Tutor England

Now that I’ve talked about the facilities at Westfield House, I thought I’d talk about the faculty. Here, professors are called tutors. There are six tutors in all, but I only have three. But first—Principal Lumley! This is Principal Dr. Cyndy Lumley’s first year at Westfield House, and she brings a bright smile to the house every day.

Samuli (who is from Finland) is a student at Cambridge University, but he lives in Luther Hall. He teaches Greek and is doing his doctoral thesis on Romans 6-8.

George Samiec (from Sydney, Australia) is an adjunct tutor here at Westfield House. He is the pastor of 2 congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England on top of his duties as the Pastoral Practice teacher and Field Experience overseer. George has a great sense of humor and a fun accent.

Dr. Joel Humann is the preceptor at Westfield House. He also teaches Hebrew, Old Testament, Science & Religion, and Pentateuch. Dr. Humann was recently on Issues, Etc. talking about Liturgical Psalms. He is an Old Testament exegete and a wicked bass player. He and Dr. Lumley are both from Canada.

Dr. Boris Gunjevic (from Croatia) is my Christianity in Late Antiquity teacher. He also teaches World Religions, Philosophy of Religion, and Liturgics. He had very helpful insight and direction to give me when I wrote my paper for him. He is also an expert on St. Augustine.

Dr. Jonathan Mumme (an American!) is the pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, one of the American recruiters for Westfield House, and the teacher of Lutheran Dogmatics, Christian Ethics, Lutheran Confessions, and English Reformation. Dr. Mumme (pictured on the left) went to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and got his doctorate in systematic theology at the University of Tubingen in Germany. He has become a mentor to me, and has a great deal of insight about class topics and broader subjects concerning life as a whole. He’s a joy to listen to and is a faithful chaplain.

Finally, Dr. Robert Rosin is my tutor for Readings in Luther and Continental Reformation. Pictured above, Dr. Rosin is a lot of fun, and is one of the most knowledgeable men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is a professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis as well as here, so he flies back and forth every couple of weeks! I don’t know how he does it, but we’re glad he does. I’m sure his students in St. Louis are, too.

So there you have it! Six fine tutors and a delightful principal. All four areas of theology are covered: Exegetical theology (Humann & Samuli), Systematic theology (Mumme), Practical theology (Samiec), and Historical theology (Rosin & Gunjevic). I couldn't be more pleased with the stock of brilliant minds in this place. I certainly have a lot to learn from all of them. Who knows—maybe one day I’ll be a scholar like them.