Description
The World’s Potential to Contribute to the Church
It has been a pleasure to know Ted Lewis over a period of over 20 years. He has been a regular visitor to Ridley Hall as well as Wycliffe Hall during that time. One can only commend an American visitor who feels such a sense of commitment and loyalty to both these theological educational institutions.
Ted is an unusual person. His career has pursued two parallel tracks, one his work in the US foreign service – spanning assignments in Vietnam, Korea, Laos and the Congo – and the other theology and ordination. He has not enjoyed an easy life. There have been many setbacks, struggles and vicissitudes in both areas. His wife left him, he fell out with his incumbent and he got panned by a supervisor. He admits that he has often been on the receiving end of unfavourable reports, some in his view deserved, others not.
But Ted has the virtue of perseverance, an attribute he demonstrates in spades. He has persisted with both of his callings, endeavoured to be of service through them, and made some fruitful connections between them. Ted makes an interesting comparison between the discipline of biblical criticism and the in-depth analysis of a country’s social, economic and political realities involved in work for the foreign service. He is a man who digs beneath the surface, whether that is the text of the Bible or the culture of a particular country. So he sees…
