Dr. Ott’s particular fields of expertise include theology of mission, contextualization, church planting, and teaching across cultures. He previously served twenty-one years in Germany with ReachGlobal (formerly the EFCA International Mission).
He has planted churches in Schaumburg, Illinois, and in Munich, Ingolstadt, Neumarkt, and Markt Indersdorf, Germany. From 1995 to 2002 Dr. Ott served as Central Europe Church Planting Consultant for ReachGlobal, and from 1998 to 2002 he taught at the Akademie für Weltmission in Korntal, Germany, where he continues to teach regularly as an adjunct professor.
He also served from 1994-2020 as adjunct faculty at Theologische Hochschule Ewersbach (Germany). He has taught or consulted national and mission leaders in forty different countries.
Dr. Ott and his wife Alice live in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and have three grown sons.
Education
BA, California State University, Long Beach
MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Affiliations & Achievements
Three of Dr. Ott’s books have been voted by International Bulletin of Mission Research as among the top ten or fifteen most significant mission books in their publication year.
Two of his articles are among the top ten most read articles in the journal Missiology.
American Society of Missiology
Evangelical Missiological Society
Midwest Mission Studies Fellowship
Publications
Teaching and Learning across Cultures: A Guide to Theory and Practice (Baker Academic 2021)
The Church on Mission: A Biblical Vision for Transformation among All People (Baker Academic 2019)
Against the Tide: Mission amidst the Global Currents of Secularization (William Carey 2019), coeditor
The Mission of the Church: Five Views in Conversation (Baker Academic 2016), editor
Missionary Methods: Research, Reflections, and Realities (William Carey 2013), coeditor
Global Church Planting (Baker Academic 2011), coauthor
Encountering Theology of Mission (Baker Academic 2010), coauthor
Globalizing Theology (Baker Academic 2006), coeditor