Four Views on the Church's Mission

Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director at 9Marks, a ministry that helps church leaders build healthy churches. He teaches theology at several seminaries and has written a number of books on the church. He is also a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He has degrees in political science and English, a master of science in political theory, a master of divinity, and a doctorate in political theology. Jonathan served for years as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, but has since left to plant a nearby church. He lives in the DC area with his wife and four daughters.

Rev Dr Chris Wright is the Global Ambassador for Langham Partnership (www.langham.org).  After ordained pastoral ministry in the Church of England, he taught the Old Testament in India for five years (1983-88) and then at All Nations Christian College in England until taking over the leadership of Langham’s ministries at John Stott’s invitation in 2001. His books include commentaries on Exodus, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel; Old Testament Ethics for the People of God; The Mission of God; The God I Don’t Understand; and The Mission of God’s People. Chris was the Chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group. (www.lausanne.org), from 2005 – 2011, and was the chief architect of The Cape Town Commitment – the Statement of the Third Lausanne Congress in October 2010. Chris and his wife Liz, who come originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, have four adult children and eleven grandchildren, and live in London as members of All Souls Church, Langham Place.

John R. Franke (DPhil, Oxford) serves full-time as Theologian in Residence with Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis. He is also Professor of Religious Studies and Missiology for the Protestant Theological Faculty of Leuven, Belgium, and the General Coordinator for the Gospel and Our Culture Network, North America.

Dr. Peter Leithart has taught Theology & Literature at New St. Andrews College since 1998, and has served as pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho, since 2003. He received his Ph.D. at Cambridge in England. Dr. Leithart and his wife, Noel, have 10 children and 3 grandchildren.

Stanley N. Gundry is executive vice president and editor-in-chief for the Zondervan Corporation. He has been an influential figure in the Evangelical Theological Society, serving as president of ETS and on its executive committee, and is adjunct professor of Historical Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He is the author of seven books and has written many articles appearing in popular and academic periodicals.