Welcome Dr. Kevin Watson to Tulsa!
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Watson will be moving to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I am PUMPED about this!
Partnership Between Asbury Church and Asbury Theological Seminary
One of the things that attracted me to Tulsa was the partnership between Asbury Church (AC) and Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS), and all the potential that implied. ATS has an extension campus site on our property, right across the parking lot in a building we own called The Development Center. (Both AC and ATS are named after the great Methodist missionary Francis Asbury, but they are completely separate entities with different histories—“no relation,” in other words.)
Why Pastoral Formation Matters
The Rev. Tom Harrison—my predecessor as senior pastor at Asbury—is a longtime, vocal supporter of ATS. Quoting Maxie Dunham, Tom likes to say:
“As the seminary goes, so goes the pastor;
As the pastor goes, so goes the church;
As the church goes, so goes the world!”
Tom—and Maxie—are exactly right. One of the projects I’m most interested in is learning to evangelize effectively in Negative World, and that project will never amount to anything unless we prepare future pastors to lead and thrive in the Negative World in which we find ourselves. To have an excellent seminary presence right across one’s parking lot? HECK YES. I’m hoping that it will be like the Christian version of living next-door to Xerox Parc in its Silicon Valley heyday—the learning and cross-influence could be huge for the Church’s mission in post-Christian America.
The Asbury Church Development Center
One of the last initiatives Tom led at Asbury Church was a multi-million dollar campaign to create and fund The Development Center. The Development Center is an incubator and host of local Christian non-profits—the organizations pay us nominal rent and our hope is that the informal mixing and connections between the organizations create new opportunities for God to work. One of the non-profits housed in The Development Center is the Tulsa extension campus of ATS. Which brings us to Dr. Kevin Watson.
Kevin’s New roles in Tulsa
Kevin’s new role is to lead and and grow the ATS presence in Tulsa. At Asbury Church, we’ve brought Kevin onto our staff as Scholar-in-Residence because we want to strengthen the partnership between the seminary and the church. Our hope is that having someone of Kevin’s expertise and stature at ATS will attract young, talented students to Tulsa; because a rising tide lifts all boats, if the seminary wins, we win!
The Asbury Church Scholar-in-Residence
As the Scholar-in-Residence at Asbury, Kevin will serve as a mentor and leader for students, staff members, and young adults in our congregation who are interested in the pastoral ministry, and he will help connect ATS-Tulsa students into the worshiping life of our church. Kevin will also preach for me and teach on Sunday mornings and in other settings from time to time.
How Kevin Will Help Me out this summer
Starting TOMORROW (with Psalm 73) (UPDATE—I meant to say starting with Psalm 74!), Kevin will be filling in for me and writing daily commentary for most of our our remaining psalms. I’ll still write some from time to time, but I’ve been writing daily commentary since last August, and with my deadlines approaching on the fall batch of daily commentaries to support our churchwide reading plan (on the Gospel of Matthew—starts 8/20!) as well as a book manuscript deadline at the end of the summer, I can really use the help!
In addition, I’ll be introducing Kevin to the Asbury congregation on July 23 and July 30 when he’ll be preaching at all of our services.
The Personal Connection
Kevin is married to Melissa, and they have 3 children. My wife Elaine and I have known Kevin and Melissa for 16 years, and they were part of the launch team that started Munger Place Church in Dallas in 2010. Crazy how God works. In additional to that, Kevin’s dad Matt and his late mom Tellia have been members at Asbury for the last several years.
Kevin coming to Tulsa means that the Lord is up to something, and I can’t wait to see what it is.
Let’s GO.
P.S.
Kevin blogs at www.kevinmwatson.com.