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| PentecostalTheology.com
On behalf of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, we express our condolences to the Stronstad family.
Roger Jonathon Stronstad was born on November 15, 1944 to Melvin and Edith Stronstad of Turner Valley, Alberta, who were at that time, pastors of the PAOC congregation at Royalties, AB. Melvin Stronstad was a first generation Canadian, born only one year after the Stronstad family emigrated from Norway in 1909.
Growing up in a classical Pentecostal environment, Roger was accepted into Western Pentecostal Bible College (now Summit Pacific College) where he graduated in 1971. He went on to earn his MCS in Theology from Regent College; he was also recognized with an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Christian Bible College, and a second honorary Doctor of Divinity from Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Following graduation, Roger returned to Western Pentecostal Bible College to begin his teaching career in 1978, served as Dean of Education from 1986-2005, and retired as scholar-in-residence in 2017. He was a leader, instructor, mentor, and friend. Roger is best known among his SPS colleagues for his ground-breaking study, The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke, published in 1984 (2nd edition in 2012). He maintained a lifelong passion for all things Lukan that included The Prophethood of All Believers in 1999 as well as numerous monographs, articles, and book chapters on hermeneutics and biblical theology.
Roger was nominated to serve on the Executive Committee for the Society for Pentecostal Studies in 1992 where he began working toward his role as the Program Chair for the 1993 annual meeting held in Guadalajara, Mexico with the theme, “To the Ends of the Earth.” Roger later served as President of SPS in 1994 and remained on the Executive Committee through 1996.
A festschrift in his honor, aptly titled Reading St. Luke’s Text and Theology: Pentecostal Voices, was published in 2019. This work includes a litany of SPS contributors and was edited by Riku Tuppurainen, who serves as the current Dean of Graduate Studies at Graduate studies at Summit Pacific College. Roger was later recognized in 2021 by the Society for Pentecostal Studies with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to Pentecostal scholarship.
Through both his teaching and academic writing, Roger Stronstad deeply impacted students throughout his career spanning nearly four decades. Please keep his wife, Laurel, in your prayers in her season of loss. A graveside service for Roger will be held Friday, September 2, 2022 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM at Hazelwood Cemetery, 34070 Hazelwood Avenue, Abbotsford, British Columbia V2S 7R1. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.firstmemorialaldergrove.com for the Stronstad family.
Excerpts quoted from Martin W. Mittelstadt. “Academic and Pentecostal: An Appreciation of Roger Stronstad.” Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity 1, no. 1 (2010): 31-64, accessed August 30, 2022, https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/cjpcc/01-1_031.pdf.
Special thanks to Dr. Marty Mittelstadt for his assistance and contribution to this article.
