One of the most common questions I’ve heard in recent weeks is “You’re going to be the president of what?” (or some similarly worded question).
The short answer is this … starting this summer I am going to be the next President of MB Biblical Seminary (if you want the backstory, click here and here).
But here is the real question most people are asking, “What in the world does that actually mean?”. Let me answer that backwards.
“Seminary” – What is a seminary? Well, getting right to the point, “seminary” is a term that is often used to describe a Christian-based graduate school. Specifically, a school that focuses on preparing students to follow and serve God to the best of their ability. Examples are wide-ranging: pastors, chaplains, missionaries, teachers, board members, small group leaders, entrepreneurs, lawyers, nurses, welders, essentially almost every career there is! While many pastoral roles require graduate-level education, almost anyone can (and should) benefit from seminary training. And through our MinistryLift ministry, we have an amazing amount of training available to churches and leaders everywhere, regardless of educational background.
“MB” – MB stands for Mennonite Brethren. Our particular seminary has a special focus on training and equipping leaders (paid and volunteer) for the MB Churches of Canada. As such, we sync well with the national vision of Reaching Canada with the good news of Jesus Christ. One of the distinctives of MB Biblical Seminary, though, is that we don’t work alone. In fact, we function primarily through strategic multi-denominational partnerships with other Canadian graduate schools. In our Langley campus we are one of the four seminaries that make up ACTS, and in Winnipeg we work with CMU. And as we partner with ministries such as MB Mission, our reach extends internationally as well.
“President” – I’ll have the privilege of leading our national team of faculty and staff as we move into the next chapter of graduate theological training and education in Canada and around the world. My office will be in our Langley campus at TWU, but I’ll spend lots of my time connecting with churches, leaders, partners, supporters, students and alumni throughout the country. I am looking forward to a new adventure!
Well … if you were wondering what this whole “president of a seminary” thing means, I hope the picture is a bit clearer now! 🙂
Mark
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