 A
Call to Persevere
Bryan D. Estelle,
Ph.D.
Dear Alumni,
Since I began teaching at WSC, my responsibilities have
required that I travel throughout the U.S. and abroad much more
than when I was a pastor in the Washington D.C. area and
attending graduate school. Sometimes I have gone to a location
for business with my church; for example, Presbytery, General
Assembly or a committee meeting. Sometimes I have traveled in
order to deliver a paper at a Society of Biblical Literature
meeting on some aspect of research that I have been doing. I
have had the privilege of going to the Ukraine, the Netherlands,
England, Scotland, and Ireland as well as many regions in the
U.S.
What has especially impressed me during my stay in these
places is that there is a desperate need for the preaching and
teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember walking
through the streets of Amsterdam and London thinking, “This city
needs a Westminster grad to help plant a church here and preach
the Gospel.” I remember thinking the same in many of our own
cities here in the United States, especially the Pacific
Northwest. Numerous times I have had this thought in the past
six years, both in this country and outside this country.
What does that tell me and why am I sharing this with you?
Because as I reflected upon this thought of mine, it testified
to me what great confidence I have in our institution and its
graduates. We are just a small school with a small faculty and a
small student body. Nevertheless, we are having an impact - not
just in the U.S. but elsewhere in the world.
When I have been weary in well doing, I have been greatly
encouraged by worshiping in some of your congregations and
hearing you preach and teach. I have heard the mercies of Christ
showcased from your pulpits and I have drawn upon new reserves
of courage because of you and your ministries. I have several
concrete memories of being in the midst of some of your churches
and finding renewal to persevere in my work and in my particular
station, because you were preaching or teaching the pure gospel
of Christ. I hope that by sharing this brief reflection, you too
will find some slight renewal to bear and persevere in your
particular work. It is good work; perhaps the most important.
Bryan D. Estelle
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Copyright 2006 Westminster Seminary
California. All rights reserved.
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