Jared is a seminary student.
How did he get involved in that career path?
I got involved in a large ministry and traveled all over Eastern Europe doing missionary stuff both while I was finishing school and a little bit after school. Then I worked for corporate America for a few years and I realized I needed to be in ministry. Not that I think everyone should be in ministry, but I have a gift for teaching, and I really enjoy preaching, writing, and helping people through tough times. So with a wife and two kids, I came to seminary. I hope to get a masters degree which will prepare me to be a pastor or a church in a largely “unchurched” area. I want this because I prefer to be around people who aren’t steeped in “church culture.” I believe Christianity has a lot of answers for us, but sometimes it is easier to talk about those answers to people who want to know them. I have found that often “church folks” think they have all of them already and don’t really want to learn more. Often it’s the people who wouldn’t immediately claim to be Christians that want to find truth. I believe the story in the Bible holds truth and I want to teach other people how to find the truths it holds.
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I am not all the kind of guy who wants to “evangelize” everyone I see. I do believe the Bible is the only truth, but I would rather see an intelligent person explore truth and come to believe something else (an untruth), than to blindly accept the truth and not understand it.
He describes his future goals this way:
After school I want to plant a church in a community that is what I would call “post-Christian” or “un churched” Not because I want to reach the heathens, but because I feel more comfortable in a community that does not cling to what is commonly thought of as “traditional Christianity.”
It’s not all that often you get a chance to ask questions to someone who is currently studying to be a pastor.
Well, not the atheist crowd, anyway 🙂
If you have questions for Jared, let him know in the comments. He’ll respond to them directly in this thread.
[tags]atheist, atheism, Christianity[/tags]