Michael Milton

Michael Milton and Faith for Living, Inc.

The Mosaic of Ministry at Reformed Theological Seminary

Fishers of Men Mosaic

One of the greatest joys and privileges of my role as Chancellor (“elect,” my role beings on June 1) Reformed Theological Seminary is already manifesting itself. It is the joy and privilege of visiting with our campus leaders, students, families, and faculty who are the true epicenter of ministry of Reformed Theological Seminary. For instance, in the past two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to be involved with two graduations — one at RTS DC and one at RTS Charlotte—in addition to a wonderful reception hosted by the community of RTS Atlanta. In each of these wonderful campus visits I was impacted by:

(1) The vision and dreams of our presidents and deans; in this I am praying for more “decentralization” for ministry and greater “centralization” for efficiencies in supporting the visions and dreams of our campuses.

(2) The testimonies of our tremendous students — representing so many good denominations, so many ethnic and national backgrounds, and so many stories of the working of the Lord; yet, there is one thing — the sacred encounter with Jesus Christ, the call of Almighty God on their lives to preach or teach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and their love of the lost. It is truly inspiring.

(3) The power of local impact. I see how each of these campuses reflect a national and even global outlook but that visage is like light filtered through a smaller window of local commitment. As I also preach in the churches around our campuses I am able to see how the churches connecting with the seminary and other local ministries are beautifying the Body of Christ in that community and bringing the Kingdom of Christ to those who do not have Christ. There is, as I see it, a Local/Global impact at each campus. Thus, these RTS campuses reflects the unique flavor of the communities they serve even as they work with our RTS Virtual to leverage their unique gifts to deliver those, with strategic partners “on the ground” with other cities around the nation and around the world. That is my vision anyway.

This all becomes like a beautiful mosaic with each of the campus communities becoming the jewels embedded within the larger, singular portrait of this movement of Christ by the hands of the Master Artist. The campuses are many but the vision is one. Thus, I am reminded that we are best when we reflect the life of the Church: one faith, one Lord, one baptism, but many gifts, many locations, and many expressions of the same vision, mission, and values.

There are so many wonderful seminaries and Bible colleges in our nation. Each have their own unique contributions and I appreciate them more and more each day. Yet the mosaic of ministry of RTS remains, with her commitment to the inerrancy of the Word of God, the legacy of a white hot passion for evangelism and missions, and a strong focus on the old Reformed faith, a mosaic of ministry that is painting the portrait of fishers of men.

 

Related articles