DARREN PAULSON (M.Div. ‘07), with respect to his call to the ministry, was a late bloomer but a quick study and a fast grower. I first got to know Darren some five or six years ago when he showed up in my course on “Calvin and the Reformed Tradition.” He was well read, well spoken, always prepared, filled with enthusiasm for the subject, and not afraid to ask hard questions. It was obvious that he also had a love for ministry and for reaching men and women with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He possessed the heart of a pastor and the zeal of an evangelist. Let me tell you just a little of his story.

Darren became a Christian after a successful background in business and sales. He was thirty when he received Christ and soon became an active member of Parkway Community Church in Fairfield, California. His pastor, Rev. Dan Deckard, began a reading group with twelve members of his congregation who were seeking a closer walk with the Lord and a deeper grounding in the faith. Darren joined this group and began to read omnivorously. They read classic texts by Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Edwards (after whom the group was called the “Jonathan Edwards Society”). They also read well-known contemporary exponents of the evangelical faith: John Stott, Jim Packer, John Piper, Don Carson, and others.

As Darren prayed and read more and more, he became convinced that God was leading him to begin formal seminary training. He explored part-time and extension options. But through external circumstances, including the sale of his company, it became clear to Darren that he should give himself full-time to the work of preparing for the ministry. He had never heard of Beeson until Dr. John Armstrong mentioned that we were the kind of school that he should consider. He came to Beeson as a single student and threw himself gung-ho into the life of the community here. Not only did he excel in his classwork, but he made a priority of regular worship in chapel and involvement in local church life. He came to know his professors, the Beeson staff, and his fellow students at more than a surface level. He looks back on his three years at Beeson as among the best of his life.

Darren came to Beeson as “a card-carrying Calvinist” and he deepened his understanding of the Reformed faith while he was here. But he also learned to appreciate what the apostle Paul called “the multi-colored wisdom of God” displayed in every sector of the Body of Christ. Darren says that he is “most thankful for how God used Beeson to ‘balance’ me. By that, I mean I am not afraid to tell my congregation ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I am wrestling with that, myself’ when we ponder the mysteries of God. The ecumenical spirit at Beeson is such a blessing. Meeting Anglicans and Lutherans and Methodists, et al. who love the Lord right alongside us Baptists…what an incredible experience. Don’t get me wrong—I still have my theological convictions, but it is nice not to have to be so dogmatic and ‘right’ all the time.”

And where is Darren Paulson now? After a short-term mission experience in Ireland, he has returned to Northern California. Under the leadership of Pastor Deckard, Darren has planted a new congregation in Vacaville, California. Providence Community Church in Vacaville was launched on January 27, 2008, exactly thirteen years to the day that Darren received Christ. The church is new and growing but already it has a record of active service in the community working with, among other ministries, Opportunity House, a shelter for single women and mothers. I asked Darren what he would change about Beeson if he were Dean, and he said, “more preaching class requirements.” Though Darren took three semesters of preaching courses, he now says, “I should have taken much more. I had no idea how difficult it would be preaching each and every week.”

A satisfied customer is one who recommends the product to others. Already Darren Paulson is directing other students from Northern California to Beeson. And, oh yes, I mentioned that Darren was a single student here at Beeson. But that is about to change soon. He is now engaged to Elizabeth Scott (who is pictured with him here) and they plan to be married next Fall. Please pray for Darren and Elizabeth as they enter their new life together. Pray for Providence Community Church in Vacaville. Pray that God will continue to raise up servants like Darren Paulson who have a passion to know Christ and to make him known.