Welcome from the Pastoral Ministry Faculty
Greetings from Barclay College!
Imagine, for a minute, being present at this scene:
vast throngs of people scattered across an open field - prostitutes and procurators, lepers and money lenders, shepherds and centurions, skeptics and scribes - all of them equally and desperately "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." And all of them, every single one of them, passionately and relentlessly loved by God. After yet another long, hard day of ministry among such people, Jesus pulled his disciples aside and spoke to them with unparalleled urgency and compassion: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few," he declared, "ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matthew 9:37-38).
Obviously, they asked, because the next verse says they went. In answer to their own prayers, and with Jesus' name and authority as their only credentials, that original band of twelve ragamuffins eventually went into all of their known world with the good news of the gospel. And the world has never been the same since.
Now it's our turn. You and I live in a new time and place, but the harvest is even more plentiful and the workers are still too few. Jesus needs more workers to reach more people with the good news of His life-changing grace and truth. And His church is in desperate need of pastoral leadership, "undershepherds" who are willing to pick up His towel and selflessly devote themselves to the task of raising up workers for the harvest, equipping God's people for the work of ministry in order to build up the body of Christ and fulfill His Great Commission.
If you are among those who are being set apart for the work of pastoral ministry, I believe there is no place today that provides a better environment for cultivating this call than Barclay College. On behalf of my fellow workers, I invite you to come to Kansas and find your place in the harvest field.
For the sake of Christ and His kingdom,
Pastor Dave
David O. Williams
Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministries/College Chaplain
