During the recent Nazarene Theological Seminary Board of Trustees meeting, Roger Hahn announced he will step down as dean of the faculty, effective July 1, 2017. Hahn will have served in this role for 15 years — the second longest tenure among the seven people who have been dean of the faculty.  

“The Board of Trustees is pleased to honor Dr. Roger Hahn for his outstanding service as dean of the faculty at NTS,” said Jeren Rowell, chair of the NTS Board of Trustees. “Dr. Hahn epitomizes the best of theological scholarship and pastoral awareness as a scholar who has remained deeply connected to the life of the local church and to the global Church of the Nazarene. During recent seasons of transition and change, Dr. Hahn was a stabilizing force at NTS and in the consciousness of the Church. Roger’s ministry expresses the Wesleyan exhortation to ‘unite the pair so long disjoined, knowledge and vital piety.’ The Board of Trustees expresses our gratitude and esteem to our beloved brother, Roger Hahn.”

Hahn became a member of the NTS faculty in 1994 as professor of New Testament and was installed as dean of the faculty in 2002. Three years later he was installed in the Willard H. Taylor Chair of Biblical Theology. Hahn has served as director of the Master of Divinity Degree Program from 1995 to 2002 and from 2009 to the present.

He is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University (Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts), Nazarene Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity), and Duke University (Doctor of Philosophy). After serving as senior pastor at First Church of the Nazarene in Durham, North Carolina, Hahn taught for 15 years in the Religion Department at Southern Nazarene University before beginning his current assignment at NTS. He is the author of a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew and has contributed to a number of books. He is a regular contributor to adult Sunday school resources for the Church of the Nazarene. His passion is preaching and teaching the Scriptures (especially the Greek New Testament). He and his wife, Dorothy, live with their sons, Jonathan and Matthew, east of Spring Hill, Kansas. His son Timothy is a 2016 graduate of NTS and his daughter-in-law, Laura, is resident educator for two women’s dormitories at MidAmerica Nazarene University.

“Dr. Hahn is a man who loves God and who has given himself in wholehearted service to the kingdom and the church," said Carla Sunberg, NTS president. "He is a great scholar who will continue to shape our biblical understanding for years to come. I am personally grateful for the wisdom he has freely shared and for his many years of humble service. His leadership as dean of the faculty will be missed, but I am thankful that he will continue to serve on the NTS faculty, even after he steps down as dean next year.” 

NTS began the search for a new dean this past spring and will announce the results of their search in the coming weeks. Hahn will begin his final year as chief academic officer for NTS July 1.  

--Nazarene Theological Seminary