CV

PASTORAL RESIDENCY PROGRAM: Wrote and Received a 380k grant that enabled me to develop and launch a pastoral residency program that trained emerging leaders in gospel-centered ministry. 

COUNSELING CREDENTIAL: Credentialed as a "Prepare & Enrich" counselor.  I have successfully lead several couples through sessions that have both prepared engaged couples and helped those in broken marriages find restoration.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: Established an internship program that trained college and post-college young leaders in a host of ministry arenas (children, youth, worship, etc.)

CHURCH GALLERY: Created a rotating gallery space that utilized the arts to complement and enrich the congregation's community life. 

GOOD FRIDAY WALKTHROUGH:  Envisioned and co-launched a  multi-media Good Friday walkthrough experience that utilized global Christian art. The walkthrough draws over 400 people and serves to introduce roughly 200 people a year to the Christian faith.

ALPHA: Established and ran a number of ten week evangelism courses (based on an augmented form of the Alpha curriculum) that introduced those new to Christianity to the Christian faith.  

NEW MEMBERS SEMINAR: Assisted the planning and teaching of the church's membership seminar: guiding attendees through the church's history, core values, the role of membership in the local church, and places to serve. 

C.S. LEWIS CLASS & MORE: Lead numerous popular classes (C.S. Lewis, The Apostle's Creed, Abraham Kuyper, Dante's Commedia, etc.) that have drawn upwards of 130 attendees. 

Curriculum Vitae

Robert Stephen Covolo

1518 Elkwood St., 

West Covina, CA 91791

robetcovolo@gmail.com

CHURCH EMPLOYMENT

Associate Pastor of Theological Formation 

Director of Pastoral Residency Center

Christ Church Sierra Madre 

(2018-Present)

• Preaching and teaching

• Designing and teaching church curriculum

• Oversight of adult Sunday School leaders

• Worship planning committee

• Writing and leading liturgy

• Preparing candidates and conducting baptisms

• Officiating at the Lord’s Supper

• Pre-marital and marital counseling

• Officiating weddings

• Mentoring interns and pastoral residents

• Membership Seminars

Associate Pastor of Young Adults

Grace Long Beach

(1996-2008)

•  Weekly teaching various books of the Bible

•  Assisting with pulpit ministry

• Serving on the weekly worship planning committee. 

• Leading in Sunday liturgy

•  Preparing candidates and conducting baptisms.

• Officiating at the Lord’s table. 

• Serving on the elder board. 

• Producing and conducting various seminars 

• Small groups coordination

• Assisting with capital building campaign

• Scouting and hiring various ministry positions

PARA-CHURCH EMPLOYMENT

Director of Vocational Discipleship

Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles

(2021-Present)

• Teaching in various CFWLA programs 

• Producing podcasts with guest speakers

• Training church staffs on implementing faith & work 

• Planning, promoting and carrying out CFWLA events

• Building partner relationships between CFWLA and churches 

• Leading in various fundraising initiatives 

• Helping lead retreats 

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

Visiting Professor

Mouw Institute of Public Theology

Fuller Seminary

Pasadena, California

2024-   

Tutor

Honors College

Azusa Pacific University

Azusa, California

2022-            

Affiliate Faculty

School of Theology

Fuller Theological Seminary

Pasadena, California

2021-            

Faculty

Torrey Honors Institute

Biola University

La Mirada, California

2017-2018    

Adjunct Instructor

Talbot School of Theology

Biola University

La Mirada, California

2011-14        

EDUCATION

Ph.D.                    Dogmatics and Ecumenics     

                             Vrije Universiteit,

   Amsterdam, NL

Ph.D.                  Theology and Culture 

Fuller Theological Seminary, 

Pasadena, CA, USA

Th.M.                 Philosophy of Religion 

Talbot School of Theology, 

La Mirada, CA

M.Div.                Christian Education

                      Talbot School of Theology, 

  La Mirada, CA

Credential    English Literature

                     Chapman University, 

  Orange, CA

BA              History

     San Jose State University, 

San Jose, CA

Certificate   Humanities Honors Program

                     San Jose State University, 

 San Jose, CA

SELECT PUBLICATIONS 

1.     Chapter: “Neo-Calvinism and the Arts” in T & T Clark Handbook to Neo-Calvinism, edited by Cory Brock and Nathaniel Gray Sutanto (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2023).

2.     Chapter: “Theologizing Social Pluralism: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Approaches” in Neo Calvinism and Roman Catholicism, edited by James Eglinton and George Harinck, volume 47 in Studies in Reformed Theology (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2023).

3.     Chapter: “Clothing Collegians in Christ” in Stewarding Our Bodies: A Vision for Christian Student Affairs, edited by Perry L. Glanzer and Austin T. Smith (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2023). 

4.     Chapter: “Reformed Resources for Thinking About Fashion” in Reformed Public Theology: A Global Vision for Life in the World, ed. Matthew Kaemingk (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). [Reformed Public Theology has been translated into Portuguese and is currently being translated into Mandarin.]

5.     Article: “St. Augustine’s Phenomenology of Modern Fashion’s Logic” in Church Life Journal (Univ. of Notre Dame), February 12, 2021. Available online here.

6.     Book: Fashion Theology (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2020).  [Fashion Theology was translated into Dutch and published as Mode Theologie by Buijten & Schipperheijn (2023).]

7.     Article: “Draag altijd vrolijke kleren!” In OnderWeg, vol. 14, (2018). Published online at here.

8.     Cover Article: “Het verband tussen protestantse theologie en mode” in Hét christelijk opinieblad van Nederland, vol. 23, (2017): 4-5. 

9.     Encyclopedia Articles: “Richard Mouw,” “George Marsden,” and “Biola University” in Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture, eds. Timothy Demy and Paul Shockley (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017).

10.  Popular Article: “Beyond Modesty: The Challenge of Late Modern Fashion” in In All Things, Published on-line Nov. 17, 2015 here.

11.  Popular Article: “Clothed in Mercy,” Christianity Today, 59:6 (July 2015): 78-79. Published on-line August 28, 2015 by Christianity Today as “The Biblical Meaning of Clothing” here.  

12.  Introductory Essay in Seeing the Unseen: A Handbook for Launching Church Galleries, eds. Marianne Lettieri and Sandra Bowden (Wenham, MA: CIVA, 2015). 

13.  Article: “Towards a Theology of California Surf Culture,” Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture, 10:2. (2014): 27-45.

14.  Print Edition: “Beyond The Low-Rise Jean: Traces of Resurrection on the Catwalks of the Late Alexander McQueen” in The Other Journal: Body (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2014), 30-37.

15.  Chapter: “From The Beach Boys To Surfer’s Chapel: A Theology of California Surf Culture” in Theology and California: Theological Refractions on California’s Culture. eds. F. Sanders and J. Sexton (Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2014), 139-162. 

16.  Chapter: “The Theo-Politics of Fashion: Groen Van Prinsterer and the ‘Terror’ of French Revolutionary Dress” in Neo-Calvinism and the French Revolution (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014), 81-98.

17.  Interview: “Visual Art in the Church: A Conversation,” Seen Journal (CIVA), 12:2 (2013): 16-22.

18.  Article: “Beyond The Low-Rise Jean: Traces of Resurrection on the Catwalks of the Late Alexander McQueen” online in The Other Journal, December, 2013.  Published online here.  

19.  Article: "Faith in a Fashionable Age:  Abraham Kuyper and Charles Taylor on the Secular Nexus Between Modeand Modernité," The International Journal of Public Theology, 7.3. (2013): 297-314.

20.  Article: “Herman Dooyeweerd: Christian Philosopher of Fashion,” Pro Rege, 41:4 (2013): 1-6. 

21.  Chapter: “Re-Fashioning Faith: The Promise of a Kuyperian Theology of Fashion,” in On Kuyper:  A Collection of Readings on the Life, Work & Legacy of Abraham Kuyper. Eds. Steve Bishop and John H. Kok (Sioux City, IA: Dordt College Press, 2013), 365-382. 

22.  Article: “Escaping the Schleiermacher-Barth Dilemma: General Revelation, Bavinckian Consensus and the Future of Reformed Theology,” The Bavinck Review, 3 (2012): 30-59.

23.  Popular Article: “Re-Dressing a Threadbare Faith: Fashion Theory for the Uninitiated,” Comment: Public Theology for the Common Good, April, 2012. Published online here.

24.  Article: “What Evangelicals Can Learn from Amos Yong’s ‘The Holy Spirit, the Middle Way, and the Religions’,” Journal of Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue 2.4 (Spring, 2012). 

25.  Article: “When is a Mall Just a Mall?: The Complexity of Reading Cultural Practices,” The Other Journal, February, 2012.  (co-authored with Cory Willson)

26.  Chapter: “Advancing A Neo-Calvinist Pneumatology of Religions: The Role of Recent Yongian Contributions” in The Kuyper Center Review: Revelation & Common Grace, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011).

27.  Popular Article: “How Abraham Kuyper Saved My GPA (Or, Why College Ministries Need Kuyper)” in Comment: Public Theology for the Common Good, July, 2011. Published online here.

28.  Article: “The Fashionable Suspicion of Fashion,” Transpositions: Theology, Imagination and the Arts. October 15, 2010. Available online here.

29.  Article: “Making The Difficult Simple: A Response to Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen’s Theology of Religions,” Journal of Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue, 1:2 (Spring, 2010). 

30.  Article: “Re-Fashioning Faith: The Promise of a Kuyperian Theology of Fashion,” Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture, 5:2 (Summer 2009): 41-62.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE  [Biola, ICS Toronto, Fuller, APU, Christ Church]

Issues in Theology & Contemporary Art (with Prof. Jon Anderson)

A capstone integration course exploring the dynamic relationship between modern art and theology within our contemporary cultural context.  

Fashion Theology

A graduate course on the history of theological engagement with fashion as well as the numerous theological intersections within fashion’s social, aesthetic, linguistic, performative, narrative, ethical, etc., elements.

Art and the Bible (with Prof. Jon Anderson)

A capstone integration seminar introducing critical issues in theological aesthetics and biblical themes as demonstrated in  western and global art. 

Theology of Sanctification (with Prof. Steve Porter)

An undergraduate introduction to theologies of sanctification within the broader Christian tradition with a special focus on the relationship between these views and models of spiritual formation.   

Greek Exegesis of the Gospels 

A graduate level capstone course that takes third year Greek students through the process of moving from a host of exegetical issues in the Greek text of the Gospels to the finished sermon.

Theology of Creation, Humanity & Sin

 A graduate level core theology course engaging the biblical and theological issues regarding the doctrines of creation, theological anthropology and hamartiology.   

   Theology of Work

A 6-week introductory course engaging the biblical and theological issues regarding work.    

   The Writings of C.S. Lewis

A 6-week introduction to the theological, fictional, ethical, apologetic, and literary writings of C.S. Lewis. 

Torrey Honors Institute/APU Honors College (Socratic Tutorials of Great Texts) 

Authors Include: Aeschylus / Aquinas / Aristotle / Augustine / Francis Bacon / Bernard of Clairvaux / Boethius / Edmund Burke / John Calvin / Geoffrey Chaucer / Cyril of Alexandria / Dante Alighieri /Charles Darwin / Renee Descartes / Fyodor Dostoyevsky / Gregory of Nazianzus / Soren Kierkegaard / C.S. Lewis / Abraham Lincoln / John Locke / Martin Luther / Niccoló Machiavelli / Marx & Engels / John Milton / Ovid / Plato / Pseudo-Dionysius / William Shakespeare / Theresa of Avilla / Thomas Traherne / Virgil/ John Wesley 

MINISTRY CREDENTIALS

Ordained Teaching Elder, Pacific Presbytery, Presbyterian Church of America            

AWARDS – FELLOWSHIPS — HONORS

1. Grawmeyer Award in Religion Nominee, 2021                

2. Pastoral Residency Grant, Made to Flourish, 2020                 

3. Visiting Fellow, Theologische Universiteit Kampen, 2016                 

4. Travel Award, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2014                 

5. Brehm Scholar: Visual Faith Institute of Art and Architecture, 2013                 

6. Merit Fellowship, Center For Advanced Theological Studies, 2013                 

7.  Plenary Presentation, Neo-Calvinism & The French Revolution Conference,  2012                

8. Merit Fellowship, Center For Advanced Theological Studies, 2012                 

9. Inaugural Presentation, TECC Initiative,   2011                 

10. Travel Award, Princeton Theological Seminary,  2011                 

11. Merit Fellowship, Center For Advanced Theological Studies, 2011                

12. First Place Winner, Bavinck Scholarship Competition, Calvin College,   2011.

13. Merit Fellowship, Center For Advanced Theological Studies, 2010                 

14. Outstanding Senior Preacher, Talbot School of Theology, 1993       

15. Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society, 1989