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Dwight Zscheile

Faith+Lead Headshot of The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary.
Faith+Lead Headshot of The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary.

Dwight Zscheile

Vice President of Innovation and Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership

The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress, 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans, 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic, 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.

Note: Biographical information was updated as of the latest contribution. Author profiles may not reflect author’s current employment, status, or location.

people in a bible study

By Dwight Zscheile

Bodybuilding: Equipping God’s People for Ministry

The deeply collaborative New Testament vision for ministry

By Dwight Zscheile

Which Stories Are We Living In?

Deepening the church's life in the story and Way of Jesus

By Dwight Zscheile

Listening to Spiritual Lives in Your Ministry Context

Learning more about the stories and struggles of those entrusted to our care

By Dwight Zscheile

From Performative to Formative Ministry

What would it mean to stop focusing on the institutional church, and instead cultivate discipleship among the whole people of God?
three neighbors talking to eachother

By Dwight Zscheile

Embracing the Mixed Ecology

How emerging and inherited forms of church belong together

By Dwight Zscheile

Learning to Ride a Backwards Bicycle

What does a riding bicycle with "backwards" handlebars have to do with leading change in the church?

Showing 1-6 of 13 posts

Showing 1-3 of 13 episodes

Volunteers in blue shirts shake hands while wearing work gloves, with others clapping in the background, symbolizing teamwork and collaboration.

Recruiting, Equipping, and Empowering Church Leaders

Faithful Innovation

Instructor: Dwight Zscheile
An on-demand church leadership development course designed to address the growing need to raise up and train lay leaders and ministry volunteers.
Large gathering of people sitting in a grass field in front of a movie screen.

Starting a Fresh Expression of Church

Faithful Innovation

Instructor: Dwight Zscheile
Learn how to start and grow faith communities outside traditional church buildings by blending spiritual practices with everyday life, so you can reach new people and reimagine what church can be in today’s world.

Showing 1-2 of 2 courses