Faculty

The Rev Dr Mark Dickson
Principal
BSc (Major: Physics) (UCT), Dip Th (BISA), MA (NWU), PhD (NWU)
Subjects: Biblical Hebrew, Philosophy
Mark was appointed as Principal in 2013 to succeed Dr David Seccombe. He is especially interested in grappling with foundational truths of the Christian faith, applying and packaging them to address the issues of modern society, and has special expertise in the area of science and Christianity. His doctoral dissertation investigated irreducible complexity within the context of the biblical doctrine of creation. Mark was the senior minister of St Matthew’s Church in Table View (Cape Town) for 17 years, and is still actively involved in ministry there.  He is married to Julie and they have two sons and a daughter.
Dr Jake Griesel

BTh (UFS), MTh (UFS), BA Hons (Latin) (UFS), PhD (Cambridge), FRHistS

Subjects: Church History, Historical Theology, Anglican Studies

Jake joined GWC in 2020 as a postdoctoral fellow before joining the faculty in 2022. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Research Associate at North-West University’s Faculty of Theology. His interests are broadly in Christian doctrine and history, with specialisation in the Reformed tradition between the Reformation and the Enlightenment, particularly in the context of the Church of England. He is the author of Retaining the Old Episcopal Divinity: John Edwards of Cambridge and Reformed Orthodoxy in the Later Stuart Church (Oxford University Press, 2022), the co-editor of Reformed identity and conformity in England, 1559–1714 (Manchester University Press, 2024), and has published an article on the 18th-century African missionary Jacobus Capitein in the Journal of Early Modern History. He is currently working on a monograph on John Pearson (1613–86).

Email: jgriesel@gwc.ac.za

The Rev Dr John-Paul Harper
Senior Lecturer in New Testament
BComm Hons Math (Stellenbosch University), MComm Math (Stellenbosch University), BTh (NWU), PhD (Stellenbosch University)
Subjects: New Testament, Greek

John-Paul joined the GWC faculty in a full-time capacity in 2023. Before this, he served for 10 years as an assistant minister at Christ Church Stellenbosch. He has a general interest in early Christianity with a special focus on Pauline studies and Hellenistic Judaism. He is the author of Paul and Philo on the Politics of the Land, Jerusalem, and Temple (Mohr Siebeck, 2021). John-Paul and his family continue to serve at Christ Church Stellenbosch.

The Rev Thapelo Khumalo
BTh (NWU) & LTh (GWC), BTh Hons (UNISA), MTh (UNISA)
Subjects: Practical Theology, Church History

After graduating from GWC, Thapelo served as a campus director with The Bible Talks student ministry at the University of KwaZulu Natal for 9 years. He also served as an assistant minister at Christ Church Glenwood (REACH SA) in KwaZulu Natal, Durban. Thapelo’s MTh dissertation focused on the relationship between John Calvin’s theology and his pastoral ministry. He’s currently completing his PhD thesis on the role of the Holy Spirit in church unity in Calvin’s reply to Sadoleto.

Dr Nathan Lovell

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH & SENIOR LECTURER IN OLD TESTAMENT

BEng Hons (Newcastle, Australia), BDiv Hons (Moore College, Australia), PhD (Griffith University, Australia), PhD (University of Sydney, Australia)

Subjects: Old Testament, Biblical Hebrew

Nathan joined the faculty of George Whitefield College in 2011. He teaches and researches in Old Testament with particular interest in the books of Kings and Isaiah. He is married to Diane and they have two children, Shiri and Isaac. Nathan and Diane are missionaries sent by the Church Missionary Society of Australia, and worship with God’s people at St. Peter’s Fish Hoek. Nathan is the author of numerous journal articles, as well as The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity (LHBOTS, 2021). He is writing upcoming commentaries on Kings (Hodder Bible Commentary) and Chronicles (The Bible in God’s World).

The Rev Phumezo Masango
Dean of Students
BTh (NWU)
Subjects: Church History, Practical Theology, New Testament
Phumezo was appointed to the faculty in 2016. He has served as Rector of Christ Church, Khayelitsha since 2009 and continues to supervise the ministry team there while lecturing in church history and practical theology at GWC.
Dr Jonathan More
Vice-Principal Academic & Academic Dean
B Eng (Stellenbosch University), M Eng (Stellenbosch University), LTh (GWC), BA (NWU), Hons BA (NWU), ThM (Princeton Theological Seminary), PhD (Stellenbosch University).
Subjects: Biblical Studies
Jonathan joined the GWC faculty in 2001 and was appointed as Vice-Principal in 2013. He holds a doctoral degree in Ancient Studies from Stellenbosch University. Jonathan focuses his research on the intersection between the intellectual world of the New Testament and its Graeco-Roman context. Jonathan and his family serve at Holy Trinity (Gardens, Cape Town).
The Rev Dr Mark Norman

HEAD OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

Lth (BISA), BTh Hons (UNISA), CertRS, (University of Cambridge) MTh (UNISA), DTh (UNISA)
Subjects: Biblical Studies, Philosophy
Mark served in the SA Navy before training for ministry in the Church of England in South Africa. He was Rector of St John’s Church, Queenswood in Pretoria, where he served for 21 years. During this time he planted a church on the University of Pretoria campus. Mark ran several post-ordination training seminars in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and has served terms of the REACH SA Executive and the Board of GWC. The title of his doctoral dissertation is, “Heidegger and Trinitarian Theology.”
Ikho Poswayo
BCom (Hons) Financial Management (UJ), BTh (Hons) (GWC).
Subjects: Biblical Studies, New Testament Greek

Ikho joined the faculty in January of 2022. She worked in finance for five years prior to joining GWC as a Higher Certificate student in 2017. After completing the Higher Certificate, she returned to GWC for the BTh and the BTh (Honours) programs.  She has interests in Biblical Counselling and New Testament exegesis and application in the African context.

 

The Rev Dr Mike Roe
BE Civil (Adelaide), BTh Hons (ACT, Australia), PhD (ACT, Australia).
Subjects: Department of Theology
Mike joined the faculty 2020. Prior to coming to George Whitefield College he served as a minister in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, and then as the Academic Dean of the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary. He teaches and researches in the areas of Systematic, Biblical and Historical Theology. His particular interests relate to the interface between eschatology, the kingdom of God, and social ethics. He is married to Karen and they have two children, Amelia and Mitchell. Mike and Karen are missionaries sent by the Church Missionary Society of Australia.
DR CAROLINE SEED
BA (UCT), MA Mission Studies (Birmingham), M.Th. (Wales), Ph.D. (NWU), HDE P-G SEC (UCT), Dip TEFL
Subjects: Dogmatics, Mission, Education.
Caroline was a language teacher before joining the Church Mission Society in 1999. She then studied Mission and Dogmatics, obtaining a PhD in 2016. Caroline has served as a lecturer and senior academic administrator in theological colleges and Christian universities in Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya. Her role at GWC is as theological education consultant with Theological Education Development Services (TEDS). Caroline was appointed to faculty in 2023 and assists with postgraduate courses and research methodology. She supervises doctoral candidates for NWU (South Africa), Theological University of Apeldoorn (TUA) and Oxford Centre of Mission Studies (OCMS). Her research interests are the intersection between historical theology and mission and reading the Bible in missional contexts.
THE REV DR RICHARD SEED (DICK)
DipTh (BISA), BTh (UNISA), MEd (Oxon), PhD (Birmingham)
Subjects: Mission, Christian Education
Richard (Dick) directs Theological Education Development Services (TEDS) which provides training and consultancy in teaching, learning, and curriculum development for theological colleges and Christian universities. Affiliated to GWC since 2018, TEDS was fully integrated into the college in 2023 when Dick was appointed to faculty. Dick pursued his initial theological studies in South Africa but completed his further studies in mission and theological education in the UK. He joined Church Mission Society (UK) in 1999 and was involved in senior leadership in theological colleges and Christian universities in Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya. Dick leads TEDS and also teaches Christian Education and Mission subjects at GWC. His research interests are in cognitive contextualization and secularization in higher Christian education in Africa.
The Rev Dr Vuyani Sindo
Vice-Principal Development & Head of Biblical Studies

ND (Plastic Technology) (CPUT), BTh (NWU) & LTh (GWC), Hons BA (NWU), MA (Pauline Studies)(NWU), PhD (Stellenbosch)

Subjects: Pastoral Ministry, New Testament, Pauline Studies
Vuyani was a maths tutor with Youth Alive before completing a National Diploma in Plastics Technology. After training at GWC for ministry in REACH-SA, Vuyani served as Assistant Minister of Holy Trinity Church in Cape Town. He was appointed to the faculty in 2014 where he teaches New Testament and pastoral ministry. Vuyani’s doctoral dissertation, completed at Stellenbosch University in 2018, explores questions of leadership and identity within the context of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.