Anna Rask Emison is a Biblical Studies alum of the University of Northwestern. She has been teaching Old and New Testament courses at Northwestern since 2017. Anna is currently working on her Ph.D. in Old Testament Theology via distance education at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland; her advisor is Dr. T. Desmond Alexander.

While on a summer study trip to Jerusalem University College in Israel in 2011, as a UNW student, Anna felt called to pursue graduate work and confirmed her love for studying the Bible; she brings this passion to the classroom.

Her areas of interest include the Old Testament, especially the Pentateuch and Daniel. Anna’s newest work, Daniel: A Workbook, was published in 2019. This is an interactive workbook that accompanies the required Bible commentary for Northwestern’s exposition of Daniel course. It features comments and responses from University of Northwestern students.

Specialty Areas

• Pentateuch (Exodus and Numbers)
• Daniel
• Biblical Hebrew

Professional Accomplishments

Publications

Books

• Daniel: A Workbook. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2019.
• Contributor and co-editor with Ardel Caneday and Greg Rosauer. For it Stands in Scripture: Essays in Honor of W. Edward Glenny. Saint Paul: University of Northwestern, Berntsen Library, 2019.
• Contributor and co-editor. Multiply, a discipleship training manual for Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, MN, 2017.

Book Chapter

• “The Nature of Israel’s Rebellion in Amos 4:4—5.” In For it Stands in Scripture: Essays in Honor of W. Edward Glenny. Edited by Ardel Caneday with Anna Rask and Greg Rosauer. Saint Paul: University of Northwestern, Berntsen Library, 2019.

Book Summaries

• Summary of John Goldingay, Daniel. Rev. WBC 30. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2019. For booksatglance.com.
• Summary of John A Beck, The Baker Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Timelines. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2016. For booksataglance.com.
• Summary of Victor H. Matthews, The Cultural World of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015. For booksataglance.com.
• Summary of Tremper Longman III, Old Testament Essentials. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014. For booksataglance.com.

Presentations

Academic Presentations

• “In the Vast and Dreadful Wilderness: God’s Testing of Israel.” Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, Texas: November 14-16, 2023.
• “In the Vast and Dreadful Wilderness: God’s Testing of Israel.” Tyndale Fellowship Annual Conference, Hoddesdon, England, July 5-7, 2023.
• “Israel’s Experience in the Vast and Dreadful Wilderness.” University of Northwestern Scholarship Symposium, May 2023.
• “A Comparative Analysis of the Wilderness Complaint Stories in light of the Uniqueness of Numbers 20:1—13.” Evangelical Theological Society National Conference, Fort Worth, TX, November 2021.
• “A Comparative Analysis of the Wilderness Complaint Stories in Light of the Uniqueness of Numbers 20:1-13.” University of Northwestern Scholarship Symposium, May 2021.
• “A Comparative Analysis of the Wilderness Complaint Stories in Light of the Uniqueness of Numbers 20:1-13.” Upper Midwest Region SBL Conference, Spring 2021.
• “Amos 4:4-5 and the Nature of Israel’s Rebellion.” Upper Midwest Region SBL Conference, Spring 2019.
• “Amos 4:4-5 and the Nature of Israel’s Rebellion.” University of Northwestern Scholarship Symposium, Spring 2019.

Public Presentations

• SetApart Virtual Conference: “Testing, Training, and Complaining in the Wilderness,” University of Northwestern – St. Paul, April 2023.
• SetApart Conference: “Equipped for His Calling,” University of Northwestern – St. Paul, March 4-5, 2022.
• Midweek Bible Study: “Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph,” Wooddale Church, October 5, 12, 19, 2021.
• “Family Matters Q&A Panel,” Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie, July 4, 2021.
• “The Expansion of the World Christian Movement,” Wooddale Church, Eden Prairie, October 25, 2019.

Media

• Faith Radio, Reading the Bible Together: Unexpected: Five Women in the Lineage of Jesus Podcast and Study Guide (October-November 2023).
• Faith Radio, Red Letter Word Series: Women Jesus Encountered (November 16, 2022).
• Faith Radio, Old Testament Characters Series: Daniel (September 29, 2021) and Jonah (January 5, 2022).
• Faith Radio, Reading the Bible Together: Daniel Podcasts and Study Guide (September 2021).

Timothy Sawyer enjoys an active and varied career as a conductor, educator, clinician, and professional singer. Since 1989, Sawyer has been a member of the music faculty at University of Northwestern – St. Paul (unwsp.edu/music) where he is director of choral activities, conducts both the Men’s Chorus and the critically-acclaimed Northwestern Choir, teaches conducting, and serves as artistic director of Christmas at Northwestern, an annual event attended by 4,000 people. With its motto, “Choral music direct from the heart,” and a distinctive mission that integrates excellence in concertizing, outreach, and cross-cultural ministry, the Northwestern Choir has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and throughout western, central and eastern Europe, including Ukraine, where it was the first American university choir invited to perform in Kiev’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

With formal musical training at Bethel University (St. Paul, Minnesota), Exeter University (England), University of Minnesota, and doctoral-level study at University of Iowa, Sawyer has also completed advanced conducting studies with Helmuth Rilling, the late Margaret Hillis, Vance George, Gregg Smith, Sweden’s Eric Ericson, and Robert Berglund, among others. In addition to extensive experience as a tenor soloist throughout the United States, as a professional chorister, he is a veteran of several professional choirs, among them the Dale Warland Singers, the Ensemble Singers of VocalEssence of Minnesota, South Dakota Chorale, Omaha’s SDG Cantorum, Montana Chorale, the Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorale, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, with which he shared in a collective GRAMMY Award in 2000 for the recording of Kryzysztof Penderecki’s Credo, and the GRAMMY-nominated South Dakota Chorale, winner of the American Prize in Choral Performance—professional choir devision.

From 1997 to 2004, Sawyer served as assistant artistic director of the Minnesota Chorale, principal symphonic chorus of the Minnesota Orchestra, and frequent collaborator with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Since 2004, he has led the Two Rivers Chorale (www.tworiverschorale.org), a Minneapolis/St. Paul-based civic choir. An enthusiastic and gifted teacher of conducting, “the well-known conductor and much admired teacher” Sawyer has been on the artistic faculty for conducting master classes at University of Minnesota, Toronto and Oregon Bach Festivals, and throughout Ukraine. He holds an ongoing position as a conductor with the Byzantine Choral Festival in Minneapolis. He is a board member and adjunct faculty member with Music in World Cultures (www.miwc.org), a faith-based organization which uses music to break down barriers and build bridges to establish cross-cultural relationships throughout eastern Europe. In recent years, Sawyer has led numerous choral festivals throughout the United States, and internationally in Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Asia. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Heidi, and daughters, Erika & Emily.