Faculty
Meet Our Instructors
Our faculty is comprised of Christian leaders who not only have studied deeply, they have also practiced ministry over many years in a variety of cultural contexts. They remain as curious about applying the Scriptures as they are about understanding God’s truth.
“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”
Ephesians 2:12
FACULTY
President
Prior to becoming a full-time member of the Third Millennium family and President of Thirdmill Seminary, Greg was on the Third Millennium Board of Directors for 20 years. Thirdmill Seminary is an evangelical ministry that provides Biblical Education. For the World. For Free. Established in 1997 to respond to the overwhelming scarcity of theological education around the world, Thirdmill Seminary has been creating and distributing multimedia, seminary-level curriculum in multiple languages worldwide, with no cost to those who need it. In 2018, the need for accredited degree pathways led to the establishment of Thirdmill Seminary.
Greg taught at Christ College Sydney before teaching New Testament and missions at Covenant Theological Seminary from 2003 to 2017. He continues to serve on the adjunct faculty of the Missional Training Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Greg is an ordained minister and earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary, his Th.M. from Columbia Seminary, and his Ph.D. in New Testament from Union Seminary in Virginia. He has published several journal articles and reviews. His first book, The Drama of Discipleship, was published in 2021.
Bob Brumley, Ph.D.
Academic Dean, English Program
After earning his Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Dr. Brumley has been involved in theological and professional education work throughout Latin America and the Caribbean for over 20 years. He has worked to prepare pastors, teachers, missionaries and church leaders to serve in ministry throughout the world. He is especially thankful for the opportunity to further equip ministry leaders who are already sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in places he will likely never visit… to people that we will never meet this side of Heaven! Dr. Brumley and his wife Carmen have two adult children, and they serve together at Lifted Church in Miami, Florida.
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Ben Chen, Ph.D.
Guest Lecturer
Dr. Ben Chen has been the Director of Chinese Language at Third Millennium Ministries since 2002. He was a founding Pastor of Orlando Chinese Evangelical Christian Church from 2004 to 2015. Rev. Chen is an ordained minister of the PCA, and has extensive ministries in the US and East Asia Pacific by preaching in various gatherings in Chinese churches and by training generation church leaders in various seminaries. Dr. Chen received a B.S. and a M.S. in China and holds his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from Texas A&M University. He obtained his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and is presently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program there. Prior to his ministry, he worked as a university teacher in China, a research fellow at Ohio State, and a telecommunication engineer at Lucent Technologies.
Richard Crane, M.Div.
Adjunct Professor, English and Spanish
Richard Crane grew up as the son of missionaries in Chile and later, he and his wife Robyn served under the Mission to the World (PCA) in Chile for 23 years. Richard has his M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and his Certificate in Competence in Pastoral Counseling from CCEF (Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation) from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. He is certified as a Family Therapist from the Instituto Chileno de Terapia Familiar in Santiago, Chile.
What has been most rewarding and exciting to them has been their leadership training in Cuba since 2003. The gospel in Cuba is spreading rapidly and the church is in great demand for providing trained leadership and healing of broken families. At present Richard and Robyn are in the process of creating a movement of counselor training at the local church level, and teaching Christian family counseling at a seminary in Cuba.
Jeffery E. David, D.Min.
Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies
Jeff David and his wife Barbi have been missionaries to Latin America for more than 27 years. Dr. David worked with a church planting team in Mexico City and Tapachula, Chiapas, and from 1992 to 1995 he was the director of the Centro de Estudios Bíblicos de Monterrey, in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. From 1996 to 2010, he served as professor of New Testament at Seminario ESEPA in San Jose, Costa Rica. From 2011 to 2013 he was a course writer for an online M.A. program called ProMETA (Programa de Maestría de Educación Teológica Accesible). In 2013, Dr. David helped develop a theological extension program in Cuba using Third Millennium materials. Jeff is an ordained minister and has served local congregations in Washington State. He earned his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia and his D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His interests include Christian leadership, mentoring and discipleship.
J. Christopher Hatch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology
Chris Hatch brings both practical experience of intercultural ministry and academic accomplishments that demonstrate his deep love of both scripture and the local church. After finishing his M.A. with an emphasis on contemporary culture at Covenant Theological Seminary in 1995, he served as the Executive Director of a church-based Christian community development organization for eight years in Chattanooga, TN. During this time, Chris also taught as adjunct faculty at Covenant College. In 2005, Chris and his family moved to London, England, with the mission agency Serge to join a church in the South Asian community of Southall before planting a multicultural church in the community of Shepherd’s Bush. After thirteen years in London, the Hatches moved to Chicago where Chris earned his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies (Missiology) at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Dr. Hatch is an ordained minister, is married to Josephine from Nairobi, Kenya, and they have two adult children.
Ra McLaughlin, M.Div.
Associate Professor of Theology
Ra McLaughlin is CFO and VP of Operations, Finance & Delivery at Third Millennium Ministries. Ra earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and his B.A, at the University of California Los Angeles. He serves as an adjunct professor at Thirdmill Seminary and at New Geneva Theological Seminary’s location in Egypt.
Ra contributed to and edited the NLT Discover God Study Bible (Tyndale, 2007) and the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (Zondervan, 2003), and authored The Life and Work of Jesus and The Nature and Work of the Holy Spirit (P&R, 2001). He has written numerous courses within Third Millennium Ministries’ seminary curriculum and authored hundreds of articles on thirdmill.org.
Andrew D. Parlee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theology
Before Drew joined Third Millennium’s Faculty Board of Approval in 2014, he spent 3 years with Greater Europe Mission training Europeans to evangelize, make disciples, and plant churches. From 2006-2011, he served with Greater Europe Mission teaching Systematic Theology and New Testament Greek at the Protestant Theological Seminary in Novi Sad, Serbia. Prior to that, he taught short intensive courses in the Ukraine and Czech Republic, and served as a campus pastor with the Navigators at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.
Dr. Parlee earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. His research interests include Eastern Orthodox theology, Roman Catholic theology, epistemology, apologetics, evangelism, disciple-making, church-planting, and theological education.
Richard Pratt, Jr., Th.D.
President and Co-Founder of Third Millennium Ministries, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament
As President of Third Millennium Ministries, Thirdmill Seminary’s parent company, Dr. Pratt is actively involved in all aspects of the ministry. Dr. Pratt travels extensively throughout the world to evangelize and teach, including Australia, China, Czech Republic, Columbia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and throughout the United States. Dr. Pratt taught at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS, and Orlando, FL, for 21 years. He also chaired the Old Testament Department in Orlando. He received a BA from Roanoke College, his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary, and his Th.D. from Harvard University.
Dr. Pratt served as the General Editor for the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. Dr. Pratt’s books include Every Thought Captive, Pray With Your Eyes Open, Designed for Dignity, and He Gave Us Stories, as well as two commentaries: one on I and II Chronicles and the other on I and II Corinthians. His books have been translated into several languages including Chinese (Mandarin), Russian and Spanish. Dr. Pratt is also a contributor to the Complete Literary Guide to the Bible and has authored numerous journal articles.
Scott Simmons, M.Div.
Director of Instructional Design, English Program
Scott serves as Director of Instructional Design for Thirdmill Seminary and Third Millennium Ministries, overseeing the development of online courses for our Learning Management System (LMS) from the video lesson series covering biblical and theological studies. Scott has been an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America since 2001.
Before coming to Thirdmill, Scott was the Pastor of Missions and Spiritual Formation at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, MD from 2001 to 2009. While serving in Maryland, Scott also taught several courses at Chesapeake Reformed Theological Seminary (Old Testament Foundations, New Testament Foundations, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Ethics).
Scott has earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and his B.S. from James Madison University in Geology. Scott’s theological interests include hermeneutics, literary approaches to Scripture, and Biblical perspectives on creational stewardship.
Gabriela Tijerina-Pike, Ph.D.
Guest Lecturer
Dr. Gabriela Tijerina-Pike earned her Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen with an emphasis in Exegesis of the New Testament (Lukan Christology). She has served as President of Seminario Todas Las Naciones in Mexico and written commentaries for layman and children in Spanish. Dr. Tijerina-Pike is committed to equipping church leaders with Thirdmill Seminary and by serving as Director of Latino/a Ministries at Calvin Theological Seminary.
Dr. Tijerina-Pike is married to Sky, who is a researcher and biomolecular scientist teaching at a university in Michigan.
