Administrators and Staff
Administrators are non-teaching or mentoring faculty who are hired to manage the academic affairs of the institution. They are part of the core faculty. Generally, they are not assigned to mentor students. The responsibilities of Redemption staff involve services and issues outside of academics. This includes areas such as those relating to registrar services, financial services, marketing services, fundraising services, etc.
President
Dr. Schwandt is the founding president of Redemption Seminary. He is committed to developing student centric educational and business models that promote affordable holistic learning that is attentive to students’ specific callings and gifting.
Associate Registrar
Tracey serves as an amazing part of Redemption Seminary’s staff and has been critically involved with launching the seminary.
Academic Dean
As Academic Dean, Dr. Wingo serves as Redemption Seminary’s chief academic officer. He oversees the student experience, faculty, and curriculum. His specialties include subjects of leadership, spiritual formation, and discipleship. He loves working with students of all ages, helping them broaden and deepen their understanding, while also helping them integrate their learning into the real world of their current life and ministry context in authentic, appropriate, and meaningful ways.
Associate Dean
Gayle Doornbos is an experienced teacher who has taught students online and in the classroom at Calvin Theological Seminary and Wycliffe College. Gayle also teaches regularly at her local church. She loves seeing the way that sustained engagement with Scripture and theology can transform and enrich the faith and practice of Christians.
Associate deans are responsible for ensuring that students progress through their program. (Mentor-professors focus on single courses.)
Associate deans are also responsible for mentor-professor development and each mentor-professor has a weekly meeting with an associate dean to review mentor sessions and work on best mentoring practices.
Associate deans work in concert with the administration to improve course curricula and programs. Mentor-professors provide continual suggestions and ideas to improve courses and it is the job of the associate deans to make recommendations for curricular changes to the administration.
Mentor-professors
The professor of record for each course is a mentor-professor that the student selects. Typically mentor-professors are contractors who determine how many students they will maximally teach each term and determine their own schedule for when they are available to meet with students.
The primary role of a mentor-professor is to have a teacher’s heart. In their weekly one-on-one mentor sessions with students, they listen more than speak, seeking to understand the student more than be understood. Once they understand the current position of the student’s growth toward the learning objectives for the particular week and the particular strengths of the student, they can determine if the student is ready to continue with the following project or assignment. In addition to assessing a student’s progress, mentor-professors focus on the best ways to encourage and guide students in their studies.
Mentor-professors help train other mentor-professors and provide regular recommendations for course and program improvements to the administration.
Redemption Seminary’s mentor-professors represent the heart of the seminary since they are the ones helping students grow and bless others. The primary qualifications for a mentor-professor are that they have a terminal degree (doctorate) and love the Lord Jesus. Redemption Seminary offers a path for any adult Christian to become a mentor-professor for their community and the broader online community.
Mentor-Professor Faculty List
Dr. Talbert completed his PhD in Theology (with a focus on hermeneutics, reception aesthetics, and 2 Thessalonians) at the University of Nottingham under Prof. Anthony Thiselton.
Dr. Talbert has taught at the university and seminary level for five years (three of those in a full-time capacity), as well as having been a teaching assistant and a course facilitator for several additional years. He has taught in the Classical Christian movement for six years with courses focused in the humanities (theology, biblical studies, Greek, history, and rhetoric), with a particular affinity for Greek, biblical studies, biblical theology, church history, sacramental theology, and Thomas Aquinas.
Dr. Clark received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (under Simon Gathercole), focusing on the intersection of suffering, mission and Christology in Paul’s letters. Areas of scholarly interest include: Hebrew and Greek exegesis, Pentateuchal narrative and ethics, the Psalter, Mark's Gospel, the pastoral theology of Paul, political theology, and parenting. A pastor with diverse ministry experiences (young adults, college ministry, cross-cultural missions work, small group ministry, and church revitalization), he has taught courses at Westminster and Covenant seminaries (both online and in person).
Dr. Welsh is the Lead Pastor of Restoration Church in Southlake, TX. He has held numerous pastoral roles from youth pastor to preaching pastor to lead pastor. In addition to pastoring, Ryan has taught undergraduate and graduate theology, ethics, preaching, and apologetics classes at Corban University (Salem, OR) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, TX).
Dr. Melton is the senior pastor at Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He has a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
His specialties are preaching, pastoral ministry, spiritual formation, counseling, and cross-cultural ministry. He is greatly committed to the Holy Scriptures and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth that carries us through every moment of every day.
Dr. Melton seeks to invest in the next generation of pastors who will be empowered by the Spirit, equipped for excellence in ministry, and tethered to Christ as the source of all that they will need in the service of their Lord.
Dr. Jim Newby finds great joy in encouraging and helping others experience and give witness to the living, active presence and word of Christ within their own lives, and seeing them follow Jesus into the concrete reality of the world that He calls them to love and serve. Dr. Newby has over 30 years of experience in pastoral leadership and family ministries within the church, along with 20 years of cross-cultural ministry—all with a focus on mentoring and discipleship. Dr. Newby earned a Master’s degree in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary and a Doctorate in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary, where his research focused on the consilience of interpersonal neurobiology and theology and the place and power of love and belonging in the faith formation of sixth graders.
Dr. Koperksi completed his doctorate in History at Ohio State University, which focused on ancient history broadly, with areas of specialization in late antiquity, early Christianity, and the later Roman Empire. In general, he is a fervent believer in Lewis’s notion of mere Christianity. That is, Christians really ought to master fundamental beliefs and disciplines before turning attention to disputable issues, which should then be handled irenically. For that reason, he is able to work well with students of varying theological backgrounds.
Since his conversion, Dr. Gutiérrez has been actively involved in serving the local church in diverse roles. He has assisted the church in administrative matters, served as youth leader, directed Sunday School Classes for adults, and college students, provided and coordinated theological education for the church, functioned as a doctrinal advisor to the church's leadership and congregants in the role of theologian-in residence, and contributed with preaching on the Lord's Day as needed.
He has lectured in English and Spanish on historic and systematic theology, apologetics, introduction to contemporary theology, and New Testament studies both to undergrad and graduate students.
Alexandria Ford is devoted to encouraging and equipping believers to live well for the glory of God. She received a doctorate in education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where her research focused on the relationship between human embodiment and spiritual formation. She holds a master's degree in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary. Her background includes counseling, personal training, wellness education, and local church ministry. She loves teaching the Bible and helping believers connect their faith with everyday life.
Dr. Soderberg has decades of experience in Christian education, both in brick and mortar schools and online. He earned a Ph.D. in Historical Theology at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. His research specialized in reformed historical Theology. Gregory loves investing in students and leaders of all ages through teaching, writing, and speaking. He aims to help people learn lessons from the past, to inspire them to live wisely in the present. He loves teaching because he loves learning, and the pursuit of wisdom, in community with other learners.
Sheree Lear earned a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and an MLitt in the Theological Interpretation of Scripture from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She grew up on the mission field (West Africa) and later attended Bible college with the intention of being a minister. She fell in love with studying and went to St Andrews for a master’s degree and later a PhD. Sheree is passionate about online teaching, something she has done quite a bit for various institutions in the past. She and her husband currently live in downtown Minneapolis with their two children, Junia and Arie.
Dr. Olson earned a D.Min. in Missional Leadership from Multnomah Biblical Seminary where he developed a Trinitarian theological framework for gifts. He also earned a Masters in Pastoral Studies with an emphasis in Church Planting from Multnomah Biblical Seminary and a Bachelors in Applied Arts and Sciences from the University of North Texas.
Tom Sweeney is an enthusiastic mentor-professor with experience in traditional theological education (in-person and online) and Competency-Based Education.
Much of his ministry has been bi-vocational, as a pastor, missionary, or seminary instructor on the one hand and a software developer and project manager on the other. He is most passionate about spiritual formation, discipleship, integration of faith and secular work, church history, leadership, and the Psalms.
Dr. John Raymond is a licensed professional counselor in Virginia and North Carolina and works with his wife in private practice.
Dr. Raymond earned a Master of Arts in counseling from Regent University and a Master of Science in psychology with a specialty in health from Walden University. In addition, he earned a Doctor of Ministry in leadership and spiritual formation from Portland Seminary. Dr. Raymond completed the AWKNG School of Theology 2 year Certificate of Biblical Studies.
Dr. Meadows currently resides in the suburbs of Phoenix, AZ, and lives with his wife and three daughters. He has a Doctor in Ministry from Liberty University in Spiritual Formation. His work and research focused on digital spiritual formation and the intersections of how the church can grow spiritually in both digital landscapes and traditional in-person gatherings.
Dr. Jason Barker is happiest when he is investing in the next generation of pastors, ministers, and Christian leaders. Having served in ministry for twenty years in churches of all sizes, he understands the unique challenges, opportunities, and blessings that leaders can anticipate, and he is passionate about walking alongside those leaders, both as they prepare in the present and as they serve in the future.
As Academic Dean, Dr. Wingo serves as Redemption Seminary’s chief academic officer. He oversees the student experience, faculty, and curriculum. His specialties include subjects of leadership, spiritual formation, and discipleship. He loves working with students of all ages, helping them broaden and deepen their understanding, while also helping them integrate their learning into the real world of their current life and ministry context in authentic, appropriate, and meaningful ways.
Vincent has been in bi-vocational ministry for almost 20 years. He is passionate about seeing how a gospel transformed life affects all areas of our lives, particularly in our vocation. Working bi-vocationally, he held various senior management positions in the corporate world.
Gayle Doornbos is an experienced teacher who has taught students online and in the classroom at Calvin Theological Seminary and Wycliffe College. Gayle also teaches regularly at her local church. She loves seeing the way that sustained engagement with Scripture and theology can transform and enrich the faith and practice of Christians.
Dr. Micheal Collender earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, working on the problem of modeling complex systems. He has taught philosophy and leadership studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, for over a decade.
Dr. Brueggemann holds an earned Ph.D. in Hermeneutics from Westminster Seminary (PA). He earned a Master of Arts in Bible and his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. He has over 35 years of teaching experience lecturing on the Old Testament with an emphasis in missions.