Dustin's Intro

For those who came to this blog and want to read far more interesting journeys than mine, which is posted immediately below, please be sure to jump down to the much more “existentially aware” intros of Jon, Trevor, and Scott.

You’ve got to admit, it’s kinda funny that we began this blog on evangelicalism with personal testimonies….

(…Cue “Just as I am.”)

In all likelihood, I am the least known participants in this group, though I think I have some small connection to a few of you in one way or another. I grew up on the Canadian prairies and did not become interested in Christianity and the like until well into my teen years. My first exposure to such things was through an evangelical youth group (C&MA, actually) by which I was formed through the usual suspects: DC Talk, Wednesday night Bible-studies, and The Princess Bride. After high school I completed a BA from Briercrest College. It was exposure to the critical study of the Bible, particularly of the Gospels, that caused me first to question how I fit within evangelicalism as I knew it. Looking back, it was really one question that haunted me: “If the Bible is so historically-conditioned, how can we ever look to it for guidance on matters of life and faith? How can we preach?” I’d say that it was this question more than any other that kept me from following through on my original intention to enter vocational ministry.

However, I enjoyed my studies and had no other real direction, so I continued into the seminary part-time. (Good reasoning, eh?) Eventually, I found myself working in an administrative capacity for the college. I finally graduated from my MA program after having written a thesis on contemporary evangelical doctrines of Scripture. Through my studies I finally recovered some of the confidence that I had lost in God’s ability to be heard in Scripture and planned again to enter pastoral ministry. However, this time I couldn’t find a church that I really felt comfortable entering into as a pastor! Looking back, I think that my hesitation was what Bonhoeffer described as “loving one’s image of the community more than the community itself” (paraphrased from Life Together). This is something I continue to wrestle with and, I think, has played a much greater role than I care to admit in determining where I am now.

Anyway, I had aspirations to teach theology and to write. And so, I worked a couple of more years at Briercrest and dabbled a bit in the classroom. In Fall 2006 my family and I moved to Hamilton so that I could begin my PhD work at McMaster University’s department of Religious Studies with the hope of becoming an “academic.” We also began to attend an Anglican parish around this time. I’m now at the dissertation stage of my program, researching the Christology and biblical interpretation of Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth, still wrestling with similar questions that emerged a long time ago. I continue to consider myself an evangelical, even (perhaps especially) as we get to know the Anglican Communion. I’m glad to be part of this little experiment in conversation because I think that the stories of those involved are representative of a common trend. I hope to understand that.

(Concluding Unscientific Post-Script) Re-reading this intro, it sounds much more intellectualist than I actually am. Take it with a grain of salt... the theological/philosophical questions are very real indeed, but they are but a part of a much more complicated history than what I can represent here (or even to myself).