Where are they now?

How does a degree from Elim’s Regents Theological College prepare you for ministry, and what do students go on to do after their studies? We put these questions to some of last year’s graduates

“At Regents we are committed to preparing women and men for effective ministry in the Elim movement, the wider church, and the world beyond,” said Regents Principal Dave Newton at the college’s graduation ceremony last autumn.

“We firmly believe we are all called to be kingdom builders wherever God places us; and at Regents we get to play a small part in equipping people to that end.” So what have some of the 2022 graduates gone on to do since graduating?

I changed my mind a few times about what I wanted to do as a job but this degree helped me discover the wonder of theology, my heart for serving and the joy of working alongside young people and children.

Spiritually, it brought me closer to God and strengthened my faith. Mentally, it helped me understand more of who God is and how to apply what I read in the Bible. It also helped me discover the desperate need for youth ministry and how to disciple young people. Physically, it helped me learn my own limitations and how to put a routine in place so I remain healthy in what could easily be an emotionally and physically draining job.

The church I work for didn’t have a youth ministry when I started, so it was my responsibility to launch one. We created a small youth group which we have seen grow into a community that loves, supports and welcomes one another.

There are good days and bad days, but nothing can take away from the joy I get from seeing these young people grow in maturity, understanding and faith.

I didn’t begin my degree looking to go into ministry, and certainly not in a Reformed Church, but it shaped me and through my studies the Lord led me towards a reformed understanding of the faith and gave me the willingness to pursue ministry.

My degree nurtured a love for God’s Word while informing my knowledge of it. Now, whether it be preaching, teaching, pastoral care or whatever else church life brings up, my foundation is the Word of God.

Regents was where my handling and understanding of that Word matured and was shaped. I now have the pleasure and great task of being an under-shepherd of Jesus Christ and am looking to move on to be a lead pastor of a church.

My degree showed me my passion and heart was for the church and building the kingdom of God

When I started my degree I planned to leave as a teacher. Having a long line of pastors in my family and seeing the stresses upon their lives, I was reluctant to follow God’s calling into a similar role.

My degree showed me my passion and heart was for the church and building the kingdom of God. It made me realise how much I enjoy pastoring people and enabling them to be the best versions of themselves.

My studies allowed me to learn valuable leadership skills and get a better understanding of what I believe and why. It helped me to deepen my spirituality by focusing on my heart, strengthen my theology by stretching my head and equip my practice by releasing and enabling my hands. The opportunities to study theology and apply it to real-life situations has benefited me greatly.

My favourite thing about my job now is being able to be present. Hospital can be such a lonely place and being there for people in genuine life or death moments is vitally important. I also work closely with Teenage Cancer Trust and the opportunity to do relational youth work for young people confined to hospital beds has been the best part of the job.

To meet young people in their culture and within the context of the hospital has made me extraordinarily grateful that I took the Regents’ first year module ‘Culture and Context’. It enabled me to change my approach from doing youth work within a church to doing it within a hospital.

I never knew what I wanted to do, except tell people about Jesus. But at Regents and on placement I grew in my love and passion for young people. I started to wonder if pastoral work in a school could be a good option, because most of the issues and anxieties kids shared with me were either about schoolwork or were happening in school.

The most obvious way my studies prepared me for this was the Youth Track Lecture Weeks – partly because we learned practical ways to mentor young people inside and outside of a school environment. We studied adolescent brain development, which helped me understand teenagers more, and not only empathise with their experiences but have practical methods for supporting them.

I remember a lecture where we tried different calming techniques which could be used to help someone during a panic/ anxiety attack – I used that this week. But the main way Regents prepared me for this job was the opportunity it gave me to explore God’s heart for young people and to allow him to pass that on to me.

In my job now I am the first port of call when students need something. Since September I have also started ‘year 12 pastoral check-ins’ where I meet students to see how they’re getting on in the Sixth Form. They can always pop in for a cup of tea or a biscuit and a chat, and I have tissues to hand for when the tears come.

I love this job because I spend my day serving young people by supplying them with what they need – whether that’s a biscuit, an answer to a question, or the use of a stapler!

From the time I said yes to Jesus when I was 18, I hoped my service to him would be international as I’ve always had a passion for cross-cultural work. During my degree, I knocked on doors related to international missions and spent my summers travelling to Uganda. In my final year, the Ug church which I had visited asked if I would join their ministry team after my degree.

My time at Regents gave me confidence for my new role as an assistant Youth Pastor and Performing Arts Teacher at the church school here. Before, I would have never imagined leading people through a Bible study. My studies gave me knowledge and released a passion for sharing the Word of God in larger contexts, including the local prison, Sunday services and church conferences.

In this job, I love to see the diversity of worship and expressions of the Spirit working within people. I see ten-year-olds leading hundreds of people in worship, prison inmates being reformed and renewed by the gospel, leading to their release back into society, and 90-year-olds sharing golden nuggets of godly wisdom.

I could list many more. I love my job most because I get to see God at work.

I went to Regents with the intention of going into church leadership ministry, and had served as a youth pastor before studying. My degree helped by providing a theological foundation as I minister and allowing me space to reflect on previous ministry and how I was going to serve Jesus in future.

During my time at Regents, my character and competency grew. I enjoyed being able to dig deeper into theology and still enjoy doing so.

In my current job, I love the privilege of creating community and walking with people as they follow Jesus.

As someone who isn’t too academic and can struggle in schooling environments, my degree helped me learn in a hands-on way, which empowered and encouraged me

I knew for a while I would enter into ministry as I can’t imagine working in any other environment. Then my degree highlighted some gifts and talents I was unaware of. Regents gave me the opportunity and confidence to try new areas of ministry, as well as lean into the calling God has placed on my life.

The wonderful thing about the degrees at Regents is they are all incredibly practical. As someone who isn’t too academic and can struggle in schooling environments, my degree helped me learn in a hands-on way, which empowered and encouraged me. Now, I love my job in children’s ministry! It’s a place where you can be silly, be yourself, join others on their faith journeys and watch children fall in love with Jesus.

Children’s ministry is incredibly important and often overlooked – it’s Sunday school that provides the building blocks of faith and Sunday mornings that create foundations to propel kids into flourishing relationships with Jesus and help them through their teenage years.

I feel incredibly honoured and blessed that I get to be part of this and help children find their relationships with Jesus. To put that simply, my job is really cool!

This article first appeared in the March 2023 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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