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Quentin Kinnison, Ph.D.

Degree Completion Christian Ministry and Leadership Program Director
McDonald Hall, Room 219
559-453-2099
quentin.kinnison@fresno.edu
559-453-5558

What programs do you teach in?

  • Contemporary Christian ministries
  • Christian ministry and leadership
  • Biblical and theological studies
  • Intercultural studies

Education

B.A., English literature & Bible, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ, 1991
M.Div., Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (Arizona campus), Phoenix, AZ, 1998
Ph.D., concentration in practical theology & minor in systemic theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, 2008

Share why you teach at FPU

As part of its Anabaptist, evangelical tradition, Fresno Pacific University draws its faculty from across the Christian faith spectrum. As a result we are able to engage one another in conversations that allow us to deepen our appreciation for how God is at work in our various traditions as we all faithfully seek to follow Jesus and to participate in His Kingdom's work. In addition to that, FPU is a teaching institution. Our interaction with the student is focused on their learning and our participation in that transformative process. We are interested in a holistic approach to engaging students that empowers them to consider how they fit into God's work as well.

Scholarly Interests

  • Theology: practical and systematic
  • Race and ethnic relations among Christians
  • Pastor roles and congregational leadership
  • Congregations and contextualized missional praxis
  • Urban ministry

Publications and Presentations

Dissertation:

  • Pastoral Leadership in Transitioning Communities: Congregational Praxis as Interpretive Leadership, published by UMI-ProQuest, 2008

    (This dissertation considers the intersection of change leadership and intercultural church life toward the goal of helping pastors move from authoritarian leadership to communal discernment. It begins by asking such questions as: how can pastors lead homogeneous congregations to embrace intercultural life in the midst of a multicultural community? Why do pastors seem to be unable to successfully lead cultural change in congregations?

    Investigating expert systems and cultural influences on churches located in the Southwestern U.S., specifically focusing on Southern Baptist churches, this dissertation develops a practical theological approach to pastoral leadership that embraces communal leadership. This approach utilizes conflict as an opportunity for engaging positive change through communal praxis informed by "education for connation," Appreciative Inquiry, and missional exploration of God's reign toward a desired goal of intercultural church life.)

Peer-reviewed journal articles:

  • "Shepherd or One of the Sheep?: Revisiting the Biblical Metaphor of the Pastorate," in Journal of Religious Leadership submission approved, pending printing, Spring 2010
  • "The Social Trinity and the Southwest: Toward a Local Theology in the Borderlands," in Perspectives in Religious Studies: Journal of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, Fall 2008

Book reviews:

  • "God's New-Humanity Artwork: Review of Bruce Milne's Dynamic Diversity: Bridging Class, Age, Race, and Gender in the Church," in Pacific Journal, 2009

Peer-reviewed opinion pieces:

  • "Regarding Race: The Opportunity and the Challenge of the Obama Presidency," for FPU's Scholars Speak, February 5, 2009. Also published in the Lemoore Advance, March 5, 2009
  • "Recapture Values that Reflect God" in EthicsDaily.com an imprint of the Baptist Center for Ethics, October 22, 2008. Originally published as "Defending Whose Judeo-Christian Values?" for FPU's Scholars Speak, October 1, 2008

Non-reviewed academic writing:

  • "The Banquet Table is Set: Reflections from the 2007 Allelon Summer Institute in Pasadena," in Allelon, July 16, 2007
  • Editor for The SEMI, a campus newspaper for Fuller's students, faculty and administration, July 2004-June 2005
  • "Resources on Sexual Harassment," compiled for The SEMI, Nov. 15-19, 2004
  • "Advent: A Season of Remembering and Longing," for The SEMI, Nov. 29-Dec. 3, 2004
  • "Being White: Finding Our Place in a Multiethnic World," interview with author Doug Schaupp in The SEMI, Jan 10-14, 2005
  • "Diversity: What is Being Done About It?" interview with Dr. Juan Francisco Marténez in The SEMI, May 9-13, 2005

Other writings:

  • Lemons and Clementines: A Family Tree, an unpublished children's book dealing with adoption and understanding where we come from and where we belong
  • "Transformation," a poem in A Surrender to the Moon, edited by Howard Ely, published by Watermark, 2005

Honors and Awards

  • Center for Advanced Theological Studies, Fuller Seminary-Full Fellowship 2005-06
  • Outstanding Young Men of America 1989, 1992
  • Christian Ministries Association, President, Grand Canyon University 1989-90

Professional and Service Experience

I have been involved in various kinds of local church ministry for about 25 years. I started out preaching and ministering in the nursing home ministry of my home church in Arizona. I have been a youth minister at two congregations and an associate pastor of discipleship and administration. I have also served as an interim pastor, supply preacher, camp pastor, and as a revival pastor.

Along with my ministry experience, I have been connected to higher education for the last fifteen years: first as an assistant director of admission, then as an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University. During my PhD studies, I worked as a teaching assistant, campus paper editor, and research assistant at Fuller Theological Seminary. Afterword, I was an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, Biola University, and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. I now serve as a full-time professor in contemporary Christian ministry (traditional undergraduate) and Christian ministry and leadership (degree completion).

I have also worked in banking and retail sales.

Beyond the workplace, my wife and I have volunteered in a variety of capacities in the communities in which we have lived. We have worked with homelessness prevention groups and non-profits servicing children and families. We have even been information booth volunteers at the local zoo.

Professional Affiliations

  • The National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA), 2001
  • The Alban Institute, 2002 - American Academy of Religion (AAR), 2006
  • National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (NABPR), 2007
  • Academy of Religious Leadership (ARL), 2007

Personal Experiences

One of the most significant projects I have been a part of is co-facilitating an educational seminar on domestic violence for pastors. Working with my father, Dr. Paul F. Kinnison, and my wife, Dr. Cynthia A. Kinnison, we helped train local pastors in the Desert Pines Baptist Association (in central Arizona) about the need for appropriate action in dealing with domestic violence in the church. I hope to bring this same seminar to the Central Valley of California.

I am also deeply interested in facilitating conversations among pastors and church leaders across racial and ethnic boundaries. Understanding each other's story gives us greater appreciation for God's work in creating us into his one flock (Jn. 10:16; Eph. 2:11-22; Rev. 7:9).

Recommended Resources

Other Information

I was born in Wyoming, but consider Phoenix, Arizona, home. In 1973, I made my faith commitment to Jesus at Twin Lakes Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was baptized in 1976 at First Southern Baptist Church in Glendale, Arizona--the same church that licensed me to the ministry in 1989. My wife, Cindy, and I were married in 1990. She has her B.S. in sociology, a M.S.W., and a D.Min. with emphasis in church social work. We had the joy of being on staff together at First Southern Baptist Church in Phoenix, Arizona, where she was a church social worker. We have one child, Carissa, whom we adopted in 2009 from the Guangdong province in China. I enjoy most strategy games, reading fiction, basketball, golf, and Pixar movies (especially the shorts).

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