Dr. Brent Colby

Associate Dean

Education

Ed.D. (Organizational Leadership) Southeastern University

M.A. (Leadership Strategy) Vanguard University

B.A. (Pastoral Ministries) Northwest University

Brent Colby is the Associate Dean of the Center for Leadership Studies and Associate Professor in the College of Ministry at Northwest University. He is an alum of NU, where he completed his BA in Pastoral Ministries, and he went on to earn his MA in Leadership Studies from Vanguard University and his EdD in Organizational Leadership from Southeastern University. Before returning to Kirkland he spent fifteen years in local church ministry across the Puget Sound. He later served as Dean of Online Education at Continental Theological Seminary in Brussels, Belgium, as a career missionary with Assemblies of God World Missions. His dissertation, “Evaluating the Role of Empowering Leadership and Church Health,” analyzed 9,619 surveys from 361 Assemblies of God congregations and identified empowering leadership as a statistically significant predictor of congregational health. That question, what kind of leadership actually makes a church healthy, runs through everything else he does: the Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative at Northwest University, funded by a $1.26 million Lilly Endowment grant he co-authored; a leadership framework in development under the title, “It Hinges on How.”.

 

He also loves coffee, running, pickle ball, a heavy board game, and time with his family. Please reach out to connect!

Published Works

Chapters and Contributions

  • Colby, Brent. “Growing with Your Team.” In 6 Children’s Ministry Essentials: A Quick Access Guide, edited by Dick Gruber. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 2017

Practitioner and Ministry Resources

  • Colby, Brent. An Account of Wesleyan Sanctification. Olympia, WA: Amazon, 2012. 3
  • Colby, Brent, et al. Fusion: Children’s Ministry Book One: Theology, Leadership, Environment. 1st ed. Snoqualmie, WA: Northwest Ministry Network, 2017.
  • Colby, Brent, et al. Fusion: Children’s Ministry Book Two: Family, Science, Strategy. Snoqualmie, WA: Northwest Ministry Network, 2017.
  • Colby, Brent, et al. Fusion: Children’s Ministry Book Three: Culture, Perspectives, Pastoral Ministry. 1st ed. Snoqualmie, WA: Northwest Ministry Network, 2017.

Research and Teaching Interests

Church Health; Pastoral Development; Organizational Leadership; Christian Formation; Children and Family Ministry; Practical Theology; Faith Integration in Higher Education.

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