MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE RTS FACULTY STAFF AND STUDENTS
The RTS campuses of Jackson, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, Memphis, Houston and our Virtual Campus celebrate with you the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. THIS is why we are here--to tell of the miraculous birth of our Lord and to teach all nations about Him. Many of you recently received our Christmas greeting in which Dr. Milton sings the very simple but powerful words, "Jesus came." We celebrate his birth, his presence and his coming. Have a blessed Christmas.
MOSAIC OF MINISTRY VIDEO
RTS/Charlotte M.Div. student and videographer Matt McQuade traveled to all of the RTS campuses to develop an RTS video. It is posted here and we call it the "Mosaic of Ministry." If you attended the inauguration, you saw this prior to the ceremony. Learn about all of our campuses and extensions and hear from our students, professors, executive directors, presidents and our chancellor.
WOMEN OF RTS AT RTS/ATLANTA
The first gathering of the Women of RTS at RTS/Atlanta took place this fall. It was an encouraging time where they learned of each other's calls to ministries of all kinds, from adoption work in the U.S., to anti-trafficking work abroad, to teaching Bible studies. They are looking forward to future events.
MICHAEL MILTON BLOGS ABOUT CONNECTICUT SHOOTING
We at RTS are also so sad to see the loss experienced in Newtown, Conn. This is why we exist--not only to tell others about Christ but also to comfort others in their time of need. As we send out pastors, missionaries, counselors and teachers all over the world, we pray they can help to bring healing to hurting communities such as these. We at RTS are also praying. Chancellor Milton blogs, "Father, you were not absent from the chaotic scene in Connecticut nor are you removed from the void that is in the hearts of dear parents, brothers, sisters, children, husbands, wives, grandparents, teachers, and the community of grief — that Patmos in Connecticut." Read the full blog here.
RTS WOMEN'S CONFERENCE IN APRIL
The Women of RTS/Charlotte will hold a conference on "Part of the Plan" April 26-27 on the Charlotte campus. The speaker is Nancy Guthrie. Contact Tari Williamson to sign up. The cost is $50.
NEW RELIEF RECEPTIONIST IN JACKSON
RTS/Jackson is pleased to welcome Sarah Barnes, serving as relief receptionist. With the responsibility of handling not only Jackson calls but also calls for RTS/Washington D.C. and for RTS/Orlando, the relief receptionist must know the ins and outs of these campuses. Sarah comes to us from Monroe, La., and is a gifted pianist and teaches piano. She graduated from the University of Louisiana. She is married to first-year student Nicholas and they are expecting their first child in July of 2013. Welcome!
NEW EMPLOYEE IN ORLANDO
Well, she has been here since July - sorry Kim! High time we announced her as she has been hard at work. Kim Sutter is the student life coordinator & accounts payable coordinator at RTS/Orlando. She assists Executive Vice President Bob Emeott processing accounts payable as well as miscellaneous projects. She also assists Dean of Students Bob Orner facilitating student life events on campus such as the Fall Kick-Off, the annual Christmas party, graduation banquet, community lunches and president’s forums. Kim has a background in interior design from Seminole State in Oviedo, Fla. She is married to her high school sweetheart Kendall and they have two adult children. She attends Metro Life Church in Casselberry and has served in various capacities there, including worship team, home school organization, conferences, retreats, children's ministry, hospitality team and hosting small groups.
NEW BOOK PUBLISHED BY MICHAEL MILTON
Finding a Vision for Your Church: Assembly Required was expected in October but released in November 2012. Dr. Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of World magazine says, "The church is not just a building; it is an assembly of people who need a vision. Here is inspiration for a radically biblical vision that will both minister to and involve your church’s assembly." Order the book here.
A NEW RTS E-NEWSLETTER COMING IN JANUARY
The RTS E-Newsletter will have a new look next year. We hear a lot of comments on how you especially enjoy reading the alumni snippets and keeping up with our graduates, so the snippets will now be on the side instead of at the bottom. Also we'll have a new look altogether. We hope you like the changes.
ALUMNI SNIPPETS
Joseph "Josh" Carmichael (M.Div.M '01), pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, Ala., graduated Dec. 7 from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., with a Ph.D. in church history. His dissertation is titled "The Hymnody of Anne Steele in John Rippon's Selection of Hymns: A Theological Analysis in the Context of the English Particular Baptist Revival." Click here to read it. He and his wife Betsy have six sons: Fulton (13), Morris (10), Milledge (8), Henry (6), Thomas (2), and Joseph (3 months).
Bassam Chedid (M.Div.M. '98, D.Miss. '97) is working on the Arabic Study Bible and after five years he is coming to the final phase and working toward the printing for worldwide distribution. Please keep him in your prayers as his wife Norma who also worked on this book, passed away in October.
Doug Domin (M.Div. '85), pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Concord, NH, you may remember, had 30 days this past summer to be out of the place his church had been renting for 2 years. Their former meeting place has now become Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar. On June 24, the congregation voted to purchase a 4,000 sq. ft. building on two acres of land. Doug says, "God pushed us out and enabled us to trust Him to provide a new temporary location to worship in, though only on Sunday morning, and the funds to purchase this facility which had been dropped in price $50,000. Since that congregational meeting God has provided the $299,000 and we closed on the property this past Monday." They now will begin the next phase of renovations and transformation of the building.
Andre Gazal (M.Div. '95) serves as professor of historical theology at Northland Graduate School, at Northland International University in Dunbar, Wis. He and his wife Agata have one son. Andre has also published his dissertation (Ph.D. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School: supervisor Scott Manetch). It will be released this January by Edwin Mellen Press. The title of the book is Scripture and Royal Supremacy in Tudor England: The Use of Old Testament Historical Narrative.
Abraham George (MAC '09) and his wife Romila are with India Campus Crusade for Christ. He recently helped lead a training designed to build powerful ministry teams and help strengthen the system of coaching. They also held a Christmas outreach among students, a program with skits called "Hope - Jesus Is", on December 15. The team is also hoping to take the program to "closed" college campuses that would allow a quality Christmas program.
Mark Green (M.Div. '11), retired from Exxon Mobil and in August was named the new president and COO of the White Horse Inn, a multimedia catalyst for reformation. White Horse Inn is home to the White Horse Inn radio broadcast and Modern Reformation magazine. The name White Horse Inn is based on a a tavern of the same name in Cambridge, England on the campus of King's College, where in 1520, a small band of English scholars began to meet regularly to discuss the German Reformer's writings, along with Erasmus' recently completed Greek New Testament. See the announcement and picture of Mark here.
Greg Joines (M.Div. '12) tells us that Solomon Kim (M.Div. '09) has decided to partner with them in establishing a church and RUF in Corvallis, Oregon, home to Oregon State University. Learn more on their Web site here. Greg has participated in several events on campus and continues a dialogue with students. He has been preaching at several churches in the area. They are expecting a child this month which will make them a family of five.
Michael Lee (M.Div. '05) and his wife Tricia are serving with Mission to the World in Mexico. They recently moved the location of their office near the Metrorrey (Monterrey's mass-transit light rail system) to be closer to downtown. A reporter for the L.A. Times wrote an article about the work they are doing in Monterrey here.
Also Michael and others have discussed theological training for the Northern Mexico Church Planting and Multiplication Movement and have made significant changes in order to prepare new church planters. At first they offered classes on nights and Saturdays due to the financial hardship of working and attending seminary, and now they offer week-long, all-day intensive classes that they call the "incubator". The first one was held in August, and it was the first of four scheduled over the course of the next two years.
They are also proud to announce that their daughter Hannah married Buddy Snelling on Oct. 6 and are excited to have been able to attend the wedding in Clover, SC.
Ryan McVicar (M.Div. '07 ) is planting a church, New City Presbyterian, in the Royal Oak area of Detroit. “People at New City don’t just see each other on Sunday," says Ryan. Read an article on his church in the local paper here.
Jennifer Miller (MABS '07) and Louisa McCullough Tremann (MABS '95) work in the home office of Mission to the World. They have teamed up to train new missionaries about support raising. Louisa and Jennifer served as missionaries with MTW (to Ukraine and East Asia, respectively) and now are bringing their own experience and research on this topic to others. In early 2013, they will be part of Raising Support Successfully – A Team Approach to Ministry. This two-day intensive event will be open to all those raising support in the greater ministry community. Click here to learn more.
Chris Peck (MABS '08) taught Greek, Hebrew and Old Testament in Papua New Guinea, and is now back and living in Orlando with his family awaiting some final words on a new calling. Essentially, Chris’ vision is the teaching of Scripture to groups of businessmen at their office, where Christians and non-Christians come and listen and learn. More of the vision includes going on mission trips and teaching people about missions and praying with groups.
Joel Pelsue (M.Div. '98), founder and president of Arts and Entertainment Ministries, recently wrote "The Power of Beauty" on his Web site. "It ought not to surprise us that God starts and ends the Bible with beauty. He begins with a beautiful garden, ends with a beautiful city,..." says Pelsue. Read the full article here.
Greg Salazar (M.Div. '12) and his wife Christie are currently serving in England, and assisting the founder of Frontiers, Dr. Greg Livingstone with a new book. They welcomed new daughter Catherine-Claire Annabelle Salazar into the world on Nov. 28. They call her "Catie-Claire." Everyone is doing well. However, on a sad note, Greg's dad passed away the next morning unexpectedly. His dad was a talented painter. They plan to have a memorial service in June in Asheville, NC. Please keep this family in your prayers.
Greg has also been accepted to the University of Cambridge to the M.Phil. Early Modern History Program and will be working on a thesis in the field of English Puritanism in October 2013.
Louis Surprenant (RTS/Charlotte M.Div. student), is stepping down as the director of college ministry at Friendly Hills Church, which meets at Guilford College in Jamestown, NC. Also serving with Mission to North America, in January, he will pursue the call to plant a church. He has accepted a church-planting apprenticeship at Christ Church Greensboro. Keep up with Louis and his wife Jamie here.
Jemar Tisby (RTS/Orlando M.Div. student) recently wrote an article that was posted on Gospel Coalition titled "The Joyful Pursuit of Multi-ethnic Churches." Read the article here.
Anthony Turner (MAR '09) recently published an ebook devotional celebrating an examining the season of Advent. The devotional is called The Advent of the Messiah: Finding Peace, Love, Joy and Hope in a Modern World. Turner and his wife live in Springfield, Mo., where he is the lead pastor of Northbridge Church. Read more about the book or purchase it here.