Who We Are
Our Theological and Ecclesial Identity
Great Tradition Evangelicalism
The Center for Pastor Theologians is a theologically orthodox, Protestant Evangelical organization in the evangelical movement. As such, our membership and fellows program gathers pastors and ministry leaders from a wide array of Protestant traditions, all of which share distinctives like a high view of Scripture’s authority, evangelistic urgency, and an emphasis on the cross of Christ.
We affirm the Great Ecumenical Creeds of the early centuries of Christian history. Our shared commitment to such non-negotiables as Nicene Trinitarianism and Chalcedonian Christology is never under dispute as we joyfully seek together to know God more deeply and to better serve the church. We are also committed to unity and Christian Fellowship even as we acknowledge our disagreement on all manner of secondary and tertiary theological questions, such as the nature of God’s election, the mode of baptism, women’s ordination, church governance, and Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper. These are by no means unimportant issues, but we intentionally allow for and pursue a diversity of opinion on such questions as an expression of our relational and inter-denominational values.
At times, we invite guests from Christian traditions outside of evangelicalism (e.g. Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant) when their contributions does not conflict with our own theological convictions. When we are able, we want to cultivate ecumenical dialogue and mutual learning across the church.
We also seek in our fellowships, cohorts and events to reclaim the riches of the Great Tradition of historic theological reflection. As a corrective to the sometimes ahistorical tendencies of evangelicals, we intentionally cultivate our awareness and appreciation for the theological wisdom and of generations of saints that came before us. We believe that such historical awareness better equips us to faithfully navigate the theological questions and challenges of our own day. This also serves as a check against our own cultural blindspots as we heed the wisdom of historic and global Christians’ voices.
Statement of Standards
Members in our cohorts agree with their participation in our programming to respect and engage the CPT’s theological breadth and values.
Fellows of the CPT are required to sign and commit to uphold our Statement of Standards, which appears in its entirety below:
The Center for Pastor Theologians exists to foster theological development in Christian Community. CPT is more than a forum for theological discussion; CPT seeks to nurture a camaraderie of ministers who engage in theological development in Christian fellowship. It is, therefore, important that fellows of the CPT uphold those virtues of Christlikeness which guard the integrity of Christian community. As a fellowship of ministers, we believe it is important to uphold, as a community, standards like the following, in personal conviction and practice as well as in our teaching ministries:
HONESTY — As CPT fellows, we commit to pursue honesty in our speech and in our writing, privately as well as publicly. This includes a commitment to avoid plagiarism and to fairly represent those with whom we disagree in theological critique.
CHARITY — We further commit to uphold charity in speech and action toward others. Far too often, theological controversy has been conducted with bitterness and spite. It dishonors the name of Christ when claims to biblical faithfulness are used as a guise for dressing sinful attitudes towards those with whom we disagree. For the sake of Christ and the health of his Body, the Church, we commit to pursue charity in our ministries within and outside the CPT fellowships.
IMPARTIALITY — One of the hallmarks of the New Testament Church was its fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through the household of faith. In an era of racial tensions, we commit to uphold in our teaching and in our practice the racial and ethnic inclusiveness of Christ’s love.
MORAL PURITY — We also commit to promote, in our ministries and in our own lives, the standards of sexual purity appointed in Scripture. We will uphold sexual purity both positively, in the encouragement of holy singleness and holy matrimony, and negatively, in abstaining from and opposing sexual misconduct (such as, sexual relations outside of marriage, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, same-gender sexual practice, and pornography).
GRACE — The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us heaven’s unswerving demand for holiness as well as God’s abundant grace to restore and renew those who are repentant. While we commit to hold one another accountable to the high calling of holiness, we also commit to do so with the patience and mercy of Christ, as God grants us his help.
These are some of the areas of biblical virtue that we believe are vital to the spirit and practice of Christian fellowship as a theological community. Just as the CPT allows for a diversity of theological views within the firm boundaries of evangelical faith, so the CPT respects a diversity of views on many questions of practical godliness while holding to firm boundaries of biblical morality represented in the above statements. We pray for God’s grace to make us a testimony of his love in our fellowship around his Word.
