I’ve been on staff at a local multi-site church in Portland for seven years, leading music and college ministry. Throughout my education, it was extremely valuable to have an immediate, real-life context in which to practice what I learned, and learn as I practiced. We are currently in the beginning phases of planting our third campus, and stepping into this new context, I am still getting to practice what I learned, and learn as I practice.
My training at Western gave me frameworks for ministry (both theologically and pragmatically) that impact my ministry every day. From the lunch discipleship meeting with a couple of students, to keeping ants out of the kitchen, to strategizing the content and delivery of our Sunday gatherings, to preaching through Romans, Western’s influence affects every area of my ministry. Granted, there are things that you just can’t learn in 82 credit hours in seminary, but by and large, my degree offered fundamental principles and a template for personal learning that affect my ministry daily.
I love that Western Seminary cares primarily about the gospel’s impact on the heart. While academic and instructive for the brain, the current of Western’s influence is directed at the heart. Nearly every class caused me to love God and people more deeply, and penetrated the recesses of my own heart with good news. In every context—the classroom, contact with professors, or coursework—the gospel, raw and unleashed, was preeminent.
Explore your options in transformative training at Western Seminary:
Western Seminary is an accredited graduate school founded in 1927. It offers trustworthy and accessible training for gospel-centered transformation at both the graduate credit and personal enrichment levels for those currently serving, or aspiring to serve, in key ministry leadership roles. The Western system consists of four campuses (Portland, OR; San Jose and Sacramento, CA; and Online) and a teaching site (Seattle, WA) that together serve approximately 950 credit students annually.
