Bob Abegg is director of online and external studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, which started with one online course in 2003 and now has two dozen, with 1,000 students. He is also elder emeritus at Centerpoint Church in Mesquite, Texas. Contact via DTS’ External Studies Office.

Craig Hill is a research professor of theological pedagogy at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. He oversees several new degree programs that serve distance learners.

Jason Byassee is pastor of Boone United Methodist Church in Boone, N.C., and a research fellow in theology and leadership at Duke Divinity School. He wrote a rebuttal for The United Methodist Reporter of Sky McCracken’s essay for the same publication about the decline in value of a seminary education.

Lugene Schemper is a theological librarian at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. He wrote an article on seminary education for Hispanic pastors.

Sally Peters is director of the Center for Lifelong Learning at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. In July 2011, she led a session on vocation in contemporary life at Princeton Theological Seminary’s conference “Perspectives on Vocation for the 21st Century.”

Duane Kelderman is vice president for administration and an associate professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. In 2003, he participated in the school’s forum on seminary education and contributed an article, “Is Seminary Education for Pastors Still Necessary,” to its journal.

John Bolt is a professor of systematic theology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. In 2003, he participated in a Calvin forum on seminary education and contributed an article titled “Warning! Seminary Education May Be Hazardous to Your Spiritual Health” to its journal.

Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu is assistant professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and is an expert in Latino theology. She is fluent in Spanish.

The Rev. Dorian Llywelyn is chair of the Catholic studies program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is fluent in Spanish and can discuss the church’s changing demographics.