Joel D. Heck (born 1 October 1948) is a retired pastor and professor, formerly Executive Editor of Concordia University Press. He is the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of sixteen books, most recently publishing ''No Ordinary People: Twenty-One Friendships of C. S. Lewis''. He currently serves as Interim President of

Concordia Lutheran Seminary Concordia Lutheran Seminary (CLS) is a Lutheran seminary situated on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta, Canada. The seminary is located near the campus of Concordia University of Edmonto ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta, Canada.

Biography

Early life

Joel D. Heck was born in

Seward, Nebraska Seward is a city and county seat of Seward County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,964 at the 2010 census. Seward is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is known for its large Fourth of July (Independ ...

, and raised in a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

's family in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. His father, Donald E. Heck (1916–1991), was a pastor of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

(LCMS) who served congregations in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The elder Heck and his wife Lucille (1915–2004) raised five children, with Joel the oldest son and third child overall (siblings Barbara, Doris, Christine, and Thomas). Donald Heck was especially known for his translations of

C. F. W. Walther Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (October 25, 1811 – May 7, 1887) was a German-American Lutheran minister. He was the first president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and its most influential theologian. He is commemorated by that ...

's sermons from the German, published by Concordia Publishing House in two volumes, and for his bulletin insert service.

Career and family

Heck holds the A.A. from Concordia University Wisconsin, the B.A. from

Concordia Senior College Concordia Senior College was a liberal arts college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). It was founded in 1957 and closed in 1977. The senior college was a new type of institution for th ...

, the M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Th.M. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in

Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Boo ...

(where he studied under Gleason Archer and Walter Kaiser), and the Th.D. in Exegetical Theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (Horace Hummel, advisor). He spent his seminary vicarage year serving under Rev. Walter Martin at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bogota, New Jersey. He served as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church,

Valley Park, Missouri Valley Park is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,885 at the 2020 census. History Descendants of the Mississippian culture still had a settlement along the Meramec River in the mid-18th century, until the N ...

, from 1975 to 1984, chairing the LCMS's Missouri District Board of Evangelism for much of that time. He then served as a theology professor at Concordia University Wisconsin from 1984 to 1998, and as chief academic officer and then full-time theology professor at

Concordia University Texas Concordia University Texas is a private university in Austin, Texas. The university offers undergraduate, Graduate school, graduate, and online degrees as well as an adult degree program for part-time and returning students. Concordia Universi ...

from 1998 to 2022. For the 2022-2023 year he served as Assisting Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. During his sabbatical in Oxford, England, in 2004, he worked with

Walter Hooper Walter McGehee Hooper (March 27, 1931December 7, 2020) was an American writer and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. He was a literary trustee for Owen Barfield from December 1997 to October 2006. Life Hooper was born in Reidsville, No ...

on Volume III of ''Collected Letters'', the third and last volume of the letters of

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

, by transcribing letters written by Lewis, convincing Walter Hooper to include the Great War letters, and doing bibliographical work on the book. A second sabbatical in 2012, this time in Cambridge, England, allowed him to do more work on Lewis, especially Lewis's essay "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism" and Lewis's service on the Council of Westcott House, while staying at Westfield House, a theological college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England. During the decade between 1987 and 1997, Heck edited a quarterly periodical called ''Evangelism'', devoted to encouraging and equipping Christian people for outreach. Besides authoring or editing fifteen books, he has written numerous articles, book reviews, and essays, most notably on topics related to C. S. Lewis. He has donated the Joel D. Heck Collection at the Marion E. Wade Center,

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

. This is a collection of letters related to Lewis and originally written to Heck about the experiences of former students of Lewis and their impressions of Lewis as a teacher. Heck has researched events in the life of C. S. Lewis, catalogued day by day and year by year throughout Lewis' life, an extensive database of more than 700,000 words and more than 1,300 pages of biographical information called "Chronologically Lewis" that is available on his website. This database has led to the publication of a C. S. Lewis calendar through Concordia University Press, several articles, and at least three books. The research also contains the military record of Lewis' brother, Warren Lewis. Heck and his wife Cheryl have three adult children and have a home in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. They currently live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Honors

*Winner of the Faculty Laureate award at Concordia University Wisconsin, 1994. *Alumnus of the Year, Concordia University Wisconsin, 1998. *Recipient of a Marion E. Wade research award for the research done that led to ''Irrigating Deserts: C. S. Lewis on Education'' (2005). *Voted as the Faculty Member of the Year by the athletic teams of Concordia University Texas for the school year 2008-2009 and again for the school year 2010-2011. *Recipient of the first faculty scholarship award from

, 2015.

Writings

In addition to articles published in ''The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society'', ''The Journal of Biblical Literature'', and ''

Bibliotheca Sacra ''Bibliotheca Sacra'' (colloquially referred to as "BibSac") is a List of theological journals, theological journal published by Dallas Theological Seminary, first published in 1844 and the oldest theological journal in the United States. It was f ...

'', Heck has written many book reviews and more than forty articles for ''CSL: The Journal of the New York C.S. Lewis Society'',For example, "JBS: The Life and Work of J.B.S. Haldane, Intersections with C. S. Lewis." ''CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C. S. Lewis Society'', Nov/Dec 2007. ''Sehnsucht'', ''The Lamp-Post'', and ''The Chronicle of the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society''. *''Make Disciples: Evangelism Programs of the Eighties'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 1984). *''New Member Assimilation'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 1988). *''The Art of Sharing Your Faith'' ( Revell, 1991). *''All of the Above: Your Choice to Collegiate Success'', editor (Concordia University Press, 1992). *''264 Great Outreach Ideas'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 2001). *''Evangelism and the Christian College'', editor and author (''Evangelism'', 1994). *''From Guest to Disciple'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 2001). *''Irrigating Deserts: C. S. Lewis on Education'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 2005). *'' The Personal Heresy: A Controversy'', editor (authored by

and

E. M. W. Tillyard Eustace Mandeville Wetenhall Tillyard (19 May 1889 – 24 May 1962) was an English classical and literary scholar who was Master of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1945 to 1959. Biography Tillyard was born in Cambridge. His father Alfred Isaa ...

, Concordia University Press, 2008). *''History & Literature of the Old Testament'' (

Kendall Hunt Kendall Hunt is an independent educational publishing house founded in 1944 as William C. Brown Publishing. The company is based in Dubuque, Iowa, and is still owned by the Brown family. History In 1944, William C. Brown acquired the rights t ...

, 2010). *''Learning at the Foot of the Cross: A Christian Vision for Education'' (Concordia University Press, 2011). *''In the Beginning, God: Creation from God's Perspective'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 2011). *''Socratic Digest'' (Concordia University Press, 2012, available only at www.Lulu.com). *''From Atheism to Christianity: The Story of C. S. Lewis'' ( Concordia Publishing House, 2017). *''No Ordinary People: Twenty-One Friendships of C. S. Lewis'' (Winged Lion Press, 2021). *''The Lion That Roared'' (published with co-author Brenda Nauss at Lulu.com, 2023). He also has written several devotional booklets (two for Advent and one for Lent) based on the writings of C. S. Lewis (2009: "A Grand Miracle," 2016: "Peace, Hope, Light," and 2015: "Mercy, Passion, & Joy") from Creative Communications for the Parish. These booklets collectively have sold nearly a half-million copies.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heck, Joel D. Living people American Lutheran theologians Trinity International University alumni Concordia University Wisconsin alumni Concordia Theological Seminary alumni Concordia University Texas 1948 births People from Seward, Nebraska People from Ozaukee County, Wisconsin People from Austin, Texas Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people Concordia Seminary alumni