Roger is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) and has pastored four congregations in diverse contexts. He has also served as the interim senior pastor at Hyde Park UMC in Tampa, Florida. He’s passionate about communicating the gospel in ways that bring the scriptures alive for people navigating the challenging intersection of faith and life in our contemporary, ever-changing culture. Scholtz believes that the building of radically inclusive, richly diverse missional communities of reconciliation and hope is a key need for our time. Christ-centered servant leadership, solidarity with the poor, empowering the voiceless, celebrating  diversity, non-judgmentalism, compassion for the earth, creative storytelling, laughter and authentic worship are essential values for realizing this vision to which he is deeply committed. Roger has a PhD in Biblical Studies, and serves on the faculty as an adjunct at the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He is an advocate for the full inclusion of LGBTIQA people within the church, and has been at the forefront of the MCSA’s doctrinal engagement with the LGBTIQA conversation for the past fourteen years.