Timothy C. Tennent (born September 24, 1959) is an American Methodist

missiologist Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. Definition Broadly speaking, missiology is "an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into Ch ...

and expert on

world Christianity World Christianity or global Christianity has been defined both as a term that attempts to convey the global nature of the Christian religion and an academic field of study that encompasses analysis of the histories, practices, and discourses of ...

. As of 2025, he is the Methodist Chair of Divinity at

Beeson Divinity School Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an in-person, interdenominational, evangelicalism, evangelical divinity school located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The current dean is Douglas A. Sweeney. The school offers several degre ...

where he oversees their Missions and World Christianity curriculum. He formerly served as President of

Asbury Theological Seminary Asbury Theological Seminary is a Christian Wesleyan seminary in the historical Methodist tradition located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is known for its advocacy of egalitarianism, giv ...

from 2009-2024. Prior to that he taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary from 1998-2009. He was first ordained and spent many years as a minister in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. In 2023, he transferred his ministerial credentials to the

Global Methodist Church The Global Methodist Church (GM Church, or GMC) is a Methodism, Methodist denomination within Protestant Christianity subscribing to views that were propounded by the conservative Confessing Movement. The Christian denomination, denomination is ...

. He is also a direct descendant of

William Tennent William Tennent (1673 – May 6, 1746) was an early Scottish American Presbyterian minister and educator in British North America. Early life Tennent was born in Mid Calder, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, in 1673. He graduated from the Univ ...

, the founder of

Log College The Log College, founded in 1727, was the first theological seminary serving Presbyterians in North America, and was located in what is now Warminster, Pennsylvania. It was founded by William Tennent and operated from 1727 until Tennent's death i ...

, which was the precursor to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Education

Tennent's education includes a B.A. from

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...

, an M.Div. from Gordon Conwell (1984), a Th.M. from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

(1991), and a Ph.D. from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

's Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World (1998), where his dissertation was on Indian theologian

Brahmabandhab Upadhyay Brahmabandhav Upadhyay (born ''Bhavani Charan Bandyopadhyay'') (11 February 1861 – 27 October 1907) was an Indian Bengali theologian, journalist and freedom fighter. He was closely attached with Keshub Chandra Sen, classmate of Swami Vi ...

. Tennent studied under Professor John Brockington, Dr James Cox, and Professor

Andrew Walls Andrew Finlay Walls (21 April 192812 August 2021) was a British historian of missions, best known for his pioneering studies of the history of the African church and a pioneer in the academic field of World Christianity. Biography Walls was b ...

, and his research focused on the rapidly growing churches outside the West. His Ph.D. dissertation was revised and published in 2000 under the title ''Building Christianity on Indian Foundations''. Tennent is also one of four graduates of a three-year mentoring in academic leadership program funded through a

Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. (J. K.) Lilly Sr. and his s ...

grant.

Career

Tennent began his teaching career at

Toccoa Falls College Toccoa Falls College is a private evangelical Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia, founded in 1907. The campus occupies , bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with ...

, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 1995. From 1998–2009, he served as professor of world missions and Indian studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in

South Hamilton South Hamilton is a postal address assigned to ZIP code 01982 by the Postal Service and is part of the town of Hamilton, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States (ZIP code 01936). The designation arose in the 1960s when the Postal Service bui ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He was elected to his current post as president of Asbury Seminary on February 17, 2009, and his tenure began on July 1, 2009. Tennent succeeded Ellsworth Kalas as president of Asbury. He continues to serve as a visiting professor at the Luther W. New Jr. Theological College of

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

where he has taught each summer since 1988. In November 2009, Tennent signed an ecumenical statement known as the '' Manhattan Declaration'' calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.

Theology

Tennent has a

Wesleyan-Arminian Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

theology.

Published works

Books

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Articles & chapters

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References

Citations

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennent, Timothy 1959 births American theologians American United Methodist clergy Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Asbury Theological Seminary faculty Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary alumni Living people Oral Roberts University alumni People from Atlanta Princeton University alumni Seminary presidents World Christianity scholars Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity