My first exposure to Talbot School of Theology was in 1998. I was an undergraduate student at the University of North Texas, involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, and looking for help answering honest, important questions posed by non-Christian students about Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity more generally. A leader in Cru pointed me to J. P. Moreland’s Scaling the Secular City. Two years later I found myself sitting in Dr. Moreland’s Metaphysics 1 course as a first-semester graduate student in Talbot’s MAPhil (technically, the M.A. program, Philosophy emphasis, but who has time for all that!).

I have been privileged to serve for 15 years in Talbot’s philosophy department alongside my first philosophy teachers, not just Dr. Moreland, but Drs. Rae, Horner, DeWeese, and Geivett. These top-notch philosophers, driven by zeal for Jesus’s Kingdom, taught me how to love and serve God using the tools of philosophy. And together, we have watched God work through this program to impact students who go on to impact the world for Christ Jesus, both inside and outside the academy. What a gift!

My time as a faculty member only covers half of the MAPhil’s history. In Scott Rae’s feature on the MAPhil’s 30th anniversary, you’ll read about the program’s history and its vision, and you’ll get a taste of what God has used the MAPhil, its faculty, and its students to accomplish.

Our other feature, courtesy of Dominick Hernandez, concerns a Talbot initiative that goes back even further than the MAPhil, but which only recently is coming to life. As Dr. Hernandez notes, almost 40 years ago, Talbot’s academic catalog included a Spanish-language program, and it seemed all the pieces were in place for a launch. And yet, Talbot Spanish-language programs never began.

But this fall, Talbot en Español begins in earnest, under the leadership of Dr. Hernandez and in partnership with other Spanish-speaking faculty within Talbot and without. One of the great honors of working as interim dean during this academic year has been the occupying a front-row seat for Talbot en Español’s growth from concept to initiative to program. Please join me and the rest of Talbot’s faculty and staff in praying that God would use Talbot en Español as he has used the MAPhil.

One final note: the next issue of Talbot Magazine will be the first for our new dean, Dr. Ed Stetzer. Dr. Stetzer brings energy, vision, and passion that I believe will press Talbot into the next phase of its ministry in profoundly fruitful ways. As you pray for the MAPhil, for Talbot en Español, and for Talbot more broadly, please join me in praying for Dr. Stetzer as well, that God will care for him and his wife, Donna, as they move to Southern California, and that God will use Dr. Stetzer to shepherd the great ministry he has vested in Talbot for years to come.

Thank you, as always, for your support for Talbot, and may God bless you and your ministry!