Societas Pauli

Sanctus sponsors the societas Pauli, or "the fellowship of Paul," a network of multi-lingual, ecumenical and international Europeans who, in the footsteps of Paul, seek a culture of individual spiritual development in the European churches because they have some knowledge and experience of how to get there.

The socii (Latin for "fellows") are theologians, experienced lay people, priests, professors, writers, leaders of non-profits, elders and, most generally, friends of Jesus. While volunteers with Sanctus, each socius (Latin for "fellow") has a unique ministry in his or her own context with which you, if you're interested, can connect.

 

Michael Stewart Robb

Sanctus Founder, Christian Educator, Theologian

BA, Christian Education & Ministry (Wheaton)
MTh, Systematic Theology (Uni. Aberdeen)
PhD, Divinity (Uni. Aberdeen)


Michael's longstanding interest in how churches educate and edify their members in theology and spirituality began in 1999 and has guided his work ever since. To this end, he has always pursued the best education possible in the interest of giving it away to others. In 2012 he began researching the thought of American philosopher and spiritual writer Dallas Willard and in 2022 he published a BIG book on Willard’s theology titled The Kingdom Among Us (Fortress Press) .

Since 2004, he has lived in Europe and worked with a variety of churches (German Evangelical Free, Church of Scotland, German Lutheran and Vineyard DACH). He currently lives in the inner city of Munich, Germany with his wife and two children. His current writing project is on “urban spirituality,” or living well with God in the city.

Languages: English, German, (Lousy) French

 

James Catford

Global Consultant, Executive Coach

BA, Politics (Uni. Wales)
BA, Political Theology (Uni. Bristol)


Former Chief Executive of Bible Society in the UK, James was previously director of HodderHeadline and HarperCollins in London.

Chair of Renovaré Britain & Ireland and the Apprentice Institute at Friends' University USA. Vice-Chair SPCK and Amity Printing Company, China. Board member African Enterprise International, Kenya, and the Martin Institute at Westmont College USA.

Faculty member of the Renovaré Institute US. Contributor to The Church of England Newspaper, Christianity magazine and the journal Preach. Founder of the think tank Theos with a special interest in contemporary culture and faith in the public square.

Languages: English

 

Joanna Williamson

Christian Educator, Non-Profit Director

BA, Biblical Studies (Cliff College uK)
BA, Christian Education (Methodist Sem. Poland)
MA, Applied Theology (TCMI Institute Austria)
MA, Theology and Politics (King's London)
DMin, Global Leadership (Asbury Sem. USA)


Asia is originally from Poland. She is passionate about people development and has been training leaders around the world for the last two decades. Her main subject area has always been spiritual formation and global mission.

She is an eager student of biblical theology and history and has written two biographies, one on Hudson Taylor and the other on Amy Carmichael, both of whom she considers her greatest mentors. She lectures on Apologetics at a Westminster Theological Centre in the UK and is a Methodist Local Preacher.

She is married to Mark and together they lead a young adult congregation in central London.

Languages: Polish, English, Brazilian Portuguese and, sometimes, Spanish

 

Ville Kavilo

Pastor, Photographer, Entrepreneur

teol.mag., Theology (Åbo Akademi, Finland)


An ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Ville is a pastor in the Kronoby municipality in Ostrobothnia. While a theology student at Åbo Akademi University, Ville tested many formational practices while living an intentional Christian community (“Palace of Humility”) and while co-pastoring a church in the Evangelical Free Church of Finland. His master’s dissertation was on Dallas Willard & the Formation of the Body by Love. 

Ville has traveled widely and discovered how longer journeys (e.g. Canada, Namibia) could be formative for the spiritual life. In 2014-2015, he and his wife took a sabbatical year in the form of a global pilgrimage. He has an ongoing interest in “Transformational Travel.” 

He is a graduate of the Renovaré Institute (Santa Barbara Cohort) and has a vocation qualification in entrepreneurship. In addition to working as a parish priest, he works as a photographer (Kavilo Photography), brewer (Kalakka Brewery) and business coach (Grow Business Coaching). He is the creator of the photography magazine WNDRNGS, focusing on pilgrimage and aphoristic art.

Languages: Swedish, Finnish, English

 

Jimmy Österbacka

Pastor, Teacher, Researcher

Teol.mag., Theology (Åbo Akademi, Finland)


Jimmy is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and working as a pastor in the congregation of Pedersöre in Ostrobothnia. His work has currently a lot to do with different constellations of youth-groups. He studied theology, philosophy and pedagogy at Åbo Akademi University and his master’s dissertation explored possible connections Martin Luther’s and Dallas Willard’s views on spiritual formation. He is also a board member in The Swedish Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland (SLEAF), a Swedish-speaking mission organisation in Finland. Jimmy is also a doctoral student in the subject of practical theology at Åbo Akademi, working on his doctoral thesis on the Swedish pastor and writer Peter Halldorf and the spirituality and practices of the ecumenical community at Bjärka-Säby in Linköping, Sweden. He is an eager reader and is interested in crafting art, fiction and poetry. Enjoys conversing about and explore what it means to live a good life with God in Christ.

Languages: Swedish, English

Bas van der Graaf

Pastor, Coach and Spiritual Director

MA, Theology and Ministry (Uni. Utrecht)


Bas serves for 70% of his time as a minister in a protestant church (PKN, Protestant Church in the Netherlands) in Huizen, a village between Amsterdam and Utrecht. Before this he served as a pastor and then as coach for church planters in Amsterdam (2006-2021). With the other 30% of his time, he works as a coach and spiritual director in his own company called Egeiro.

He is very active in the field of spiritual formation and discipleship. He discovered the work of Dallas Willard in his Amsterdam years and tries to promote and apply much of his thinking in the Dutch context.

In line with this he recently started a website “Life Lessons of Jesus” as a platform for publishing study materials, sermons and blogs on the Sermon on the Mount and other life lessons of Jesus, hoping to reach a broader audience.

Languages: Dutch, English, German, French (best in reading and listening, stumbling in speaking)

Kristijan Kalinov

Pastor, Activist


Kristijan Kalinov is a lead pastor of 24-7 Prayer community - Evangelical Protestant Church Glasnost (E.P.C. Glasnost) for the last 5 years in Skopje, North Macedonia, where he lives with his wife Cassie-Sioux and 3 children. He is also leading a charity that works with homeless people in the city of Skopje.

As a pastor and an activist the driving question for him is “How do people change?”
The answers of this question provided in the bible and the rich tradition of the Church, fuel the work that he and his collaborators are involved in.

Kristijan also serves on the boards of YoungLife Macedonia and IFES Macedonia.

Languages: Macedonian, Serbian and English


You?

A Vital Ministry

A Relevant Education


You are a person with a serious interest in the well-being of Europe's churches. Your education and experience in life to this point mean that you have something to give to others. What's more, you speak one or more European languages (other than English) and have solid relationships in European churches. Most importantly, you are someone one who seeks God and Christ-empowered spirituality.

Languages: European ones other than English