Director of Global Theological Education | Adjunct Professor of Bible and Religion
B.S., Erskine College; M.A.T.S., Erskine Theological Seminary; M.Th., Union School of Theology (Wales); D.Min., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Profile
Dr. Martha Margaret Cotten has served as Director of Global Theological Education at Erskine Theological Seminary since 2023. She also serves as an adjunct professor in the Bible and Religion Department at Erskine College. She and her husband are missionaries with World Witness Missions Agency of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. They work with Erskine and World Witness to provide theological education to those in the Majority World with limited financial or geographical access, traveling to the different student cohort sites. Erskine currently has cohorts in three countries: Rwanda, Pakistan, and Mexico.
Projects and Research
Cotten completed her D.Min. dissertation in Rwanda, studying Rwandan adult students’ experience of whole-person formation in the Erskine Western-led curriculum. Outside of working with international students in theological education, she is interested in and has researched the history of Reformed worship, specifically the Westminster Assembly Scottish commissioners’ use of the term adiaphora.
Personal Interest
For the first 20 years of her adult life, Cotten taught ballet, modern, and tap to children and adults and was a member of the Kinetic Works Dance Company of Charlotte, N.C. When she decided to swap the ballet barre for a Bible commentary, she began her journey in theological education that eventually led her back to Erskine. She still enjoys going to dance class whenever possible. Now, Cotten spends her free time watching Coen brothers’ movies and murder mystery TV shows. Her favorite activity is hanging out with her husband of 30 years, her children, and four grandchildren.
Awards and Publications
Newspaper article in Evangelicals Now (UK) titled: “Don’t Hide,” April 2022
Magazine article in Reformation Fellowship Magazine titled: “Sweet Covenant Blessings,” Nov. 2023
Zondervan Award in Theology given by Erskine Seminary
Phoebe Scholarship awarded by Union School of Theology
Voting member of the Evangelical Theological Society
