TORONTO—Wycliffe College is pleased to announce that Dr Lissa Wray Beal will join the faculty as Professor of Old Testament on August 1, 2022. Her appointment concludes a six-month search during which a committee with representatives from the College, the Toronto School of Theology, and the University of Toronto reviewed more than two dozen applications for the position.
“The decision was challenging,” said Wycliffe Principal Stephen Andrews, “because of the high calibre of the applicants. But every member of the search committee identified Dr Wray Beal’s scholarly achievements, commitment to teaching, and love for the Church as assets that would strengthen the College and its mission.”
Dr Wray Beal comes to Wycliffe from Providence Theological Seminary in Otterburne, Manitoba where she is Professor of Old Testament, and Chair of the Bible and Theology Department. She grew up in the United Church before becoming part of the Pentecostal tradition, in which she was ordained. She has a Master of Divinity from Edmonton Baptist Seminary. In the late 1990s she came to the Toronto School of Theology to pursue doctoral studies, receiving her PhD from St Michael’s College in 2003. While a student, she worked as a Teaching Assistant at Wycliffe College to Dr Marion Taylor, and taught at the College as an adjunct instructor. She also taught at Tyndale University College and Seminary, Master’s College and Seminary, and Queen’s University before taking up her current position at Providence in 2004. In 2014 she was ordained to the Priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land.
Professor Wray Beal teaches a wide range of Old Testament subjects, but her current research is focussed on the books of Joshua, 1-2 Kings, and Jeremiah. The author of two commentaries (on Joshua, published by Zondervan; and on 1 and 2 Kings, published by InterVarsity Press), she has written a number of articles both for the academy and for more popular audiences. She is co-editing two commentary series, one with Baker and the other with Cascade.
“I am humbled by this opportunity, and thankful for God's kindness in it,” wrote Dr Wray Beal in accepting the position. “My prayer is that I will be a blessing at Wycliffe, and that God’s kingdom will be strengthened through my ministry there!”
“We look forward to welcoming Lissa and her husband, Steve, to our community,” said Principal Andrews.
