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The KLC PhD Programme

KLC has partnered with Union Theological College (UTC) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to supervise PhD students. UTC is a Presbyterian college with a long history of ministerial training and University-level education. It is evangelical in conviction. The College welcomes students from all backgrounds and staff come from a variety of evangelical perspectives.

KLC oversees doctoral supervision and scholarships for students, and we provide training and support for our PhD supervisors.

Meet our Supervisors

Click here to find out more about our team of senior scholars who are available to serve as doctoral supervisors.

Become a supervisor

Click here to find out more about what is required to join our team of doctoral supervisors and how you can apply to do so.

PhD Scholarships

KLC helps to adminster scholarships for Christian scholars conducting research in specific areas, including the Norman Anderson Law Award for the doctoral research of a young or early career Christian legal scholar, and the Bible Society Academic Grants Programme, supporting research in Bible and contemporary society.

KLC PhD Students

Ricardo Cardenas

Ricardo Cardenas

Ricardo Cardenas and his family live in Commerce City, Colorado where he serves his community bi-vocationally as the branch manager at Anythink Library and as the pastor of Calvary Commerce City – a church he helped to plant in October, 2020. He received his master of divinity degree from Denver Seminary in 2016. He has been married to his wife, Molly, for eleven years and they have four children: Micah (age 7), Amelia (age 6), Benjamin (age 3), and Mateo (age 1). 

Area of Research

Ricardo is researching the cultural and theological place of public libraries from a Kuyperian perspective. His research question is, “Theologically, what type of place is the 21st century American public library within creation?” In order to answer this question He is engaging with Abraham Kuyper’s doctrine of creation and attempting to situate the public library as a distinct place within God’s creation. 

He identifies James Bratt’s Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader as being very helpful on Kuyper, and Wayne Wiegand’s Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library as a great overview of public library history in the U.S.

Jeff Gissing

Jeff Gissing

Jeff is Director of Acquisitions for English Bibles at Tyndale House Publishers. An ordained minister in the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, he has served in campus and parish ministry as well as in academic publishing. Jeff is married to Anna Moseley Gissing, together they have two kids and live in Wheaton (Illinois) where Anna is a PhD student in New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School and Senior Acquisitions Editor for Baker Academic.

Area of Research

Jeff’s research focuses on the ecclesiology of Dutch polymath Abraham Kuyper. Specifically, his dissertation answers the questions. What does Kuyper mean when he refers to the church as mother and what role does this metaphor play in the development of his doctrine of the church over time? In what ways does Kuyper’s understanding of this metaphor similar or dissimilar to Calvin’s use in Institutes and what are the implications for contemporary Christianity?

Dustin Hunt

Dustin Hunt

Dustin currently serves as the Lead Pastor of Coram Deo (PCA) in Las Cruces, NM. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University (B.A. IT) and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv). He has been married to Anastasia for 11 years and has three wonderful children.

Area of Research

How can the book of 1 Peter and the theology of Abraham Kuyper provide a rubric for public and political theology that does not lead to Christian Nationalism? Wisdom is needed as Christians attempt to engage politically in the 21st century. Dustin’s hope is that this research will enable the church to engage the present iteration of nationalism, particularly in the United States.

zane richer

Zane Richer

Zane is a Christian scholar interested in the fields of political theology and philosophy. He serves as a Professor of Government at Liberty University, where he received an MA in Public Policy. He lives with his wife Nicole in Virginia, USA, where they are active members in their Presbyterian church (OPC), and adjusting to the new patterns of life with their first child.

Area of Research

Zane’s research is in the field of political theology and philosophy. Specifically, it investigates the underlying religious character of political fragmentation and polarization, especially in the American context. He explores how the fundamental divisions in modern political life are informed and interpreted by deeper-lying religious commitments of the human heart. In order to do this, he engages closely with the dynamic work of Christian theologian Oliver O’Donovan, and Christian philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd. His hope is that this research can highlight certain key resources and insights available within the Christian tradition that could contribute toward a more robust understanding of society’s political tensions, and in turn, aid in their amelioration.