Published October 1, 2019 in Summit Magazine
Alumni Succeeding in Career Ministry
Clarks Summit University has alumni all over the world whom God works through in amazing ways. You’ll read about some of them in these stories. But there will come a time when they won’t be working their jobs anymore, whether due to a planned retirement or advancement to another position.
So, then what? Who’s got next?
The good news is this: God will continue His work. More CSU graduates will step up to fill valuable roles.That’s precisely what CSU does: prepare the next generation to continue God’s work around the world in a large variety of careers. So when the question “Who’s got next?” comes up—there will always be someone to say, “I’ve got next.”
Errol Morgan (’91,’10)
In Career Ministry as Campus Pastor at Parker Hill Community Church, Pennsylvania
“We want people to know what we’re for, because most churches are known for what they’re against.” Errol Morgan leads his church’s Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, campus in helping people connect to each other and to God.
The Parker Hill family of churches values reaching people in practical ways right where they are: like with a diaper drive that brought in over a million diapers, or how they engage with people online through live-streamed weekend services, or when they host Night to Shine, an event to show special needs individuals how valued and treasured they really are.
“What we’ve chosen to do as best as we can, is to purposely be a part of what’s going on outside of the church walls.” Communities don’t exist for churches—it’s the other way around. Churches exist to reach people in the community with the gospel, wherever those connections can best be made. That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what Morgan says Parker Hill strives to do, too.
“What Jesus did to show people that He was there for them, was He met needs,” Morgan says. “It wasn’t that He rarely went to the synagogue, but [the gospels] talk more about what He did with the people of that day.”
Elizabeth (Whitman) Ransom (’05,’15)
In Career Ministry as a Missionary, Wife, Mom, Counselor, Mentor, Teacher with Baptist Mid-Missions in Italy
Elizabeth Ransom grew up in Italy as the daughter of missionaries Fred (’70, ’71, ’96) and Rachel (Richmond) Whitman (’71, ’78). Now a second-generation missionary, Ransom continues a legacy of serving Christ in the same country with her husband, Daniel, and their five children.
Whitman makes it a priority to serve Christ in both her career ministry as well as her role as a wife and mother. “I see God’s hand and the importance of what I do in the everyday tasks of life, because that’s what God has called me to do. I find great joy in teaching my kids the truths of God’s Word and memorizing verses with them.” She opens her home to her students to show them Christ in the “little” things, “even if it’s just a verse on the wall that they read each week,” she explains. “CSU gave me the preparation I needed so I felt equipped to counsel and confident enough to teach…I appreciated CSU’s focus on God’s Word and it’s sufficiency for everything in life, and the importance of knowing it and applying it.”
Major Mark Worrell (’06)
In Career Ministry as Brigade Chaplain, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii
When people don’t come to church, how do Christians introduce them to Christ? When men and women serve their country, who is there to come alongside them and point them to God’s truth?
For Chaplain Major Mark Worrell, his desire to meet people where they are led him to career ministry as a military chaplain. “I became a Christian at the end of my senior year of high school, then entered college planning to be a fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut,” he recalls. After he was called to ministry, he stepped away from his first pursuit, never planning to go back to the military. While pursuing his Master of Divinity at Baptist Bible Seminary, he met godly chaplains, visited the United States Military Academy at West Point and saw how people could minister alongside soldiers. This opened the door for he and his wife Shelly to consider chaplaincy.
“BBS encouraged me to look for ministry opportunities outside of the local church, even if I was a pastor at a local church,” says Worrell. Professors who opened their homes and lives to him as a student caused him to consider, “How do I interact with people in the community who don’t attend church? Where do they see Jesus?”
Worrell has served in units from the Cavalry to Infantry and from Civil Affairs to Garrison. He assists battalion chaplains in understanding their ministry and gives others a chance to worship through Impact Chapel. He puts his biblical counseling degree emphasis to use in his favorite part of the job. His intentional conversations help him get to know the people he serves with, and some of those relationships lead to biblical counseling opportunities. He admits, “Seeing God work in the lives of soldiers and their family members,” is the most exciting part of the job. “The influence of BBS helped me consider community engagement,” he says. “Army chaplaincy is all about that.”
Who’s got next in career ministry?
Undergraduate student Lisa Richardson
Pursuing Bachelor of Science, Educational Ministries
“After graduation I would love to work within a church either doing general administration or working as a children’s ministry director. Since being at CSU, I have found my love for office and administration work through my job as a student worker in the Office for Student Development. I love working with children. CSU also has prepared me for this by including a children’s ministry apprenticeship with the church I attend while I’m at school.”
