Leadership and Spiritual Formation Faculty and Team
Lead Mentors
Ken Van Vliet
Position: Mentor; Pastor, Monte Vista Chapel
Academic and Professional Background: BA, Business Administration, California State University Stanislaus; MDiv, Bethel Theological Seminary; DMin, Leadership and Spiritual Formation, Portland Seminary.
Expertise and Research Interests: Spiritual formation in the local church; systemic, organizational and cultural change; leadership development; pastoral coaching.
Email: kvanvliet@georgefox.edu, ken@mvcturlock.com
Web: mvcturlock.com
Special Teaching Guests
Rob Westervelt
Position: Vice President for Strategy and Innovation, Lindenwood University. Founder and partner at TG THREE, a strategy company.
Academic and Professional Background: BS in Communication, Minor in Business Administration at Weber State University; MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, Talbot School of Theology; Professional Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Stanford University.
Expertise and Research Interests: Strategy, Innovation, Marketing, Branding, High-Performance Leadership.
Email: rob@tgthree.com
Office: 636-949-4138
Web: tgthree.com
Kurtley Knight
Position: Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation, Portland Seminary
Chris Fillingham
Academic/Professional Background: BS in Music, Southwest Baptist University. MDiv in Global Christianity, Truett Seminary at Baylor University. DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation, Portland Seminary at GFU. Pastor for 15 years of churches in TX and MO.
Academic Interests and Research: Mystic and Contemplative Spirituality, Celtic Christianity, the Enneagram, and the role of the body, heart, and mind in spiritual formation.
Personal Life: Chris and his wife Jessi live with their four kids, two cats, and a dog in St. Louis, MO. Chris loves hearing people’s stories, being in beautiful nature, and playing board games.
Deborah Loyd
Vocational purpose Coach; Adjunct at Warner Pacific University, specializing in leadership development; Pastor Emeritis and Co-founder to The Bridge Church of PDX, Retrofit, and founder of Finding Forward Coaching. Author of Your Vocational Credo , and co-author of Dynamic Adventure: A Guide to Starting and Shaping Missional Churches.
Academic and Professional Background: BA in Biblical Studies and Business/Accounting, Excelsior College; MA in Exegetical Theology, Western Seminary; DMin in Transformational Leadership, Bakke Graduate University
Expertise and Research Interests: Emerging Church Culture and Spiritulaity, Leadership Development, Vocational Discernment.
Email: dloyd@georgefox.edu; deborahloyd@gmail.com
Office: 503-516-1415
Twitter: @deborahloyd
Project Faculty
Project Faculty work with advisees to provide individual & small group guidance for doctoral project development within the project portfolio research sequence.
Seminary faculty routinely serve as Project Faculty within the Doctor of Minstry program. See Portland Seminary faculty page for details.
Dominic Abaria
Position: Project Faculty, Portland Seminary; Pastor of Spiritual Care and Development, Portland Rescue Mission; Elder and Pastor, Roots Community Church; Founder & Spiritual Director, Fermata Ministries.
Academic and Professional Background: DMin, "Combating Ministry Burnout by Honoring Human Limitations," Portland Seminary; MDiv, Western Seminary; BA, Concordia University
Expertise and Research Interests: Ministerial and Clergy Burnout, Non-profit Organizational Leadership, Pastoral Leadership, Preaching, Teaching, Christian Spiritual Formation, and Spiritual Direction
Email: dabaria@georgefox.edu
Tracy Cotterell
Position: Project Faculty (Portland Seminary); Senior Mission Associate (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity); Vice Chair of Board (Evangelical Alliance, UK); Co-Chair of Board (Venture Church, UK)
Educational Background: DMin, Leadership and Spiritual Formation, Portland Seminary; MA, Bible and Mission, University of Gloucestershire; BA, Theology, London School of Theology; BA, French and German, Nottingham University
Expertise and Research Interests: Whole-life fellowship; faith and work; leadership, strategy and innovation for churches and nonprofits
Email: tcotterell@georgefox.edu
Mike Larson
Position: Project Faculty, DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation
Educational Background: DMin, Portland Seminary; MDiv, Andrews University; BS, Theology and Biblical Languages, Union College
Certification: Board-certified chaplain, spiritual director
Expertise and Research Interests: Hospital chaplaincy, palliative care, trauma-informed spiritual care, spiritual care and mental health, spiritual direction, storytelling and the book of Revelation
Email: mlarson@georgefox.edu
Web: rhemata.org
Jeney Park-Hearn
Position: Project Faculty (Portland Seminary); Pastor of Congregational Care at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church (Seattle, WA).
Academic and Professional Background: BA Psychology, University of Michigan; MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary; MTS, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, PhD, Claremont School of Theology.
Expertise and Research Interests: Practical theology, pastoral theology, pastoral care and counseling, spirituality and psychology, spiritually-integreted couples and family therapy, constructive pastoral theology.
Email: rparkhearn@georgefox.edu
Ekaterina Lomperis
Position: Project Faculty; Richard B. Parker Associate Professor of Theology and Wesleyan Thought, Portland Seminary
Susan Rose
Position: Project Faculty, Portland Seminary; Founder and Executive Director, Diakonos Solutions; Transitional Pastor, St. Giles Presbyterian Church; Spiritual Director.
Academic and Professional Background: BA, Political Science; Certificate in Latin American Studies, University of Florida; MDiv, Summa Cum Laude, Memphis Theological Seminary; DMin, Leadership and Spiritual Formation, Portland Seminary; Certified Spiritual Director, Companioning Center.
Expertise and Research Interests: Entrepreneurial ministry, women in ministry and leadership, leadership development, spiritual formation.
Email: susan@diakonossolutions.com (Subject to change)
Web: diakonossolutions.com
Linda Sommerville
Positions: Associate Vice President of PACE (Professional And Continuing Education) at William Jessup University; and part-time faculty at WJU (teaching leadership, spiritual formation, communication, and theology).
Academic Background: DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary, Portland, OR; MDiv with a concentration in Cross-Cultural Communication from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA; BA in Communications from California State University, Sacramento.
Professional Background: Ordained as Pastor of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Covenant denomination. Ten years of pastoral experience: Served as co-pastor of a new church plant in Wichita, Kansas; also served as co-pastor of adult ministries at Bayside Church of W. Roseville; twenty-plus years of experience in Christian higher education, as faculty, and in administrative leadership roles; certified spiritual director and retreat leader; author of The Christmas ADVENTure: Devotions and Activities for Celebrating a Christ-centered Season; co-author of The Seven I AMs of Jesus: How Jesus Meets Your Deepest Needs.
Expertise and Research Interests: 2nd chair leadership, women in leadership, discernment, spiritual formation, spiritual practices, Celtic Christianity
Michael Spivey
Position: LSF Project Faculty, Portland Seminary; Lead Pastor, People’s Church; Founder and Lead Mentor, Thriving Pastors Initiative.
Educational Background: MA Ministry, Richmont Graduate University, Atlanta; DMin Leadership and Spiritual Formation - George Fox University, Newberg
Expertise and Research Interests: Pastoral leadership, pastoral health, Spiritual Formation
Email: mspivey@georgefox.edu
Web: thetpi.org
Jason Wellman
Position: Project Faculty; Pastor
Academic and Professional Background: BS, Music Education, Bluffton University; MDiv, Ashland Theological Seminary; DMin, Portland Seminary
Expertise and Research Interests: Wesleyan theology, faith and work/vocation, faith integration, church and pastoral leadership, discernment practices, spiritual formation, leadership coaching.
Email: jwellman@georgefox.edu
Web: srumc.org
Seminary Doctoral Team
The Seminary Doctoral Team manages the program online platforms, organizes the face-to-face events, and provides support to students and Project Faculty, in-person or online. In short, this team is the 'glue' that holds the various elements of the program together.
Program and Operations Coordinator, Doctoral Programs