I currently serve as the Lead Minister at the University Church of Christ in Abilene, TX. My wife, Rebecca, and I have one son, Benjamin, who just turned 16 months old. Every other word he says is “Mama,” which God is using to deflate my ego on a daily basis.

M.Div. Ultimately, God’s call. I knew that the Lord had called me to ministry, but I knew that in order to answer that call I needed to be both formed and equipped. Having encountered several GST professors while pursuing my undergraduate degree at ACU, I knew that there would be no better place to seek that formation than the GST.

UCC is a vibrant, loving, and longstanding congregation across the street from ACU, nearly on campus. I began working as an intern here while still pursuing my M.Div. Upon graduation, I was hired as the Associate Minister, and then transitioned into the Lead Minister role in August 2019.

Seeing the Spirit’s activity in the seemingly most insignificant things. Learning that here are no small things that happen in the Church. Every handshake given, every prayer offered, every casserole cooked out of the love of Christ is part and parcel to God’s eternal plan to reconcile the world to himself.

I suppose the most challenging piece has been coming to terms with my own insufficiency. I suppose I knew this prior to entering full-time ministry, but I soon discovered that there’s a difference between knowing it and experiencing it on a daily basis. Ministry has brought home in powerful ways the reality that I, in myself, have nothing to give. However, it has also rooted me in the knowledge the Lord has given us his Word, and that Word does not come back empty. In other words, the challenge has been learning to trust that Word, a trust which I pray for daily.

It’s difficult to answer this question because it has informed my work in every way. If I were to summarize the benefit of theological education in one sentence: it has opened my eyes the depths of riches of the Christian tradition. We do not need to be mavericks, nor do we need to make it up as we go. Rather, there is nearly 2,000 years worth of resources that Spirit has bequeathed to us as guiding lights, and in that I take great comfort. Without theological education, I would neither have been introduced to those resources, nor would I have the ability to navigate them.

Do it. The resources, tools, and wisdom you will receive in theological education will be nothing but a blessing to you and your congregation.