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For the Books! The Literary Renaissance at Midwestern Continues

Originally published in the Midwestern Magazine, Issue 37


The ink continues to flow on campus!

As a follow-up to our last report on the unprecedented literary output from the Midwestern Seminary community, we offer this new update demonstrating that the continual growth at the school continues to fuel a paginated productivity. Our faculty and staff are presented with ongoing opportunities in the world of Christian publishing.

President Jason K. Allen, of course, has followed up his previously successful books Discerning Your Call to Ministry, Portraits of a Pastor, and Being a Christian with two new projects. The first—Sola: How the Five Solas Are Still Reforming the Church (Moody)—is a collection edited by Allen and featuring contributions from him, Jason Duesing, Matthew Barrett, Owen Strachan, and Jared Wilson.

The other project, Letters to My Students, is part of an anticipated multi-volume series, and elucidates Dr. Allen’s wisdom and practical counsel on the subject of preaching. Subtitled “Biblical and Practical Advice for Gospel Ministers,” Letters to My Students is scheduled to release this July from B&H Publishers.

Samuel Bierig, Dean of Spurgeon College, recently signed a contract with Rainer Publishing to produce a book on the “stewardship of words” promoting the gracious use of the tongue and pen by Christian brothers and sisters. He has also edited and contributed to a volume on gospel-centered student ministry. Featuring contributions from other leaders like Rechab Gray, Joel Cowart, and Royland Kirkwood, as well as Midwestern’s Director of Student Life and Events, Jared Bumpers, Fulfill Your Ministry releases from Rainer Publishing in April 2019.

Owen Strachan recently released a personally-curated collection of devotional readings from the works of Jonathan Edwards. Always in God’s Hands: Day by Day in the Company of Jonathan Edwards released last fall to much acclaim. Strachan also has numerous projects in the works, including a biblical anthropology project titled Reenchanting Humanity (August 2019, B&H Academic), which aims to help Christians answer major questions of the age (like on homosexuality, transgenderism, gender roles, and more) with the timeless truths of Scripture.

Matthew Barrett recently released the massive volume Reformation Theology and his helpful recent Kregel Academic project, 40 Questions About Salvation, and this March published with Baker Books a work titled None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God. Carl Trueman said of it, “Barrett’s excellent book bridges the gap between the professional theologian and the pew, laying out in clear, accessible terms what the biblical, historic, ecumenical doctrine of God is, why it matters, and why its abandonment by great swathes of the Protestant world is something that needs correction.”

Robert Matz has co-edited a collection titled Divine Impassibility: Four Views of God’s Emotions and Suffering, the newest entry in a popular IVP series that will publish this August.

John Lee recently signed a contract for a book to be published in 2020 by Lexham Press, which also published last fall Dr. Alan Branch’s book Born This Way?: Homosexuality, Science, and the Scriptures, adding a much-needed word in this culturally relevant conversation.

And, of course, many of our professors continue to see short pieces appear in theological and ministerial journals, magazines, and web resources throughout the year. The For the Church website, hosted by the seminary, is also a great and ever-expanding repository of short pieces in the pastoral, practical, and devotional veins, further shaping Midwestern’s reputation for literary stewardship.

Midwestern Seminary staffers and students are also continuing to make forays into publishing. Sam Parkison, a current doctoral student and a former admissions counselor at Midwestern, recently released his first book with Rainer Publishing. In Revelation and Response, Parkison, who is also a worship pastor at Emmaus Church in North Kansas City, shows “The Why and How of Leading Corporate Worship Through Song.”

Jared Wilson, Midwestern Seminary’s Director of Content Strategy, now also an assistant professor of pastoral ministry at Spurgeon College, continues his prolific ways. Wilson has followed up his 2018 Christian living title Supernatural Power for Everyday People (Thomas Nelson) with a book on leading gospel-centered church transition. The Gospel-Driven Church was published by Zondervan in March. Wilson also has a Bible study on Ruth coming from New Growth Press in the fall and has signed a contract for another book with Thomas Nelson in the genre of Christian living to appear in 2020.

These are exciting days for the Midwestern Seminary community, as the influence of and investment by the institution repeatedly resounds far and wide. And with more academic, practical, and literary contributions to come, these are great days for students to join the spiritual and intellectual resurgence taking place in Kansas City.

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