TOM STELLER TO RECEIVE HONORARY DOCTORATE
MINNEAPOLIS, April 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of
Bethlehem College and Seminary has
unanimously approved President Brian J.
Tabb's recommendation that the school confer the degree of
Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) honoris causa on Tom Steller. The conferral is to take place
during annual commencement ceremonies scheduled for Friday, May 17, 2024. Steller is a long-serving
Minneapolis pastor, professor, and
global missionary.
Tabb announced the Trustee's decision today saying, "The book of
Hebrews says, 'Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the
word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate
their faith. Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday and today and forever.'" "Pastor Tom Steller is one of these leaders whose
teaching and life are worthy of emulation," he added.
Steller is regarded as "the architect" of Bethlehem College and Seminary, having
conceived in 1998 of a program of academically rigorous pastoral
apprenticeship while he was on the pastoral staff of Bethlehem
Baptist Church, Minneapolis. The
Bethlehem Institute later became Bethlehem College and Seminary in 2009, a
degree-granting institution of higher education. Steller was the
school's first Academic Dean, serving in that capacity until 2020,
when he joined the launch team of Bethlehem Seminary, Yaoundé,
Republic of Cameroon, as Associate
Professor of Biblical and Global Studies. Steller also currently
serves as Director of Theological Education-Cameroon at Training
Leaders International, another theological training organization he
helped to found.
Dr. John Piper, Chancellor of
Bethlehem College and Seminary,
said, "No one is more deserving of such an honor than Tom Steller. There would be no Bethlehem College and Seminary without his
40-year ministry at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He laid the
foundation in years of mentoring. He shepherded the formation of
the successive manifestations from mentoring to training to
institute to Seminary and College." Dr. Piper added, "When Tom
could have gone on to get his own PhD. he stayed to build a
launching pad for others. And besides all this, 'Doctor' means
'teacher' and Tom is still among the best."
Steller joined the pastoral staff of Bethlehem Baptist Church in
1980, to serve alongside Piper as its then-new senior pastor, and
ministered to that congregation for 40 years. He served in
virtually every area of pastoral ministry during that tenure
including congregational care, college ministry, global missions,
executive leadership, and leadership development.
A graduate of Bethel College,
Saint Paul (B.A.), Steller
received a Master of Divinity (M.Div) from Fuller Seminary,
Pasadena. In 2000, he decided to forgo doctoral studies to
concentrate on pastoral and family responsibilities. "A student
told Tom Steller then to have no
regrets because, 'We are your dissertation,'" said Tabb. "And
so we are, but at last 'Doctor Steller' will receive the academic
honors that he so richly deserves, with this being just another
waypoint on his decades-long path of faithful devotion and service
to the cause of Christ," Tabb concluded.
Bethlehem College and Seminary
is a churches-based, degree-granting institution with its main
campus located on the site of Bethlehem Baptist Church,
Minneapolis, and evening classes
conducted at The North Church, Mounds
View, Minnesota. The school offers both undergraduate and
graduate degrees. The college is in the model of classical and
Christian education, while the seminary focuses on equipping of
biblical elders for the tasks of pastoral, missionary, and academic
ministry. The seminary maintains a separate location in Yaoundé,
Republic of Cameroon, in
cooperation with Église Baptiste Bethléem, a church planted by one
of its graduates. Bethlehem
College and Seminary is accredited by the Association for Biblical
Higher Education Commission on Accreditation.
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SOURCE Bethlehem College and
Seminary