I currently serve as the Committee Chair of Divinity Studies at Manna University, but it was not long ago that I was a Manna University student. While I was a student, I often wondered what life after Bible college would look like. I heard of alumni success stories where Manna University graduates were serving in “cool” ministry positions like teaching pastor, overseas missionary, and in non-profit ministries. I wondered if what I was learning in my programs of study at Manna University would lead me to “cool” ministry positions.
Well, our God is an awesome God! God has allowed me to serve in various ministry leadership positions because of what I learned at Manna University. Manna University’s Master of Divinity (M.Div.) is designed as a terminal degree for vocational ministers and military chaplains. I quickly decided that Chaplaincy was the route for me. As I pursued chaplaincy, I was ordained by the International Fellowship of Chaplains and received ecclesiastical endorsement from mPact Chaplains. I have served as a volunteer Athletics Chaplain at Freedom Christian Academy, worked as a Marketplace Chaplain, and will soon be serving as a Chaplain in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary; I will finally serve as a military chaplain, one of the Christian career paths into which the M.Div. program was designed to lead.
After serving in various chaplain positions, I wondered if chaplain was the only Christian career path for those with an M.Div. or Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.), a program that exists to help experienced church leaders solve ministerial problems at the tactical and strategic levels. Again, God showed me there are other avenues for ministry leadership using what I learned in my programs of study at Manna University. I worked as the Director of a day resource center for the unhoused community, a position not requiring an M.Div. or D.Min., but the value of having both quickly revealed itself as I was able to apply what I learned about leadership, particularly servant leadership, with my staff and the guests we served daily, while maintaining a strategic overview of the entire organization. Now, I provide free pastoral coaching to men, couples, and pastors through Tiller Coaching. I count it a joy to have served, and to currently serve, in both traditional and non-traditional ministry positions.
If ever you wonder what life after Bible college will look like, there is no doubt in my mind that there are Christian career pathways, both traditional and non-traditional, in which you will use what you learned in your program(s) of study at Manna University to advance the Kingdom of God in unique ways.
Dr. Carlos Sanchez, Committee Chair, Divinity Studies