Jacob Hotchkiss didn't come in with a clear answer.
That's not a knock. That's the most honest thing on his application. He's a pastor in Springfield, MO — leading a network of house churches with no denomination behind them, no badge to wear, no inherited framework doing the heavy lifting. What they have is each other and the text. Which is more than most buildings offer.
He came out of the Methodist tradition. Left it. Not bitterly — thoughtfully. Believer's baptism over infant baptism. Faith as the means to spiritual growth, not the means of grace as the mechanism — a subtle distinction that he'll tell you is life-changing for anyone who actually tracks the difference. He's right about that. Romans 5:2 says exactly what he says it says.
His signature thesis is union with Christ, and he's serious about it in the way most people aren't. 1 Corinthians 6:17. One spirit with Him. Not a positional statement you file away. The foundation. He wrote an entire book on what it means that the believer's heart is already rid of evil desires — that the ongoing struggle belongs to the flesh, not the renewed lev (לֵב). That's not Wesleyan perfectionism. That's actually closer to what Sha'ul was doing in Romans 7 than most commentators want to admit.
He's stronger on the Brit Chadashah than the Tanakh. He'll tell you that himself. But he's been in nephesh territory — chapter 9 of his book shows you how he handles original language when he decides to go there. Careful. Serious. Not reckless.
On Torah, he wrote that it's written on our hearts now, that we're "no longer under it." That framing will create conversation at this table. Good. He's not afraid of the conversation — he said as much directly. He's not here to agree with everything Sergio's built here, and he's not pretending otherwise. That kind of honesty earns a seat faster than any fully aligned application ever could.
Jacob joins The Scholar's Table as both an Aligned Contributor and a Friendly Opposition voice. That's a rare combination. The b'chavruta (בְּחַבְרוּתָא, "study in partnership") model is built on exactly this tension — two people who share the same text arriving at different places, then sitting together until the text clarifies which of them missed something. Sometimes both.
His platform is at newsletter.jacobhotchkiss.com. His book is free there and take a look at his website https://jacobhotchkiss.com/
Welcome, Jacob. The table's set.
Shalom v'shalvah — your brother in the Way,
Sergio
