(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The Rev. Mike Osborne has been appointed Dean of Students and Director of Field Education and Placement at RTS Orlando. His duties begin on March 1, 2019.
As Dean of Students, Osborne will serve as a pastor to future pastors and a counselor to future counselors. Most recently, he has served on the pastoral staff of University Presbyterian Church in Orlando. After serving as senior pastor of UPC for five years, he transitioned to pass leadership to the younger generation. “In what our congregation still calls, ‘The bold move,’ Mike Osborne proposed a plan in which he would transition from Senior Pastor to Associate Pastor and I would transition from Associate Pastor to Senior Pastor,” says the Rev. Matt Ryman (RTSO ’09). “Mike saw it as an opportunity to help a young, inexperienced, leader assume a lead position supported by someone with the guidance, wisdom, and love, only a seasoned Senior Pastor could provide. For the past six years Mike has been a mentor, a friend, and the best Associate Pastor a young leader could have. He truly knows how to empower leaders to thrive,” continued Ryman.
In his new role, Osborne will also work to ensure that students benefit maximally from their field education placements during their studies. He will equip them to find and prepare for an optimal placement upon graduation. In this regard, he will serve as a needed liaison with area pastors and churches. President Scott Swain said, “I am very thankful that the Lord has brought one of my former pastors, Mike Osborne, to RTS Orlando. From the moment new students arrive on campus until they are placed in the churches and ministries where the Lord will call them to serve, Mike’s job will be to come alongside students, to care for them, and to assist them as they seek to discern their gifts and callings. I believe Mike’s presence will further strengthen the residential learning experience of students at RTS Orlando and more fully prepare them for gospel ministry.”
About Mike Osborne
Osborne is a graduate of Furman University and Covenant Theological Seminary. He has pastored Presbyterian churches in Missouri, South Carolina, and Central Florida. He has contributed in the RTS classroom already by offering courses in preaching and in practical theology. When asked about the years ahead, Osborne writes, “I am excited about the opportunity to bring my 32+ years of pastoral experience to the RTS Orlando community, to foster the spiritual formation and pastoral-theological development of a new generation of pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. I have fond memories of my seminary years because I had an older mentor who cared deeply for my personal development and that of my wife. I hope to return the favor for the students of RTS.”
He and his wife, Suzy, have four children and eleven grandchildren.
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