrine. He will also be on sabbatical this fall academic term. Jonathan Gibson has a number of upcoming publications and speaking engagements. He will preach on Reformation Sunday (October 31st) at Lansdale Presbyterian Church. He will also give four lectures on Isaiah at Cape Cod Conference, November 12–14. Among his upcoming publications are The Acrostic of God: A Rhyming Theology for Kids, published by New Growth Press and due out in October this year, and I Will Build My Church: Select Writings of Thomas Witerrow on Polity, Baptism, and Sabbath, which will be published by Westminster Seminary Press this Winter.

Todd Rester has two forthcoming books. Faith in a Time of Plague will be published by Westminster Seminary Press this Fall. Volume 3 of Petrus van Mastricht’s Theoretical Practical Theology, “The Works of God and the Fall of Man” will be published by Reformation Heritage books in October. In addition to various other translation efforts, he is writing an article due out in 2022 on 17th-century Reformed debates with Remonstrants and Socinians on the role of the Holy Spirit in the perspicuity of Scripture.

Chad Van Dixhoorn has a number of notable upcoming publications and speaking events. He recently contributed a Foreword to an abridgement of Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor, and has a forthcoming book co-authored with his wife, called Gospel-shaped Marriage: Grace for Sinners to Love Like Saints, which is due out with Crossway in June of next year. He is also editing Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition due out in June 2022. In addition to several book reviews published in the Westminster Theological Journal, he also has a speaking engagement at the 120th Anniversary of Westminster PCA conference in Atlanta, GA.