Our Director
Steve Hardy
Steve is from the United States, but he has lived many, many years in the Majority World, almost entirely involved in theological education at all kinds of levels.
Steve received his masters of divinity from Bethel Theological Seminary (St. Paul, Minn.) and his doctorate in missiology from Trinity International University (Deerfield, Ill.). He is ordained and licensed for Christian ministry by the Baptist General Conference, with current membership in the Evangelical Free Church.
After some years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) ministry in the 1970s, Steve worked in Brazil, teaching, church-planting and developing curricula for church-based theological training. Then he moved to Africa, and lived variously in Mozambique and South Africa, involved in leadership training programs, theological evangelical education, and consultancy for theological education developments around the whole region.
Later, Steve worked for Overseas Council International (OCI), and his field of interest widened to include many partner seminaries around the world. He was involved in strategic planning, troubleshooting, project development and project monitoring at key leadership training institutions, primarily in Africa, but also in Latin America and Eastern Europe. He also taught masters-level courses and helped to develop accreditation standards for leadership institutions. As the vice president of programs at OCI, he developed more than 100 leadership training programs throughout the nonwestern world and participated in strategic planning with other like-minded organizations.
Steve is now a mission partner with Serving in Mission (SIM), as the advocate for theological education – serving other SIM personnel involved in that field around the world. He has worked with SIM since 1985 as theological education advisor, missionary, and leadership training facilitator.
Steve lives at present in Johannesburg, South Africa with his wife Leanne. He has two married children living in the U.S., and a home in Wisconsin. He is the author of Excellence in Theological Education: Effective Training for Church Leaders, which was designed for Bible school and seminary leadership in the Majority World. He joins LPI with a wealth of experience and wisdom to bring to the LPI Scholar program.