Draft:David Fitch

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David Fitch (born April 19, 1956) is an American theologian and pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). Fitch is the Betty R Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary in Lisle, IL,.

Family and background

Fitch was born in Elmhurst, Illinois to Rev. Elmer Brown Fitch and Ruth G Fitch. His father and grandfather were pastors in the Christian and Missionary Alliance. His grandfather, Elmer B Fitch Sr., was the last assistant pastor to A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance at Gospel Tabernacle New York City. Fitch Sr. went on to found the Alliance Gospel Tabernacle of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. David Fitch spent many of his growing up years in Hamilton, Ontario, where his father pastored Delta Tabernacle of Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Education

Fitch attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheaton College (1977) and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1980). In 1982, he graduated with a Master of Arts in New Testament from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religion and Society from Northwestern University (1997).

Theological/philosophical influences and worldview

Fitch's theological and philosophical influences include Stanley Hauerwas, Charles Taylor, Karl Barth, Donald Dayton, Willie Jennings, Slavoj Zizek, NT Wright, Sarah Coakley, Greg Boyd, Judith Butler, James Cone, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gordon Fee, George Lindbeck, and Leslie New.

In 2001, he was ordained to a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) and has been one of the leaders of the Missional Church Movement in North America. In 2001, he planted Life on the Vine Community of the C&MA, as a bi-vocational pastor and actively served in ministry as a pastor at Renew Church in Westmont, IL. In 2007, Fitch became the Betty R Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary in Lisle, IL,.

Academic lectures

Fitch has in the past delivered lectures in universities such as Seminary, Rochester, NY, Bethany College Saskatoon CA, Ambrose University College, 2011, Calgary, AB, Canada, Regent College, 2015, Vancouver, Canada, McMaster Divinity School, 2017, Hamilton, ON,Taccoa Falls College, 2018, Taccoa Falls, GA and Azusa Pacific University, 2020, Azusa, CA.

Publications

Most Recent

• The Great Giveaway; Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychology, Consumer Capitalism and Other Modern American Maladies (Baker 2005) ISBN 978-0801064838
• The End of Evangelicalism? Discerning a New Faithfulness for Mission (Cascade Books, 2011) ISBN 978-1606086841
• Prodigal Christianity: 10 Signposts into the Missional Frontier (Jossey Bass 2013) with Geoff Holsclaw ISBN 978-1118203262
• Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape The Church For Mission (IVP, 2016) ISBN 978-0830841271
• Seven Practices for the Church on Mission (IVP, 2018) ISBN 978-0830841424
• The Church of Us vs. Them: Freedom from a Faith that Feeds on Making Enemies (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2019)
• What is the Church? And Why Does it Exist? (Harrisonburg VA: Herald Press, 2021)
• Reckoning With Power: Why the Church Fails On The Wrong Side of Power (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2024)

Selected Articles

• "Mission Amid Empire: Why Political Formation and Mission are not Mutually Exclusive" Missiology (Fall 2013)
• "Navigating Post Christendom Cultures: The Future of Mission in North America" Evangelical Missions Quarterly Vol. 50 No. 4 (Oct 2014) 408-413.
• "Evangelicalism, Anabaptism, and Being the Church in Post-Christian Culture: An Interview with David Fitch" by Carmen Andres, Anabaptist Witness Vol 1 No. 1 (Oct 2014) 79-92.
• "The Other Missional Conversation: Making Way for the neo-Anabaptist contribution to the missional movement in North America," Missiology: An International Review Vol. 44 No. 4 (Oct 2016) 466-478
• "How the Presence of God Fuels Our Mission" OutReach Magazine January/February 2017 62-68.
• "More "Unintended Consequences": How the Reformation (Mis)Shaped the Church for Mission in North America" in Studebaker, Steven M. and Gordon L. Heath, eds. The Reformation: Past Voices, Current Implications. (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2021)
• "The Key to Church Renewal Post-COVID-19" OutReach Magazine March/April 2021
• The Way Worship Works in Mission: Proposing an Alternative to the Standard Account" Missiology: An International Review Vol. 49 No. 3 1-16.
• "Neo-Anabaptism Among Contemporary Christians," T&T Clark Handbook on Anabaptism. London: T&T Clark, 2021. Ch. 34, p. 579-594.
• "The Many Gospels: How the Gospel Shapes the Church for Mission," in Nijay Gupta et. al. (eds.) Living the King Jesus Gospel: Discipleship and Ministry Then and Now Cascade Books 2021, 177-195.