Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen announced today the hiring of Geoff Chang, who will assume the position of curator for the Spurgeon Library effective Aug. 1.
Chang, who currently serves as associate pastor of Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Ore., and will graduate on May 1 with his Ph.D. in historical theology from MBTS, will oversee day-to-day operations for the library as well as major writing projects involved with the collection. He will also serve the institution as assistant professor of historical theology.
Allen explained that bringing Chang onboard as curator of the Spurgeon Library was a process, but his decision became much clearer as he discerned Chang’s dedication to the local church and love for Spurgeon scholarship.
“I cannot be more thrilled to announce Dr. Geoff Chang as the new curator of the Spurgeon Library and as a valued member of our faculty,” Allen said. “As Dr. Chang was nearing the end of his Ph.D. studies at Midwestern Seminary, it became clear that he was advancing the state of Spurgeon scholarship in pioneering and valuable ways ‘for the church.’ This is the exact vision we’ve had for the Spurgeon Library since its beginning.”
Allen added that the “synergy of Dr. Chang’s interest in Spurgeon scholarship, his heart for the local church, plus his overall collegial character and gifted abilities made it clear that Dr. Chang is the right person to lead the Spurgeon Library and teach at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College.”
Among Chang’s responsibilities will be managing C.H. Spurgeon’s personal library collection, which consists of more than 6,000 books and artifacts. He will also devote time to major writing projects, such as future volumes of The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon, provide oversight of materials placed on Spurgeon.org, and he will direct and mentor Spurgeon Scholars, who assist with a wide-range of Spurgeon Library initiatives.
Chang called his being hired into the position “a tremendous privilege and stewardship,” adding “The Spurgeon Library, being the personal library of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, is not only a historical artifact, but it is also one of the finest Puritan and theological libraries in the world. I’m grateful for the opportunity to oversee this resource for the advancement of evangelical scholarship which I pray will benefit the church.”
He went on to explain that he’s appreciated Spurgeon’s sermons and preaching for many years but that admiration deepened these past four years during the course of his doctoral research, as he’s come to learn more about Spurgeon as a local church pastor. “This is an area of scholarship that has been largely overlooked,” he said. “Yet, in so many ways, Spurgeon provides a model of leadership and pastoral ministry that continues to be relevant to the challenges that churches face today.”
In addition to Chang’s Ph.D. studies at Midwestern Seminary, he earned a M.Div. from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and a Bachelor’s in business administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He has ministered at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., as pastoral assistant for membership & discipleship and served as English ministry assistant for the young adult and college ministries at Houston Chinese Church in Texas.
Chang shared that having served in local church pastoral ministry for the past decade, he’s “not interested in scholarship that remains abstract and disconnected from the local church. In teaching church history and historical theology, I want to draw from my experience to better equip men and women to serve local churches in practical and tangible ways.
“Similarly, I want the Spurgeon Library to be a place where we continue to mine the riches of Spurgeon’s ministry, and all of church history, to better equip pastors to serve faithfully.”
Chang also brings to the position significant writing experience—regularly providing articles for HistoricalTheology.org, which he also helped found. He has been the book review editor for History and Historical Theology for Themelios and has written articles for Themelios and 9Marks.
A major project Chang has worked on over the past two years is continuing The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon series in conjunction with B&H Academic. Chang has labored, alongside the Spurgeon Library team, as the editor for volumes 5 and 6.
He shared that these volumes contain the never-before-published notebooks of Spurgeon’s earliest sermons—preached during his first pastorate in the village of Waterbeach, England.
“We hope to be publishing notebooks 4-6 in the coming year, and finishing out notebooks 7-9 in the near future,” Chang said. “Alongside that, I hope to continue researching and writing on Spurgeon’s ecclesiology and approach to pastoral ministry.”
Midwestern Seminary Provost Jason Duesing echoed Allen’s sentiments about Chang and also noted his strong leadership abilities saying, “Dr. Chang not only is an excellent writer—as evidenced by his dissertation, his work on the Lost Sermons series, and his article publications—but he also has the ability to coalesce the Spurgeon Library team and to continue the library’s ascension as a top destination for the study of all things Spurgeon.
“We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Chang, his wife, Stephanie, and their three children to Kansas City, and we look forward to their becoming a valuable addition to our seminary community.”
For more information about The Spurgeon Library, visit www.spurgeon.org.
