Patrick Mitchel (PhD)
Patrick is our Director of Learning and teaches theology on the BA and MA programmes as well as the Ministry & Personal Development programme.
He has recently written a book, “The Message of Love” published by IVP in the Bible Speaks today series. The Message of Love.
Patrick also blogs at www.faithinireland.wordpress.com
Patrick Mitchel (PhD)
Tell us about yourself?
Family wise, I’m blessed to be surrounded by three wonderful women – my wife Ines and our two grown-up two daughters. We live in Maynooth and I am an elder in Maynooth Community Church. I do a fair bit of preaching and speaking at various events and churches. Some favourite things include golf, hiking & camping, travel, reading, blogging, dinner with friends and time alone with Saint Bob (Dylan that is). I feel a calling to write for the wider church and have had The Message of Love (IVP) published in 2019 as well as quite a few other book chapters and articles.
What courses do you teach at IBI?
Areas of teaching include Biblical Theology (the story of the Bible), Christology, The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life, Faith and Contemporary Culture, and Issues in Contemporary Theology. In the Masters’ degree I teach a module on evangelical theology which is a subject I studied for my PhD.
Why are you passionate about your subjects?
I teach theology at IBI. But a much better way of putting that rather dry sentence (!) is that I have the enormous privilege of learning and growing with Christians from all over Ireland in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in today’s world. I’m passionate about that because there is nothing the Church in Ireland needs more is men and women who have a love for God, his Word and can teach and lead others in their own context.
Why does your subject matter?
I could keep going about every subject I teach, but I guess a common theme is helping students discover for themselves the richness and relevance of God’s Word for every aspect of life and ministry today. For example, in biblical theology class there are few things are more exciting than to see students really ‘get’ how the Bible fits together and what place we have within God’s redemptive story today. Or how Christology unlocks the whole New Testament since Jesus is on pretty well every page – every author is, in their own way, telling the good news of how everything has changed because of the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah.
How does your subjects shape people - head, hands, heart?
The word ‘theology’ tends to put a lot of people off. But, in fact, every Christian is doing theology every day, all the time – at home, at work, in church. How we treat others, what priorities shape our lives, what we say to someone in pain, what we do with our money, how we spend our time, what we hope for when things get tough are all examples of ‘theology in action’. My goal is for students to think, feel and act in ways in line with the gospel – in whatever God has called to them to.