Encyclopedia of Religion
and Society

William H. Swatos, Jr. Editor

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LEWIS, G. DOUGLASS

(1934-) College teacher and chaplain, 1964-1970; National Council of Churches Project Director, 1967-1971; Director, Institute for Ministry Development, 1971-1974; Coordinator of Parish Development and Director, Doctor of Ministry Program, Hartford Seminary, 1974-1982; President, Wesley Theological Seminary, 1982–. President, Religious Research Association, 1981.

Merging a Ph.D. in systematic theology completed at Duke University in 1965 with organizational development perspectives, Lewis was an early advocate for a parish development focus within doctor of ministry degree programs and a contributor to what subsequently has evolved into the field of congregational studies. He collaborated in the development of the Hartford Seminary Center for Social and Religious Research's Parish Profile Inventory questionnaire. The seminary's experimental, pastor-parish track D.Min. program, to which an entire issue of Theological Education was devoted (winter 1980), gave concrete expression to his empirically informed approaches to assessment, planning, and contextual leadership. He is a leader in the use of teaching-case pedagogy within theological education (e.g., Resolving Church Conflicts , Harper 1981), in the Institute for Theological Education, and in the globalization of theological education.

David A. Roozen

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