Help Fund Kevin's PhD Studies!
Dear friends,
During the past few decades sexuality has dominated the conversation in the church, including in my own denomination — the RCA. What is sex for? What are our bodies for? What does the witness of Scripture and the history of the Christian church have to teach us in this moment? How are we being challenged to read Scripture anew? More deeply, I’ve been praying that we would, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, [bear] with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2) as we seek the face of God together and wait upon the Lord.
I was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament nearly seven years ago. Since that time I have been serving as the pastor of a small RCA congregation in Port Ewen, New York. Over the past few years I have felt God calling me in a new direction. I invited friends and mentors and colleagues to pray with and for me. Throughout, God has confirmed in me this new call: to pursue a PhD. This past fall, in God’s grace, I was accepted into the PhD program at Wycliffe College (part of the Toronto School of Theology in Toronto, Canada). I couldn't be more excited! I will be studying historical theology. My specific area of study will be the questions of sex and sexuality, the body and its desires, particularly asking: what does celibacy have to teach us about sex?
You might be wondering: what does celibacy have to do with it? That’s exactly my question, too! In most of our conversations in the RCA, and the church more broadly, we talk a lot about sex and marriage, but we have talked little about celibacy. And I think this is to our detriment. Jesus, the true human, was single and celibate. St. Paul holds out celibacy as a legitimate and holy calling, alongside marriage, and says that he wishes more would be like him! (1 Cor. 7:7). The eclipse of celibacy in the Protestant tradition renders our modern conversations about sex anemic.
For this reason, I think my studies and future dissertation will bear directly upon the life and mission of the church as it witnesses to our modern world. Despite the message of our modern culture, sex isn’t everything. A life without sex can be just as fulfilling and God-honoring as any other, pointing beyond sexual pleasure to our deepest and most fundamental desire: our union with Christ. I believe that my research can serve the future life of the RCA and contribute, in a positive way, to our conversations around human sexuality.
This is not just an academic exercise for me. It is personal. I experience same-sex attraction. Yet, because of my understanding of the witness of Scripture and the teaching of the church, I hold to a traditional Christian sexual ethic. This means that I live as a single, celibate man. I think my life (and studies) brings something to the table that currently is missing.
But it is personal in another way: I bring my experience of pastoring others who are struggling to make sense of their sexuality and desires, gay and straight, who are wondering if marriage is the only way. I have seen the damage that results when churches don’t know how to make space for folks who are single and do not feel called to marriage. The family of God is made up of the widowed and the newly wed, the barren couple and the couple that has children, the single and the married. We need the witness of God-honoring marriages, most certainly. But we must also learn from those who are called to be single and celibate, undivided in devotion to “please the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:32).
To that end I am asking for your support. Most importantly, I ask for you to pray for me in the coming year as I transition from full-time ministry to being a full-time student again. Pray that I would honor God in my studies, that I would be faithful to Jesus as I seek to love the Lord with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength. Pray, too, that my gifts would be used for the life and witness of the gospel and the church.
Second, if you feel called by God, I would be so grateful to receive your financial support. The costs associated with this move are many, and I am in need of your help. Along with tuition, there are other significant costs: books for classes, moving expenses, health insurance, cost-of-living expenses such as housing and food, etc. This is a major change for me as I leave behind a stable, full-time job. Yet it is what I, and many others, believe God is calling me to do. I take these steps in faith, trusting in our Lord to provide. As you are called by God, I’d be so happy for you to be a part of this work. I truly believe that you would not only be supporting me, but that your gift would be for the church. The work I am being called to do by God is not for my own sake, but for the sake of building up the church of Jesus Christ.
Thank you in advance for any support you are able to offer. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions!
In Christ,
Kevin