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Current Issue: Didache Volume 24 Number 2
INTRODUCTION
Klaus Arnold
Welcome to Didache: Faithful Teaching, Volume 24, Number 2. This edition continues our exploration of theological education, spiritual formation, biblical scholarship, and ecclesial engagement through a global Wesleyan-Holiness lens. We are grateful to share several compelling articles that reflect diverse voices, contexts, and methods of scholarly inquiry, all rooted in a shared commitment to the mission of faithful teaching.
We open this issue with a collaborative research study from Rev. Kay Lynn Perry and Dr. Stephen D. Perry, titled “Thriving or Surviving? A Study of Nazarene Women Clergy.” Their work explores the realities of burnout, sustainability, and vocational identity among women ministers in the Church of the Nazarene. This study draws on a survey of over one hundred clergywomen, offering both a sobering and hopeful lens on ministerial thriving. Rev. Kay Lynn Perry serves as pastor of the Elizabeth City First Church of the Nazarene and is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Northern Seminary. She also works bi-vocationally at Regent University. Dr. Stephen D. Perry is a Fulbright Fellow and Chair of the Department of Journalism and Communication Studies at Regent University, with longstanding leadership in lay ministry.
Next, Chaplain Jonathan Sutter contributes a timely and reflective essay, “Pushing the Boundaries of the Evangelical Enterprise and Catholic Spirit in the Chaplaincy.” Sutter, who serves at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, invites us to consider a Wesleyan theology of chaplaincy that maintains faith commitments while navigating the religiously pluralistic and institutionally complex spaces of public ministry. His paper skillfully mediates tensions between denominational integrity and intercultural humility.
In our third contribution, Ben van Vuuren, a PhD student at Africa Nazarene University, presents “A Comprehensive Study of Erikson’s Developmental Stages Applied to the Gospel of Mark: A Hermeneutical Lens for Spiritual Development.” This innovative work applies Erikson’s psychosocial theory to the narrative structure of Mark’s Gospel, proposing a model for spiritual growth through the lens of developmental psychology. The paper reflects a growing interest in interdisciplinary approaches to biblical interpretation within pastoral theology.
We then turn to the theme of moral emotion and ecclesial ethics in “Contempt or Care? Mediating A Wesleyan Virtue Ethic for Today,” authored by Dean G. Blevins of Nazarene Theological Seminary. This article investigates the corrosive effects of contempt in contemporary discourse and offers a Wesleyan virtue ethic centered in care as a pathway to healing and mediation in divided communities.
Our next article, “A Call for Greater Accuracy for Translating ἀδελφοί in the ESV Introduction,” comes from Joshua Boston, a student at Nazarene Theological College, Manchester. Boston offers a well-argued case for updating the English Standard Version’s translation of the Greek term ἀδελφοί to reflect both linguistic precision and inclusive accuracy. His essay exemplifies emerging scholarship attentive to both biblical fidelity and the contemporary ecclesial context. His work was recommended by Revd. Dr. Svetlana Khobnya, Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at NTC Manchester.
We conclude this edition with Gunnar Wene’s “Missiological Epistemology: Land, Identity, and Colonialism,” a final integrative literature review written while a student at Nazarene Theological Seminary. This piece addresses the theological implications of colonialism, identity, and spatial justice through a review of Majority World theological sources. Wene’s work challenges readers to consider how land, power, and epistemology intersect in the church’s mission today. The paper was recommended by Dr. David Wesley, Professor of Intercultural Studies at NTS.
Together, these articles reflect a deep engagement with the missional and theological questions facing the Church and academy. We commend them to you for study, dialogue, and spiritual formation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
pdf Thriving or Surviving? A Study of Nazarene Women Clergy (298 KB) , by Kay Lynn Perry and Steve Perry
pdf Pushing the Boundaries of the Evangelical Enterprise and Catholic Spirit in the Chaplaincy (290 KB) , by Johnathan Sutter
pdf A Comprehensive Study of Erikson’s Developmental Stages Applied to the Gospel of Mark: A Hermeneutical Lenses for Spiritual Development (377 KB) , by Ben van Vuuren
pdf Contempt or Care? Mediating A Wesleyan Virtue Ethic for Today (360 KB) , by Dean G. Blevins
pdf A Call for Greater Accuracy for Translating ἀδελφοί in the ESV Introduction (1.32 MB) , by Joshua Boston
pdf Missiological Epistemology: Land, Identity, and Colonialism Final Integrative Literature Review (263 KB) , by Gunnar Wene
