Sustaining Ministry Education: Cultivating the Ecotone of Lifelong Learning

Authors

Darryl W. Stephens (ed)
Moravian University School of Theology
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9298-9343 (unauthenticated)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31046/3htbj032

Keywords:

ministry, lifelong learning, theological education, information literacy, pedagogy, The Association of Theological Schools, Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry, ecotone, formation, androgogy, information seeking, Scripture, social media, technology, artificial intelligence, AI, preaching, coaching, Evangelical, seminary, denominational identity, congregation, God, distance learning, culturally responsive adult learning theory, languages, pastoral care, Hispanic, Latino, cultural awareness, imago Dei, New Testament, Revelation, Hispanic Scholar Program, lived experience, webinars, accessible learning, continuing ministerial development, webinar design, webinar modality, Center for Asian American Christianity, Asian diasporic Christian communities, denominational professionalism, theological literacy, Pathways for Tomorrow, heutagogy, self-determined learning, learner-practitioners, Indigenous Appreciative Inquiry, Leadership Institute for Growth, Healing, and Transformation (LIGHT), Zapatista "tale of creation", Zapatista literature, wisdom, microlearning, digital storytelling, Project Based Learning, librarians, micro-credentials, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, information fluency, Lombard, Emmett, Indiana Peer Group Study Program, Dunning-Kruger effect, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), The School of Global Citizenry, social activism, autoethnography, Virginia Theological Seminary

Synopsis

The fastest growing and least-resourced aspect of theological education in North America is lifelong learning for ministry. Located at the confluence of church, society, and academy, lifelong learning is an “ecotone,” a transitional space with its own distinct ecology, an area of steep transition between ecological communities and ecosystems, such as an estuary between saltwater and freshwater. Thus, directors of lifelong learning and the theological librarians they depend on are often on the forefront of educational innovation and attuned to the needs of churches and their communities. Yet, lifelong learning programs have lacked data and scholarship to support their leadership—until now. This book promotes discovery, innovation, nurture, and sustainability in lifelong learning by bringing together directors of programs, theological educators, and theological librarians to share research and best practices to support lifelong learning for ministry.

Chapters

Author Biographies

Darryl W. Stephens, Moravian University School of Theology

Darryl W. Stephens, PhD, directs lifelong learning programs for the Moravian University School of Theology and the Greater New Jersey Conference of The United Methodist Church. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry (ALLLM). He is the author of over 50 scholarly books, articles, and chapters. His blogs can be found at http://www.ethicsconsidered.com/.

Lindsay Andreolli-Comstock, Tumbuh Global

Lindsay Andreolli-Comstock, DMin, is a co-founder and the managing director of Tumbuh Global, an educational design and consulting firm focusing on the principles of global citizenship education (GCED). She also serves as the president and principal consultant for The School of Global Citizenry, a CEU-certified GCED online school of lifelong learning for adult professionals. She is also a three-time contributing author: Song of Songs: Wisdom Commentary (2017), Letting the Other Speak: Proclaiming the Stories of Biblical Women (2013), and And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy (2012). 

James Bell, Anderson University - Indiana

James Bell, MLS, is Director of Nicholson Library at Anderson University and School of Theology in Indiana, where he oversees administration of library resources and information literacy promotion for undergraduate and graduate students. He is an active layperson in the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.).

Helen Blier, Columbia Theological Seminary

Helen Blier currently serves as the Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning at Columbia Theological Seminary and is the President of the Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry (ALLLM). Prior to her current role, she led continuing education at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), where she directed student information and organizational evaluation. Blier holds a PhD from Emory University and a MEd and AB (Theology) from Boston College. Her research, presentations, and publications focus broadly on theological education and formation, lifelong learning, vocation, and youth and young adult faith development. 

David C. Chao, Princeton Theological Seminary

David C. Chao is Director of the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he teaches and leads initiatives that cultivate theological reflection within Asian and Asian American communities. His scholarship examines the lived faith of Asian Christians in diasporic contexts, the constructive uses of Christian doctrine for liberation, and the theological legacy of Karl Barth, with forthcoming books on providence and Asian American theology. A co-editor of A Bright Sadness: Navigating Transitions through Asian American Spiritual Formation (forthcoming with WJK), he writes and speaks widely on Asian American theology, spiritual formation, and the practices that sustain communal resilience and hope in seasons of profound change.

Doris García Rivera, Lexington Theological Seminary

Doris García Rivera holds a PhD in Biblical Studies and Sociology and several other degrees in religion and science. She serves as the Academic Coordinator for Pathways and Contingent Faculty at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky. Doris teaches courses and workshops on Hebrew Bible, Interculturality and Mission and Evangelism and is passionate about continuing education and lifelong learning. Her writings appear in a variety of journals, books and digital spaces. 

Lisa Kimball, Virginia Theological Seminary

Lisa Kimball, PhD, is the Vice President for Lifelong Learning and James Maxwell Professor of Lifelong Christian Formation at Virginia Theological Seminary. As a practical theologian and senior administrator in a denominational seminary, she focuses her teaching and research on faith practices and faith transmission in everyday life. Her current academic interests include the history and contemporary application of the catechumenate, the significance of baptism in contemporary society, and how our theological anthropology shapes public political discourse. 

Katharine E. Lassiter, Meadville Lombard Theological School

Katharine E. Lassiter, PhD is Senior Director of Lifelong Learning and DMin at Meadville Lombard Theological School. She is the author of Recognizing Other Subjects: Feminist Pastoral Theology and the Challenge of Identity and many articles reflecting theologically on subjectivity. She teaches courses in theological method, spiritual care, and social justice.

Joshua E. Livingston, Princeton Theological Seminary

Joshua E. Livingston serves as the Program Manager for the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is also a Public Scholarship Editor for their Imagine Otherwise online magazine and co-editor of A Bright Sadness: Navigating Transitions through Asian American Spiritual Formation (forthcoming with WJK). 

Jessica Lugo Meléndez, Association for Hispanic Theological Education

Jessica Lugo Meléndez, MBA, MDiv, is an educator, pastor, and administrator with more than twenty-five years of combined ministerial and corporate experience. She currently serves as Executive Director of the
Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH). An ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches, she teaches graduate-level courses in the History of Christianity, New Testament, and Evangelism, and serves as adjunct faculty at several biblical institutes. She also teaches undergraduate courses in Business Administration at multiple universities. She has contributed articles and essays to several theological reference works and academic publications. 

Glenn Melville, Carey Baptist College

Glenn Melville, PhD, is director of the Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning in Auckland, New Zealand, where he develops an annual curriculum of learning options to support the continuing ministerial development of church and mission leaders. He holds a PhD from the Auckland Institute of Technology (AUT) in Philosophy, an MTh and GradDipTh from Laidlaw College, and a BBus from AUT. Glenn worked in marketing for corporate multi-nationals before commencing pastoral ministry in the role of associate pastor and then as interim senior pastor. His doctoral studies investigated the well-being of pastoral leaders in New Zealand.

Jodi L. Porter

Jodi L. Porter, EdD, is the Secretary of the Board of ALLLM and Managing Director of Coordination Programs at the Forum for Congregational Life, housed at Duke Divinity School. Previously she served at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia in connection with two Pathways grants, one a collaborative grant with NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community. In 2025-2026, she was a Barbara Wheeler Fellow with Auburn Theological Seminary, focused on “pedagogical imagination” for serving diverse students well in ATS member schools. She has extensive experience in research and thought leadership, teaching and learning, organizational leadership, and leadership development. She holds an EdD from Vanderbilt University; an MTh from Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford; and a BA in Oxbridge Honors Religious Studies from William Jewell College.

Jennifer L. Sanborn, The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts

Jennifer L. Sanborn, MS and MA, is the director of development for The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (TABCOM). Her work includes 25 years in higher education building community for student learning beyond the classroom in both undergraduate and graduate settings, including a seminary. After serving multivocationally as a faith leader and an educator, Jennifer integrated these paths as national coordinator for learning initiatives with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies where she cultivated a special interest in how we connect our faith and our finances to together create a world where everyone has enough. 

Kris Veldheer

Kris Veldheer is a retired theological librarian and library director who served a number of schools and seminaries during her thirty-two-year career in theological education. Kris is the author of Managing a Small Theological Library (Atla Open Press) and a frequent presenter at conferences on topics including the use of technology in education, library instruction, assessment, and instructional design. Currently in her retirement, Kris is the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sturgis, Michigan.

Cover image depicts a beaver dam in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, as an example of an ecotone.

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Published

August 4, 2026
Copyright (c) 2026 Books@Atla Open Press

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