Paul has taught at Montreat College since 2001. He is a graduate of Life Pacific College (B.A., 1993), Talbot School of Theology (M.A., 1997), and the University of Edinburgh (Ph.D., 2000). He also did graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary (1993-1994). After being raised by a single parent in southern Idaho within a Mormon sub-culture, God took his life in a different direction at the age of 15 after the loss of his mother to cancer. This change happened through the love and witness of an evangelical foster family. As a result of his new experience of the grace of God, his early years of Christian formation were shaped within the Pentecostal community. But while studying as a Bible major in college, he also drew heavily from the soil of Reformed and Calvinistic spirituality, devouring the writings of the English Puritans, and modern authors like R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer, John MacArthur, John Piper, and D. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

While studying abroad in Scotland, Paul fell in love with the Presbyterian tradition, worshipping for several years in a Free Church of Scotland congregation, and gaining a summer's experience as the interim pastor of a vacant Church of Scotland parish. He and his wife Alice (a native of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland) were confirmed into the Anglican Church in 2005, and Paul is a Postulant for ordination to Holy Orders within the Anglican Province of America. He has published numerous journal articles in places like Trinity Journal, the Calvin Theological Journal, the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, and the Journal of Biblical Literature. He has also contributed to several books in the field of religion, including Of Scribes and Sages: Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture (Continuum, 2004), To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview (IVP, 2004), and The New Mormon Challenge (Zondervan, 2002), which he co-edited with Francis Beckwith and Carl Mosser. His hobbies and interests include dogs (he owns four of them!), reading about wild predators like grizzlies and wolves, fiction dealing with nature themes (The Call of the Wild by Jack London is his favorite book), and watching boxing and soccer on the TV (his favorite boxer is Ricky Hatton and his favorite soccer team is the Glasgow Rangers).

powen@montreat.edu

Mr. Donald R. Shepson, Assistant Professor of Bible and Christian Education

Don has a B.A. in Sociology from Wheaton College (1990); M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (CE emphasis, 2001); and a Ph.D. (candidate) from Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. Don joined the Montreat family in 2006 with several semesters of teaching. He is interested in the process of spiritual formation and has published on the subject in Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development. Don's doctoral dissertation addresses various academic factors that influence a student's spiritual formation. He spends a lot of time with his students discipling, mentoring, and teaching toward that end.

Don grew up in Northern Illinois and, after finishing college, spent a number of years in minsitry as a camp and conference center program director, camp director and assistant pastor or Christian education and youth. He married in 1998, to Sara, and they now have 4 children: Emory, born in 2001, Tabitha born in 2003, Wyatt born in 2005, and Anna born in 2009. Don loves spending time with them camping, hiking and playing baseball. Individually he likes reading, running, cycling and participating in traithlons. His life of faith started as a result of a Christian family who always participated in the life of the church (Christian & Missionary Alliance). While in seminary, he moved into a more liturgical style of worship and is now also an Anglican Priest (The Anglican Mission in the Americas).

dshepson@montreat.edu

Dr. Mark Wells, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Ethics

Mark came to Montreat College in August 2006 with several years experience teaching philosophy, ethics, theology, and leadership studies. He is a graduate of Friends University (B.A., 1990), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.A.T., 1996), and Baylor University (Ph.D., 2004). He is currently working on a book of essays on Christ-centered Servant-Leadership. His philosophical and theological interests include classical philosophy, apologetics, ontology, theology of worship, and theological anthropology. He is keenly interested in the theology of Diterich Bonhoeffer and the Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth. He spent the summer of 2007 on a fellowship as a visiting scholar at St. Olaf College studying and writing on the works of Soren Kierkegaard. He has also done a great deal of work on the early Church Fathers and creeds of Christendom.

Mark grew up in Seattle, Washington. He comes from a large family--three brothers and three sisters--and family is very important to him. Married to his wife, Julie, in 1993, he now has two boys--Austin, born in 2000 and Caleb, born in 2002. He spent several years working at Christian summer camps and several more years working as a youth pastor and choir director/worship leader at Baptist, Christian, and Congregational churches. He currently attends Montreat Presbyterian Church. In his spare time Mark enjoys running, singing, soccer, hiking, and reading classic novels, as well as attending concerts, ballets, operas, and sporting events.

mwells@montreat.edu

Rev. Stephen L. Woodworth, Chaplain, Preaching Instructor

Steve has a B.S. in Outdoor Education from Montreat College (1999) and an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2006). Steve returned to Montreat College in 2003 to serve as both an RD and as an assistant to the previous Chaplain. As the Chaplain, Steve’s primary responsibility is to foster the spiritual development of each student through the Chapel program, student ministries, mentoring, and pastoral counseling. In addition, Steve teaches in the area of Preaching and Biblical Communication. Steve grew up in a small rural town in New Hampshire and first came to Montreat College in 1995. He married Carrie in 1998, and they now have 3 young boys: Luke, Andrew, and Zachary. In addition to making swords, forts, and bows and arrows, the Woodworth family spends much of their time hiking, camping, and cheering for the New England Patriots. Steve’s two heroes are Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Henri Nouwen, who have fostered his passion to see college students make the transition from the inherited faith of their parents to a vibrant faith of their own. Steve is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).

swoodworth@montreat.edu

Marlene Medefind Van Brocklin, adjunct lecturer in Biblical, Religious and Interdisciplinary Studies

Marlene grew up in California in a nurturing Christian family. The Lord used her loving family and the wonderful folks at Central Presbyterian Church of Merced to get ahold of her at an early age and she has been following Him ever since. She received her B.A. from Whitworth College, M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary School of InterCultural Studies and Doctor of Ministry degree in Gospel and Culture from Columbia Theological Seminary. For nineteen years she and her husband, Gary, served the church in Latin America. Her daughter, Annelies, is currently preparing to return to Latin America as a missionary. Dr. Van Brocklin taught at Montreat College from 1996 to 2003 and returned in 2008. While away from Montreat College she taught at International College and Graduate School and Bible Institute of Hawai'i. She is an elder in the Presbyterian Church and has served on the boards of Presbyterians for Renewal and John Stott Ministries. Dr. Van Brocklin enjoys culture-watching, reading, walking, and tracing her family back through the generations.

mvanbrocklin@montreat.edu

Dr. Gary Van Brocklin is an Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural and Biblical Studies.

Gary has been teaching at Montreat for almost ten years and enjoys teaching even more as the years go by. He has a history degree from Stanford University and two theological degrees from Fuller Seminary. He brings to his teaching almost twenty years of missionary experience and enjoys collecting inspiring stories and amazing anecdotes about how the light of Jesus Christ has brought healing and hope to a rich variety of cultures. His hero is John Mackay, a brilliant missionary statesman, and Dr. V.B. has ventured through libraries in several countries in an effort to discover and publish new insights about his hero. He wanted to be a missionary from a young age, having grown up in a Christian family in Hawai'i and having had the opportunity to meet many missionaries on their way to share the Gospel in Asia and the Pacific. One of the best decisions he ever made was to marry Dr. Marlene Medefind Van Brocklin. They have one child, a daughter, who is preparing for ministry in Latin America, where she grew up. Feel free to drop by his office some time and he will be willing to entertain you with a story or two.

gvanbrocklin@montreat.edu

Mr. Thomas L. Oxenreider, Instructor of Interdisciplinary Studies & Director of Career Services

Tom has a B.A. in Economics from The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (1989) and an MBA from Wheeling Jesuit University (1995). He came to Montreat College in 1994 to work in Career Services and Residence Life. Shortly after coming to the college, he began teaching and has taught a range of classes in Interdisciplinary Studies and Business Administration. In his current position, he is focusing on the first-year student transition class (IS 102: Foundations of Faith and Learning) and the senior capstone course (IS 461: Philosophy of Faith and Learning), along with working as the Director of Career Services. He enjoys assisting students with career decisions and preparation. His interests are in the areas of vocational exploration, Christian theology of work, and cultural discernment.

Tom grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania and, while a student at Pitt-Johnstown, became involved in campus ministry. That God met Tom on a college campus forever changed his life. Following graduation from college, he joined the ministry of the Coalition for Christian Outreach and worked on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University as a Graduate Assistant in Campus Life while he completed his Masters in Business Administration. He married Anne in 1992, and they have a daughter, Helen, born in 1998. He loves spending time with his family, listening to music, cheering for the Philadelphia Phillies, playing with nearly any type of electronic gadget, and exploring his Pennsylvania German family heritage.

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