I was a High School Social Studies teacher who felt called to full-time vocational ministry as a pastor. I was deeply involved as a lay leader in my church but did not have any theologically solid seminaries nearby. I felt a strong calling to pastoral ministry but did not know how I was going to be able to pursue it. RTS Global was a great way for me to begin my degree without totally uprooting my family, quitting my job and stepping away from the local church in which I was serving.
I knew that attending RTS was the right decision when I took Introduction to Pastoral and Theological Studies as an intensive course with Dr. James Anderson at RTS Washington. Things really started to click for me as I interacted with other students and Dr. Anderson in and outside of class. My church in Virginia kept me on staff and salaried while I moved my family to Charlotte for a year and a half of seminary study. Their support was amazing.
While at RTS Charlotte, I met another student who I felt would make a great partner in ministry. When a position opened up at my church, I encouraged him to apply and he has now come and joined me as our pastor of families and college ministry. I’m really thankful for how the Lord connected us at RTS.
Before enrolling at RTS, I was broadly evangelical with a reformed bent in my soteriology, but I did not know much about the Reformed tradition. I believe that I now have a more solid understanding of God’s Word and a healthier and more consistent framework to help me interpret God’s Word and apply it to the men and women that God has entrusted to my care.