Spiritual renewal week speaker, Scott Daniels

Scott Daniels, Senior Pastor of Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene and Dean and Professor of Theology at Azusa Pacific University, will be speaking at this semester’s Spiritual Renewal Week. Daniels shared with the Point Weekly some of his passions, hopes and thoughts regarding working in college ministry.

The Point Weekly: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is something that most people do not know about you?

Dr. Scott Daniels: I am a bit of a sports nerd. I keep spread sheets of statistics on my computer for my favorite sports teams. I’ve finished six marathons.

PW: What does your faith journey look like?

SD: Everyone in the two generations above me in my family are/were ministers. So my life was spent around the church. I accepted easily Gods grace that I saw so evident in the life of my family. So much of my spiritual walk has been about setting aside my plans and discovering the purposes of God for my life.

PW: How were you chosen to speak at this semester’s renewal week?

SD: I have spoken at Point Loma a few times in the past and I think it has gone well. I have spent a lot of my life around college students and so I think I understand the critical issues of faith that young adults are dealing with.

PW: You are the Dean of and a Professor at APU’s School of Theology as well as the Senior Pastor of Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene. What are some of the joys you have discovered in these positions? What do you find most rewarding about your current work situations? And what do you find most challenging?

SD: I was offered my first ministry position at nineteen and have been holding some kind of ministry position ever since. As I was preparing for ministry I fell in love with academic theology. So several of those years I have also been teaching full or part time in a Christian university. I have never understood the divide between the two. The church and the academy need each other but they often ignore one another or worse, find themselves at odds. Having both positions has given me the opportunity to hold the two in tension. That is both the blessing and the challenge. It’s also a lot of work.

PW: What are you most passionate about?

SD: Helping the church not just bear the message of Christ, but live in community as the message of Christ.

PW: What will you be speaking on at this Spiritual Renewal Week?

SD: I have been asked to reflect on the idea of care – “Who cares?” My hope is to reflect on Gods care for us and for his creation as the basis for why we too ought to care for the world and for one another.

PW: Anything else you would like for us to know?

SD: I have spoken to many colleges, but this is the first time one of my kids will be one of the students. That makes it incredibly special.