Stephen J. Chester

Stephen J. Chester is academic dean and professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, the seminary of the Evangelical Covenant Church. He appreciates North Park as a context where “the life of the mind, the goal of practical ministry, and the need for a deep devotional life are held together as equal values.” Dr. Chester is from the UK and came to North Park in 2006, having previously served on the faculty of International Christian College, Glasgow. He is ordained in the Church of Scotland, and is the author of Conversion at Corinth: Perspectives on Conversion in Paul’s Theology and the Corinthian Church and one of the coauthors of Perspectives on our Struggle with Sin: Three Views of Romans 7. He has become deeply interested in the history of Pauline interpretation and is currently writing Righteousness in Christ: Paul, the Reformers, and the New Perspective (forthcoming).

Dr. Chester’s ministry commitments and experiences have largely been in urban contexts. He is married to Betsy, a kindergarten teacher, and they have two adult sons, Iain and Mark. They are members of Immanuel Evangelical Covenant Church, a multiethnic church in a diverse neighborhood. Stephen enjoys his family, watching and refereeing soccer, and pitching in Chicago softball.