The End of an Era | SL 5.4 (May 2024)
In this newsletter
- The End of an Era
- Work & Ministry Update
- How You Can Help/If You Have Been Supporting Us
- Pray With Us
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Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
The End of an Era
We're Moving to Birmingham, Alabama!
By now many of you will have heard of significant changes afoot for the Kirks. This July, we are moving back to the USA—to Birmingham, Alabama in fact, where I have been appointed as assistant professor of Old Testament at Beeson Divinity School.
As readers of this newsletter will know, this move is the end of a long and prayerful season of searching for where God would have our family live and serve long term.
All the way back in 2011, during my second year of seminary, Meghan and I discerned that we were called more toward an academic, teaching vocation than pastoral ministry per se. Ever since then, I have been working toward a teaching vocation and earning my PhD (it took me nearly twelve years!).
All along the way we've been striving to teach Scripture and build up the global church wherever we have been able to discern a need, an open door, and a good fit. To me, this is just what faithfulness to God in your vocation looks like.
Good jobs in academia are few and far between, and so I made my peace with the fact that God may well call me to continue to serve in non-traditional settings, like Training Leaders International, William Tennent School of Theology, and Crosslands Training. This, however, didn't change the fact that—all things being equal—teaching in a traditional, residential academic setting was "the dream job."
I could write a book on the reasons for this, but I'll just lay out a few in brief.
(1.) I've actually never been someone who thrives on instability, change, or adventure. I love to experience the world and other cultures, but I do better mentally and spiritually when I stay at home. Eventually this evolved into a conviction that I will do my best work and be the best teacher, father, and husband by NOT traveling, provided God gives me that option. This has felt particularly true in the last few years as our family has grown and the girls are quite small.
(2.) As I went through the PhD, I discovered I truly love research and writing and want this to be part of how I serve the Church. While it would not be impossible to do this in a non-traditional setting, I am, sadly, a person of moderate capacities and would probably struggle to write very much if it wasn't part of the job description. Most non-traditional settings require everyone to do a bit of everything and leave little margins for deep reflection on problems that are not immediately pressing. In a traditional academic job, as at Beeson, research and writing are part of the job description with time set aside for them. If the Church across time and space is going to continue to embody God's purposes in the world, there need to be some people who are ahead of the curve and responding rapidly to changing needs and trends in the culture. But some people need to be thinking deeply, responding more slowly, drinking at the well of Scripture and tradition and charting a path forward.
(3.) While there has been an explosion of alternate academic pathways and educational opportunities over the last decade or so, my own heavy involvement in them has only convinced me that traditional modes of training pastors are superior. Let me be careful here. Technology has enabled a global connectedness and access to resources that we never had before (I have been teaching Hebrew on Zoom weekly for the last four years!). And economics and culture have changed to where it seems far less feasible for many people to quit their job, relocate their family, and go to seminary full time for three-four years. And this is not even to mention the massive need in the developing world for quality training. To this end, I celebrate organizations and schools like TLI, Tennent, and Crosslands for bringing biblical education to ministers who would not have been trained any other way.
However—you knew this was coming!—such essential training, even when we labor to make it as strong as we know how, is simply not up to the level of training at a full-time, residential institution. It is very difficult to invest as deeply in your studies as you might when you are also in a full-time job, or, as is often the case, also in full-time ministry. There is some genuinely beneficial cross-fertilization here, but, again, it is extremely valuable that future pastors will have had a season of life—if only just a few years—to study Scripture and theology deeply without significant distractions. In this setting they have the chance to work out their convictions, and develop the ability to think and reason biblically. Again, for the church to be really robust in the decades ahead we need at least some of our pastors to be as deeply formed as possible.
Not all people or educators will agree with the logic I've spelled out here—and there are always notable exceptions who defy the norms—but these are my convictions based on my experience.
And this all brings us back to me and Beeson... Beeson Divinity School is, in my humble opinion, the most compelling evangelical seminary in the world right now. It was founded in 1988 through a massive endowment given by Ralph Waldo Beeson to Samford University for a new seminary. From its inception the vision was to found an inter-denominational, evangelical seminary, where students would be encouraged to embrace and strengthen their own Protestant traditions (Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican) in the context of a deep appreciation for the historic Christian faith.
But more than this, Beeson's ethos and philosophy is swimming against the trend toward technology-driven, disembodied education in some incredible ways. At a time when many notable seminaries have been forced to sell their campuses and build massive online programs, Beeson offers nothing online and has no plans to. This isn't a snobbish or technology-phobic move, but rather a conviction that Christian life is lived in community and that training pastors is best accomplished in-person in a life-on-life setting.
I could not agree more. If you had asked me anytime in the last five or six years, If you could teach anywhere in the world, where would it be? I would have said "Beeson!" Not only this, but it is in the Southeast and and closer to family so it offers us a place to live where we feel comfortable settling in for the long term.
So when Beeson posted a position in Old Testament last Fall, Meghan and I knew I had to at least apply, and then trust God to work out his purposes. As these jobs are few and far between these days, Meghan and I felt that if God opened the door it would be a clear demonstration of his providence and leading.
After a long interview process, we were appointed in March and the official announcement was made at the beginning of April. I apologize for being somewhat slow to report back to you all because I've been waiting till we sorted out the logistics.
I cannot tell you how excited about this new opportunity we are. We will mourn many aspects of leaving England, but overall we have no doubt that this is where God would have us.
Beatrix Potter House at Hilltop in the Lake District. We are hitting a few bucket-list type things as we say goodbye to the UK.
Work & Ministry Update
- My book, Agur's Wisdom and the Coherence of Proverbs 30 is OUT NOW! Over ten years in the making... hahaha... but seriously, it is a great joy to see it in print. You can order a copy from the publisher here (although I don't advise it—it is expensive and very technical). If you want to look through the table of contents and read the first chapter you can download them from my academia.edu page.
- I turned in my notice at Crosslands, but agreed to work to the end of June. Things have been quite busy since. Last week I finished a comprehensive re-write of their Old Testament Introduction class. It's kinda fun to think that many, many students in years to come will work through this material even if I've moved on to other things.
- In June I'll be working on writing a popular level course for Crosslands about how to study wisdom literature by using Proverbs as an example.
- I'll be in London and Southampton for my final set of seminar days in late June. My last day with Crosslands is June 28.
- I'm already hard at work in the back of my head on putting my classes together for the Fall. I'll be teaching Hebrew I and Old Testament Theology at Beeson.
- I'm still working on co-editing a volume of essays on wisdom and law in the Old Testament and another on wisdom and humor in the wisdom books. These have been on the back-burner, but I hope to get them finished over the Summer.
On top of Latterbarrow in the Lakes, with the girls embodying their birth-orders/personalities.
Supporting Us in the Past and in the Future
If You Have Been Supporting Us
Many of you have been supporting us for close to nine years. I can't believe it. The scope of this blessing to us personally is impossible for me to quantify. You have enabled us to do some fascinating, non-traditional work in theological education for the sake of the global church. Thank you. It has been an honor to serve the LORD on your behalf and alongside of you.
With the start of my new position at Beeson, my need to raise support for our teaching will end. On June 30, all recurring gifts designated for me will be canceled. This date coordinates with the end of my work for Crosslands here in the UK. There's nothing you need to do on your end at all, but if you do notice any issues, please contact Kim Smith (ksmith@cccdaytona.org).
How You Can Help Us Now
By popular demand, I will continue to write SPLINTERED LIGHT. However, I will be moving the newsletter to Substack. If you've benefited from reading this newsletter over the last few years and want to see it continue, would you consider a paid subscription moving forward?
I am committed to keeping the newsletter completely free, but signing up for a voluntary paid subscription is the best way that you can continue to support my work. Paid subscriptions start at just $5/month or $50/year.
You see, the move to Beeson actually reflects a significant decrease in pay for us in the short term. While we whole-heartedly believe this is the right move, I am looking for creative and beneficial ways to help make up the difference. And so the newsletter is taking on a new life as a way both to pursue my vocation and earn a bit extra.
I hope to make this newsletter a place where I continue to "think out loud" about life, culture, and Scripture. As it grows, it will be a place where my teaching and scholarship can benefit a wider audience than I will reach in the classroom at Beeson or through academic writing.
To this end, the newsletter will remain entirely free, so that everyone can benefit from the content. If you are currently getting this email, you'll be automatically signed up for a free subscription. But if you'd like to show your support with a paid subscription, I'd be honored, grateful, and encouraged.
In fact, if you've been supporting us generously in the past, would you continue to support my teaching and writing as a founding member of the newsletter? A founding member helps establish the newsletter by donating far beyond the subscription rate, perhaps at $500 or even $1000 per year—you can enter any amount you choose. I will personally send each founding member a free, signed copy of my book as a thank-you gift (Now, I don't expect you to actually read it, but you may enjoy knowing it exists and holding it in your hands).
Scholarship and writing for the Church has always thrived off the generous support of those who value it. If Christians stopped supporting such efforts, they would cease to exist. Substack offers an unprecedented opportunity for me to write for a very specific and engaged audience, while still benefiting anyone who is interested enough to read. And all of this is part of teaching, writing, and research that I truly hope will help refresh the Church in this generation as many scholars and teachers have done in the past generations.
I would be honored if you saw fit to continue to support my work in this way.
The last trip to see the bluebells.
Pray with Us
- So many things to pray for! First, praise God with us for this incredible opportunity and clear direction in our lives.
- Pray for all the logistical aspects of the move and the transition. I can hardly think about how bonkers July and August are going to be.
- We are in the middle of buying a house in Birmingham and would pray for God's abundant provision for all things surrounding the house. Huge praise as well for the home and our ability to move forward on it at all.
- Pray that I can finish well as Crosslands. Mentally, I have moved on, but there is still a month's worth of significant work to do.
- Pray for my teaching and settling in at Beeson this Autumn. It will be a new context with a lot on my plate and I need superhuman focus and a burst of creativity to make it all happen the way I would like.
- Pray for Meghan and the girls. So much will change for all of them. Pray for Rue settling into a new school, pray for Meghan, Willa and Janie to find new rhythms. Pray for friends and community for them.
Thank you. Your prayers and support empower everything we do.
