Evangelical Seminary Alumni

05/07/2026

Doug Buckwalter was Tony Blair's guest on the Imagination Podcast this week. He spoke with clarity and passion about how a chiastic hermeneutic can make the biblical text more memorable and understanding for all Christians, but particularly in a cross-cultural or oral cultural context.

Some of us have heard this before and would be encouraged by the reminder. For others, this may be new and exciting. We have always loved how much Doug loves Scripture... and how he seeks to find, as much as is possible, the mind and heart of the original authors. Take a listen...

It's posted to Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2er8Z0zWcJ0rHS5qNHrmqV?si=MmmSr1IOQvK4JVOfLLfwcg
And YouTube below: https://youtu.be/DxKs5R5IFnY

Dr. Buckwalter has been Professor of Biblical Studies, with a specialization in the New Testament, at Evangelical Seminary and now Kairos University, since 1...

02/24/2026

Our friend Len Sweet gives an incredible compliment to our own Dr. Tim Valentino, now completing his second doctorate.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18R4nLS4c7/

More than anyone else, Dr. Leonard Sweet has taught me how to think in pictures, especially with regard to the biblical storyline. Truth be told, he’s taught me how to look at all of life tha…

02/19/2026

The PhD and ThD programs at Kairos University are now sponsoring a weekly "Imagination Podcast," speaking with people who are helping us to re-imagine... to see more clearly, deeply, and fully what God is up to in the world. This is a key purpose of the ThD program, which started at Evangelical, and was adopted by Kairos when we joined.

The podcast is hosted by our own Tony Blair... who leads these programs. In this third installment, Tony interviews Kairos president Greg Henson about how organizations are formed, or need to be, so that practices match principles. This is Greg's scholarly passion, as well as his desire as a leader in a growing movement of theological education.

If you're wondering what Kairos is up to, or what motivates us, or what our new endeavor, Novare, is about, take a listen!

Greg Henson is president of Kairos University and, before that, president of Sioux Falls Seminary, the institution that served as the laboratory from which K...

01/28/2026

Chestnut Hill College Offers MBA in Ministry Leadership

Chestnut Hill, located in suburban Philadelphia, is now offering an innovative MBA in Strategic Management with a concentration in Ministry Leadership. This specialized curriculum, created for Chestnut Hill by our own Tony Blair, address the unique realities of leading faith-based organizations. And through a partnership with Kairos, one can also apply the learning from this MBA program toward a Kairos MDiv degree!

The program is 100% online with a self-paced, asynchronous format accommodating different time zones and irregular ministry schedules, costs just $325 per credit hour ($9,750 total), and offers a pay-as-you-go model. Individuals can complete the program in as little as a year. For more information about this program, visit our partner spotlight or check out the Chestnut Hill website.

Partnership Spotlight: Chestnut Hill College June 23, 2025 Kairos contextualization partner Chestnut Hill College has launched an innovative MBA in Ministry Leadership that is bridging faith and business. We invite you to learn more about this unique program. Below is an article from the college ....

11/08/2025

A reminder about the surprise semi-retirement reception for Dr. Doug Buckwalter this Tuesday evening! Hope can stop in or send blessings!

Surprise Celebration for Dr. Doug Buckwalter!

Join us in celebrating Dr. Doug Buckwalter's semi-retirement from Evangelical Seminary after 32 years! Please join us for a surprise drop-in reception in Dr. Buckwalter's honor.

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
6:00 pm- 8:00 pm
Pense Learning Center
Park in the Christ Community Church, (Christ Hall), parking lot.

If you are not able to attend and would like to send words of gratitude mail them to:

Kairos University-Evangelical Seminary
Dr. Buckwalter
107 W Park Ave
Myerstown, PA 17067
or email: [email protected]

Doug will continue to mentor some students for Kairos but will put much of his energy now into helping train pastors globally through Carey International Pastoral Training and assisting other ministries locally.

Feel free to pass along the information to other alumni but remind everyone that this is a SURPRISE. Thanks!

10/16/2025

Surprise Celebration for Dr. Doug Buckwalter!

Join us in celebrating Dr. Doug Buckwalter's semi-retirement from Evangelical Seminary after 32 years! Please join us for a surprise drop-in reception in Dr. Buckwalter's honor.

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
6:00 pm- 8:00 pm
Pense Learning Center
Park in the Christ Community Church, (Christ Hall), parking lot.

If you are not able to attend and would like to send words of gratitude mail them to:

Kairos University-Evangelical Seminary
Dr. Buckwalter
107 W Park Ave
Myerstown, PA 17067
or email: [email protected]

Doug will continue to mentor some students for Kairos but will put much of his energy now into helping train pastors globally through Carey International Pastoral Training and assisting other ministries locally.

Feel free to pass along the information to other alumni but remind everyone that this is a SURPRISE. Thanks!

06/12/2025

We've been noting lately that even though much has changed (for the better) in joining Kairos University, the things that matter most have not changed. Being part of a larger university has allowed us to expand the scope of our work in some significant ways, yet without detracting at all from the mission God gave the founders of Evangelical 72 years ago. We're still committed to Christ, to Scripture, to the Church, to the Kingdom of God. We're still boldly, broadly, and beautifully Evangelical. And we’re still seeing the lives of students transformed through their encounters with God in their learning journey. Here’s one example:

"Having a deeper understanding of God’s Word has led me to love Jesus more. Dr. Buckwalter is an absolute phenomenal teacher, and learning about cultural context of the Bible helps me to understand what it is really about. I am spending more time in the Word of God, and it is drawing me closer to Christ. It is my hope that through this process that people see more and more of Christ and less of me."
--Keith House, Pastor of Living Hope Lighthouse Evangelical Congregational Church; Master of Divinity student.

Keith is one of approximately 1200 students from around the world who are maturing in Christ as a result of their learning-and-discipleship journey in Kairos. Many of them are from the central Pennsylvania area and/or from the denominations and movements we have long supported. And we are grateful for faithful professors like Dr. Doug Buckwalter, who has for a generation led students into both a deeper knowledge of Scripture and a deeper love of God.

06/05/2025

We still love the Bible. :)

We noted in a recent post that we have relocated our offices in Myerstown from Christ Hall, which is now home to Christ Community Church, to the Pense Center, which once held the Rostad Library.

It also hosted... and still hosts... the David A. Dorsey Museum of Biblical Archeology, which is named after its founder--our longtime, beloved professor of Old Testament, who passed away in early 2014. The museum occupies lovely remodeled space inside the ground floor entrance (nearest the parking lot). And Old Testament professors Phillip Bollinger and Sarah Dorsey Bollinger, who followed her father into the seminary faculty, still curate it. Both are today enthusiastic faculty with Kairos University.

Sarah notes, "When I first began mentoring in Kairos, I was worried that I would be missing out on something by not seeing students in classrooms as much. But now, even as I continue to enjoy teaching, I have also seen the beauty and experienced the benefit of mentoring students who are learning in their own diverse contexts and are creatively involved in developing their own educational paths."

The museum isn't only for student learning, but also for the broader church community of southcentral Pennsylvania. Please contact Sarah ([email protected]) or Phil ([email protected]) if you would wish to schedule a tour of our artifacts and experience the biblical story hands-on.

06/03/2025

Kairos University is still operating in Myerstown, although we have made some changes to the former Evangelical campus. Since most learning now takes place in mentored relationships or through distance learning, we don't have as many students coming to Myerstown as before. So we have moved our offices and classrooms out of Christ Hall and into the more compact Pense Center (which used to house the Rostad Library).

Wonderfully, Christ Hall is now owned by Christ Community Church! They're an Evangelical Congregational congregation led by our own Dr. Tim Valentino. They’ve already been meeting there for the past four years and are continuing with an expanded presence in that beautiful building. Christ Hall also still hosts the Wenger Center, now utilized by Whole Life Counseling and Consulting, where our MFT students are seeing clients and fulfilling their supervision hours, bringing healing and restoration to hurting people in our area.

Stop by and visit if you're in the area! And please continue to pray for our ongoing mission. Our name may have changed but our calling hasn't. :)

02/13/2025

A number of us from Evangelical were on hand last week to honor Roger North in his transition to semi-retirement from leadership of the North Group, after 27 years. Roger served as chair of the Evangelical Board of Trustees during the critical years when Evangelical moved into what became Kairos University, and provided much significant leadership in that transition. He then went on to serve a full term as a trustee for Kairos.

Roger's service to the community goes far beyond his service to our own institution, however; as a leadership coach he has mentored and inspired leaders in the business, nonprofit, and church community for decades. He has served on many boards, including the most prominent community ministries in our area. He created and funded the North Foundation to promote adoption among Christian families. It was an appropriate moment for the community that has benefited so much from Roger's service to come together and thank him for being himself.

To which we say also... thank you, Roger.