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Floyd Knight
About
About Me
Bio

I am an aspiring Hebrew Bible scholar and linguist interested in incorporating (a) Discourse Analysis, (b) Discourse Representation Theory (DRT), (c) Text Linguistics, (d) Contrastive (or Comparative) Rhetoric, and (e) Disciplinary Literacy theories, methods, and analyses as well as (f) Second Language Acquisition Andragogy into the traditional methods and approaches of Biblical Exegesis. I am also interested in conceptualizing and establishing a new sub-field called the "History, Philosophy and Sociology of Biblical Interpretation" that is model on the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of the Sciences and Social Sciences.

Ministerially, I would also like to work in a congregation to implement a discipleship training program that is holistic, Spirit-led, pedagogically and andragogically informed, and developmentally scaffolded. It would use second language acquisition methods and approaches along with those from disciplinary, critical, and multicultural literacies. Members would learn to read the Bible as a translation of ancient and foreign literature and as a religious and devotional text. To cultivate the latter, discipleship training would employ a structural pathway of courses using various methods and resources to facilitate the practice of the spiritual disciplines among all members so that they can have a deep, healthy, mature, engaging, integrative and all-encompassing relationship with God and with others (e.g., Foster's Celebration of the Disciplines; Willard's Hearing God and The Spirit of the Disciplines; Blackaby, Blackaby, and King's Experiencing God; Hawkins and Parkinson's Reveal, Follow Me, and Move; Cloud and Townsend's How People Grow, DeMoss Wolgemuth and Grissom's Seeking Him; Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality; and Graham Lotz, King, and Blackaby's Fresh Encounters).

All members should be taught how to employ and wed both the critical and devotional approaches for edifying, encouraging, mentoring, and discipling others. The goal and mission are to help every Christian become like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) so that they can have their own road to Emmaus experience (Luke 24:13-35) and become disciple-makers themselves (Matthew 28:19-20). I believe that those who have the deepest relationship with and who have a deep love for God are the most effective disciple-makers for God, lovers of God's people, and faithful and diligent interpreters of God's Word.

Given the dual nature of my calling, I am open to bi-vocational ministries whether (a) in the academic arena as a full-time professor, chaplain, or campus minister and as a volunteer or part-time Sunday School teacher, Bible teacher, or Adult Education pastor with a local congregation or (b) as a full-time pastor-scholar, pastor-theologian, pastor-apologists (like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Stott, John Piper, Tony Evans, Christopher W. Brooks, and Wayne Gordon among others) and a part-time adjunct professor at a local seminary or college.

God knows the future and the plans that God has for me. My responsibility is to faithfully prepare myself for this two-fold calling, to prayerfully and patiently wait for God to reveal the next steps of my journey, and to walk diligently and responsibly in God's grace when discernment is given. God's will, calling, and grace will determine God's future for me.

GenderMale
Relationship StatusMarried
Denomination / AffiliationDisciples of Christ
Organization URLwww.newheavenministries.com
SkillsSinging, Technology, Computers, Administrative, Teaching, Preaching
Personality ProfileENFJ, (2010), ISTJ, (2006), ENTJ, (1998)
Contact Info
Chicago, IL, USA
newheavenministries@gmail.com
www.floydknight.org
Faith
Spiritual GiftsTeaching, Leadership, Service
Testimony
I spent the first ten years of my life on various military bases where my father was stationed as a career, non-commission officer. Consequently, I was a member (a) of the local ecumenical Protestant Sunday Schools and Chapels on various military bases and (b) of the First Freewill Baptist Church in Indianapolis (where my paternal grandmother attended) whenever my father’s unit was on prolonged deployment. My siblings and I were baptized at the First Freewill Baptist Church in Indianapolis. After my father retired from the military, we moved to Indianapolis permanently. Around 13, my father allowed his children to decide whether they wanted to continue attending church. (My father believed that church was simply for ethical training—for teaching morals and patriotic behavior.) Like most young men, I chose not to continue these Sunday rituals despite my grandmother’s pleas. Having been a prodigal during my teens, I eventually accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior between my first and second years in college when I was pursuing a career in music. After another year of growth and intensive Bible study, I answered God’s call to pursue ministry to be a part-time minister of music, Sunday School teacher, and full-time jazz and studio musician. Little did I know that I would go on to serve (a) five Anglo congregations; (b) an urban university as a college chaplain, (c) an urban hospital as a hospital chaplain, (d) a Hispanic, Bilingual congregation as their volunteer associate minister and choir director, and (e) three African American congregations in various capacities. Altogether, I have over 35 years of ministerial experience with Freewill Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Independent (Non-denominational) Christian Churches, United Methodist congregations, and a United Church of Christ congregation. I have served in urban, rural, suburban, and collegiate settings. My mission is to mentor and train future evangelical scholars, pastors, and all lay individuals to be disciples-makers and mentors of future lay and clergy disciple-makers. It starts with the great and first commandment, which motivates and empowers individuals to fulfill the second commandment through discipleship as a kingdom community. I want to help facilitate a new generation of disciple-makers with cross-cultural competency mentoring men and women from diverse ethnicities, nationalities, and social-economic communities to fulfill the Gospel Commission within our community and around the globe.
Education
School NameNorthern Illinois University--English Department
Grade/YearGraduate school (Doctorate)
DegreePh.D. (Linguistics and African American Literature)
End DateDecember 2024
School NameUniversity of Chicago Divinity School (Hebrew Bible)
Grade/YearGraduate school (Doctorate)
DegreePh.D. in Bible -- (Scholarship Recipient, but did not complete program)
Start Date1988
End Date1992
School NameBoston University School of Theology
Grade/YearGraduate school (Master's)
DegreeMaster of Divinity (Biblical and Historical Studies)
Start Date1984
End Date1988
School NameIndiana University at Indianapolis
DegreeBachelor of Liberal Arts (Religious Studies)
Start Date1981
End Date1984
School NameBerklee College of Music
Grade/YearCollege Sophomore
DegreeMajor: Music Performance
Start DateSeptember 1977
End DateMay 1980
Employer
NamePark Manor Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
RoleMember and Former Volunteer Minister of Media Arts and Youth Worship
Start Date2001
End Date2015
NameFirst Christian Church
RoleSr. Pastor
Start Date1999
End Date2001
NameAlta Vista Christian Church
RoleVolunteer Associate Minister: Choir Director and Youth Sunday School Teacher
Start Date1994
End Date1999
Name1st Christian Church, Blue Springs, Missouri
RoleExecutive Pastor; Worship Leader; Choir Director
Start Date1993
End Date1994
NameBader Memorial Christian Church, Kansas City, MO
RoleSummer Co-Interim Minister with Rev. Dr. William Fox
Start Date1990
End Date1990
Name1st Christian Church, Lynn, MA
RoleInterim Senior Pastor
Start Date1987
End Date1988
NamePark Manor Christian Church, Chicago, IL
RoleYouth Pastor
Start Date1989
End Date1990