This has been a Messenger week.

Regular readers know I write for Christian Renewal, but may not be aware that I also write for Mid-America Reformed Seminary, which is located south of Chicago in Dyer, IN. As Contributing Editor for the Seminary’s newsletter, the Messenger, I usually write a few articles for each issue and this week I wrote and submitted four.

You can find PDF files of the Messenger issues from recent years here.

Mid-America’s home page currently contains a couple of items under “News” that I wrote: one short piece about the Seminary’s recent graduation and a link to the most recent alumni profile on Brian Allred.

I’ve written several of these website profiles, posted in the form of interviews with students  and alumni, which you can find here. Alumni profiles have featured Valentin Alpuche and his ministry to the Hispanic population in Chicago Heights; Ken Anema, Bill Pols, & John Bouwers, who all graduated from the Seminary the same year and still serve their first churches; Mid-America Board member Jon Blair, who began attending Mid-America at the age of 40; and Brian Allred who taught at the university level for several years prior to attending seminary.

Part-time student Carl Gobelman adds huge commutes and classwork to his full-time work. Student Roberto Rossi has served as a missionary in the Ukraine. Prior to attending Mid-America, student Jeffrey Scott and his wife worked as house parents for disadvantaged children in Chicago’s southside while he attended Moody Bible Institute and worked summers as an electrician.

It’s fascinating to interview these different students and pastors from such a wide range of backgrounds, ecclesiastical fellowships, and geographical areas. The hope is that readers find the interviews interesting, too.

In the past, I’ve done other work for the Seminary such as writing sections of the academic catalog and editing articles for its theological journal. I’ve also done some interesting editing projects for Mid-America’s president, Dr. Cornel Venema, including his assessment of “New Perspectives on Paul” in The Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ and its condensed version Getting the Gospel Right.  

The largest project by far was abridging his 560-page Promise of the Future to his 240-page Christ and the Future. Both are highly recommended works on eschatology (the study of the last things). 

But most of my time for Mid-America involves writing newsletter articles. This week I wrote articles on graduation, its international spring banquet, a Board of Trustees report, and the final chapel service of the academic year with a student award and gift. You’ll be able to read those articles in the June issue ofthe Messenger.Watch for it!