Called to Serve: Celebrating the Ministries of Covenant Graduates—Past, Present, and Future
The year was 1974. Dr. William B. Leonard Jr., pastor of Village Seven PCA, Colorado Springs, Colorado, challenged that year’s Covenant Seminary graduates with his sermon titled, “The Agony and the Ecstasy: The Joys and Sorrows of the Pastor.” Scattered among the graduates were future senior pastors, missionaries, teachers, worship leaders, and those pursuing graduate studies. The Covenant Seminary Newsletter (Summer ’74 edition) reported on the “largest class in the history of the school” that included now-longtime PCA pastors Don Clements and Bill Greenwalt, chaplain Stephen Leonard, and missionaries Bruce Young (Japan) and Hilarion Gusto (Philippines).
On Friday, May 10, 2024—50 years later—Dr. Philip G. Ryken, President of Wheaton College, gave a charge titled “Gifts That Keep on Giving” to a new class of more than 100 graduates receiving degrees from Covenant Seminary. (Click here to view pictures of the 2024 Commencement.) Some of those grads already know their next roles, while others are still discerning and deciding where they will be serving. The seminary’s accreditor, The Association of Theological Schools, requires a report of this information by November of each year, so as we wait for a full record of where our 2024 graduates are being placed for ministry, let’s look back at the class of 2023 and where some of them are today.
Dr. Philip G. Ryken delivering the commencement address for Covenant Seminary’s 2024 graduating class. (Photo: Kelly Park Photography.)
In May 2023, 108 graduates entered roles in churches, counseling centers, campus ministries, and missions. If you overlook the differences in class size between 1974 (25 grads) and 2023 (108 grads), the work to which these men and women were and are called looks very similar. Many churches then and now hired recent male graduates to serve as senior ministers. This reflects the need for qualified senior leaders and the willingness of churches to hire candidates younger than their historic peers. Many of these men had significant ministry experience prior to coming to seminary, reflecting a trend to serve in ministry before being further equipped in seminary.
Sean Collins (MDiv ’23), a senior pastor in Bogata, Texas, reflected on his time at Covenant Seminary: “The education and training that I received while at Covenant shaped me to understand the why and the how of ministry. And by God’s grace, it transformed me, enabling me to ‘do’ ministry as I shepherd God’s people.”
Another difference between the two classes is the number of graduates today who serve in next-generation and college ministry, emphasizing the necessity of reaching younger people with the gospel.
In 1974, only Tom Kennedy intended to serve in a youth ministry role. Today, that number is much higher. Matt Horne (MDiv ’23), serving with Crosswater PCA in Chesapeake, Virginia, says, “Just as pediatric medicine is vital for developing good physical health in the next generation, so is next-gen ministry for developing good spiritual health of our covenant and non-covenant children.”
In 2023, 27 graduates received a Master of Arts in Counseling, and four others work in counseling ministries. Emily Seligson (MAC ’23) reflects: “While the challenges we face today in the mental health world can feel daunting to consider, the root of these issues remains the same: things are not the way they are supposed to be. The need for highly trained therapists is significant, because the need for care will continue to exist this side of eternity.”
Please pray for the graduating class of 2024 as they move into the ministries and vocations for which the Lord prepared them during their season at Covenant Seminary.
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Dr. Joel Hathaway is Director of Alumni & Career Services and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Covenant Theological Seminary.
