Wilbert van Saane, M.Th.
Rev. Wilbert van Saane
Campus Minister
Office: SC203
Tel. ext.: 312
Wilbert.Vansaane@haigazian.edu.lb
BIO
Wilbert van Saane studied theology at Utrecht University and at the seminary of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. He received his doctorandus (M.Th.) degree in 2001 and was ordained as a pastor in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Between 2002 and 2008 he served as the pastor of the International Community Church in Beirut. Between 2006 and 2008 he was also a part time instructor in practical theology at the Near East School of Theology.
In 2008, he returned to the Netherlands to work for the Netherlands Missionary Council, an ecumenical networking and research organization. Part of his duties there was to be the chief editor of TussenRuimte, a journal for intercultural theology. In addition to that, he was the coordinator of Member Care Netherlands, an organization that supports Dutch missionaries in practical and pastoral ways. Since 2009, he served as a part time instructor at Bible College ‘De Wittenberg’ in contextual and intercultural Bible reading. In September 2014, he returned to Beirut to work at Haigazian University.
Rev. Wilbert is presently working on a dissertation on international partnerships between churches, to be submitted to the Utrecht University. He is married to Rima Nasrallah; they have two children.
TEACHING INTERESTS
As Campus Minister Rev. Wilbert leads the spiritual life activities at Haigazian University: weekly chapels, study groups, book reviews, counseling, religiously oriented field trips and retreats. He also chairs the financial aid committee. Each semester he teaches one course, usually on the Old and New Testaments.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
In his research, Rev. Wilbert has focused on 20th century church, ecumenical and mission history; the contextual reading of the Bible; the encounter between Christianity and Islam.
PUBLICATIONS
Over the past years, Rev. Wilbert has published in several Dutch theological journals on mission, Christian-Muslim relations and contextual Bible reading. In cooperation with two other authors, he has published a book on intercultural Bible reading under the title See You in the Bible.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Doctorandus in Theology (M.Th.) – Utrecht University
