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Boersma: Keep current with your people. A shepherd needs to know his or her flock. Who are these folks? Where are they? What is their life? A lot of people pastor from a distance, and I believe with all my heart that one of the best ways to improve your preaching is to know your audience. It’s not the only thing, and certainly we can’t know everyone, but when we know their lives, and we prepare with their lives and hearts in mind, we’re current.
And in the long haul, I think it’s really important that we remind ourselves of the goodness of the Lord. If we work out of a heart of gratitude, out of a foundation of grace and responding to the grace of God, I think that really helps sustain us, even in the hard times.
TenElshof: To get through life, we really need to guard our hearts, and by guarding our hearts, I’m really talking about developing intimacy with the Father, receiving his love, receiving his correction through the Spirit, and then developing relationships in our life. I think we need to guard our hearts by being very aware of how the culture tempts us and being very aware of how culture is creeping into our church. As we are aware of what the Spirit of God is doing inside of us, we can speak against those things in love and compassion.
Sundoulos: Let me ask you one last question:
If the alumni who read this are in a position to advise someone about seminary, why would
the prospective student pick Talbot over any
other school?
Boersma: I will jump right in: Last night I spoke to a group of aspiring “Talbotians,” and I think, aside from the commitment to Jesus Christ that I know is here, humanly speaking, the faculty is it. Most alumni say they came because of the faculty. Research says graduate students go where they go because of the faculty. I told these prospective students that I could stand there all night and sing the praises of my colleagues as far as who they are, their character, their love for Jesus, their love for each other, their command of their discipline, their desire to grow, their humility, their ability to work together despite their vast differences in personality and in giftedness. This is just an outstanding team, and I consider it a privilege every day just to be able to show up and be a part of it.
McIntosh: What I tell people is that you know Talbot is certainly committed to truth and Scripture, and we not only believe truth is there, but we believe it can be known. But beyond that, I think from my discipline, I’d say Talbot is the best place to come because we are about as up to date as a seminary can be. When I visit other seminaries and teach in other DMin programs, I find them to be ten to twenty years behind where the younger people are in the churches. Many of the seminaries around the United States are located in areas that are very provincial. I think one of the blessings we have is being in Southern California. What happens with us being in California, it forces us to wrestle with the issues that are here today. I think our location makes us be on the cutting edge of seminaries in the nation. I think if somebody really wants to be up to date, they come to Talbot.
Johnson: I think another advantage that we have here that might be overlooked is that we’re a part of a larger university, and we have the input of faculty members from across disciplines, and we have an administration that is very facilitative for us: it champions our causes and it makes it easier for us to shine in whatever area we are shining in, and I think those are just incredible pieces.
TenElshof: I would say come to Talbot because we will not only give you a lot of knowledge and help you to learn how to exegete the text, but we will care about you. We will care about the character you are developing, we will care about the home life that you have. We will care and try to put things in place that will help you grow spiritually. We want this to be a time where you don’t only grow in knowledge, but you also grow in spirit and in truth about yourself and what God created you to be so that you can be the fullest you can possibly be in His kingdom.
Edwards: I’d respond on a couple of levels. One, I think that the head and the heart of the faculty are properly matched. Not only do you have professors that know their disciplines cold, but they are deeply in love with the Lord, and to have those two together is unique, and it provides an excellent learning experience. Then, second, I would say if someone is interested in preaching, they need to come to Talbot to get Don Sunukjian. [cheers] Get him before he retires! [laughter] And I mean this with all sincerity: if you are interested in communicating what the Word says with practical contemporary relevance, you can’t learn that any place better than here.
Sunukjian: I agree with some of the things that Mick and Judy mentioned. Somewhere further down the list, but certainly a very tangible factor, there is an unbelievable opportunity for ministry while you are going through your seminary education. Mick can speak for this better than I can. We have, I want to say, 600 unanswered, local ministry requests that we are unable to fill. We are in such favor in the community of churches—they want our students to work in their churches, we can’t begin to handle all requests. So if you want to learn ministry at the same time you are getting your education, Talbot is it.
Johnson: Plus you get great beaches! [laughter]
TenElshof: Talbot is also a great place to come because we are culturally diverse, probably more so than any other seminary. It gives the students the opportunity to be enriched by different cultures and to minister to those cultures in a firsthand way.
Sundoulos: Thank you all very much. I am very grateful to you all for your ministry, both inside and outside of Talbot. It’s a joy to work alongside you all.