Dr. Timothy Witmer Papers, 1989-2017

Dr. Timothy Z. Witmer joined the teaching staff of Westminster in the Fall of 1997 as a part-time lecturer in Practical Theology. He was appointed to the voting faculty as a full-time tenure track Assistant Professor beginning in July 1999. His responsibilities included Director of the Doctor of Ministry program and Director of Supervised Ministry, which he renamed Mentored Ministry. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002. The same year, he was appointed Coordinator of the Practical Theology Department and led Practical Theology at Westminster for fifteen years. The Philadelphia Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America installed him in his role as teacher at the seminary on February 28, 2003. Dr. Edmund Clowney preached at the installation service on “Preaching Christ in the Power of the Spirit.” It was Dr. Clowney’s last visit to campus before he went home to glory. From 2004 to 2008, Dr. Witmer represented Westminster in the Lily Foundation Grant program, “Sustaining Pastoral Excellence.” This was a joint initiative with Covenant Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. The research of this endeavor was published in the book Resilient Ministry, authored by Bob Burns. In 2006, he was given the responsibility of Director of the Masters of Divinity program. He initiated a process of conducting exit interviews of all graduating M.Div students. He was also appointed as Faculty Homiletics Coordinator in 2006 and authored “Preaching at Westminster” which includes the Core Values in Preaching. These were endorsed by the faculty and board, and continue to be the track followed by the homiletics courses at the seminary. As Faculty Homiletics Coordinator, he also planned and presided at the Annual Preaching Conference for the past dozen years. On November 29, 2006, Dr. Witmer was inaugurated as Professor of Practical Theology. His inaugural lecture was entitled “Seminary: A Place to Prepare Pastors” which surveyed the history of ministerial preparation in the United States and conveyed his passion to see students receive holistic training for pastoral ministry. In 2010, his book The Shepherd Leader was published (P&R). It is now in use at seminaries and churches around the world to train church leaders, having been translated into Korean, Chinese, and Russian. This was followed by The Shepherd Leader at Home in 2012 (Crossway) and Mindscape: What to Think About Instead of Worrying in 2014. He was elected by the Faculty to serve as their Moderator to the Board of Trustees in the fall of 2011 and served in that role until 2015. In its December 2016 meeting, the Board of Trustees recognized Dr. Witmer as Emeritus Professor of Practical Theology. He continues serving the seminary by teaching an occasional course and advising doctoral students. He was ordained as a Teaching Elder by the Mid-Atlantic Presbytery of the PCA in 1979 and served as Associate Pastor at Springton Lake (formerly Berith) PCA (1979-1986), Crossroads Community Church (1986-2014), and currently as Pastor at St. Stephen Reformed Church in New Holland, PA. Tim and his wife Barbara were married in 1975 and have three children and seven grandchildren.

Scope and Content Note: This collection contains materials created by and for Dr. Timothy Witmer during his long career at Westminster Theological Seminary teaching Practical Theology. The collection spans from 1997, when Dr. Witmer began teaching part-time, until 2017, when he retired after being a full professor from 1999 onwards. Pertinent holdings within the collection include a substantially complete collection of Board of Trustees meeting reports from 1998-2016, Mentored Ministry and Doctorate of Ministry materials, Practical Theology course materials and syllabi dating 1989-1996 and 2010 taught by Dr. Witmer and Reverend Richard Craven, details of the Lily Endowment Foundation grant between 2002 to 2005, documents relating to the 2008 to 2010 Pastoral Theology search committee, and materials detailing the Peter Enns controversy in 2008. Also of note are Tim Keller’s course materials, Redeemer NYC’s collaboration for Westminster in the City, and Mentored Ministry’s involvement with CCEF and its counselors. Materials are present for the assessment of course offerings at Westminster, including the now non-existent Doctor of Ministry in Urban Mission program. During the Peter Enns crisis the faculty entered discussions under the umbrella of “Faculty Theological Fellowship” or “FTF.” A smaller steering committee was appointed with representation from each field committee. This committee met separately to guide the faculty discussions. This was known as the “Small FTF.” Dr. Witmer was elected to moderate the Small FTF discussions. Minutes and notes from these meetings are included in Series 14, Enns Controversy.