Dear MTS Community,
MTS President
As our world has been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to be proactive as an institution in responding to the challenges of these times. Last fall, a gracious donor allowed us to create an on-campus state-of-the-art recording studio which we’ve used to record our latest series of virtual offerings, Pulpit & Pew: Seminary for Everyone. This spring, we’ve designated $40,000 of CARES Act funding to enhance remote teaching and learning capabilities within our classroom spaces. These changes allow us to serve our students’ needs and engage our wider community in continuing education opportunities.
Lately, we are seeing more and more interest in nontraditional and bivocational ministry. In this year’s President’s Report, we wanted to highlight stories of our alums who are engaging in ministry outside of traditional contexts, who are themselves embracing change as they discern their call to serve the entire body of Christ. Some of our alums minister as chaplains at hospitals, in correctional facilities, or in the military. Others lead nonprofits. Some are bivocational, pastoring in a traditional church context while also working in a nonprofit or running an organization.
I myself am a bivocational minister: while serving as the President of Memphis Theological Seminary, I am also the pastor of Ripley Presbyterian Church in Ripley, Mississippi. In the words of my colleague Dr. Christopher Davis, “At MTS, we strive to keep one foot in the seminary and one foot in the sanctuary.” This commitment to a practical theology keeps us rooted in the local congregation and connected to those we are equipping ministers to lead.
Please pray that God will continue to call men and women to minister, and that they will be well prepared through our educational mission to share the love of Jesus Christ with the Church and the world.
With deepest gratitude for your partnership and prayerful blessings to you and your loved ones,
Rev. Dr. Jody Hill
President
Memphis Theological Seminary