About Angellous (tradition, attending, preach, churches, scriptures)

[angellous_evangellous]

I was raised and educated Southern Baptist in West Texas.

I graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 2001 with a BA in Religion and 2003 with an MA in Biblical Studies, New Testament. Then I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX for two years to learn Hebrew, French, and German to prepare for Ph.D. studies. Now I attend Brite Divinity School, where I am finishing up a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, New Testament.

I was ordained in 2003 by a Baptist Church in Lubbock, TX, and I have been serving Baptist churches (and churches of other denomenations) in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico for the past 10 years. I'm not a pastor, I am a scholar, but my tradition affirms scholarship as a ministry. Due to the highly volatile nature of Baptist ministry these days, with Baptist ministers being trained to destroy eachother's careers and other people's lives rather than feed God's flock, I may not remain Baptist very long. I have been attending a Presbyterian church when I am not serving, looking for a denomenation that will recognize my creditials.

I preach regularly and offer countless other services to churches as requested in a wide area, but most of my time is devoted to the study of our sacred Scriptures and producing scholarly work for the academy and the church. I have not published my work yet, but am set to publish a wide variety of studies in preparation for the beginning of my professional and academic career. I am a member of several scholarly guilds and ministerial/ecumenical alliances.

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

I was raised and educated Southern Baptist in West Texas.

I graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 2001 with a BA in Religion and 2003 with an MA in Biblical Studies, New Testament. Then I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX for two years to learn Hebrew, French, and German to prepare for Ph.D. studies. Now I attend Brite Divinity School, where I am finishing up a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, New Testament.

I was ordained in 2003 by a Baptist Church in Lubbock, TX, and I have been serving Baptist churches (and churches of other denomenations) in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico for the past 10 years. I'm not a pastor, I am a scholar, but my tradition affirms scholarship as a ministry. Due to the highly volatile nature of Baptist ministry these days, with Baptist ministers being trained to destroy eachother's careers and other people's lives rather than feed God's flock, I may not remain Baptist very long. I have been attending a Presbyterian church when I am not serving, looking for a denomenation that will recognize my creditials.

I preach regularly and offer countless other services to churches as requested in a wide area, but most of my time is devoted to the study of our sacred Scriptures and producing scholarly work for the academy and the church. I have not published my work yet, but am set to publish a wide variety of studies in preparation for the beginning of my professional and academic career. I am a member of several scholarly guilds and ministerial/ecumenical alliances.

Very cool AE; I have often wondered about the details of your ministry. I would say that your ministry extends here to RF as well.

luna

[jacquie4000]

It is always nice when people on RF share there lives thank you.

[Mike182]

those are some really respectable credentials!

[Wilder]

How fun, i never thought i could live off religion, i admire those who do

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Very cool AE; I have often wondered about the details of your ministry. I would say that your ministry extends here to RF as well.

luna

I have three major ministries: scholarship, fund raising, and ministerial supply.

The scholarship is self-evident - a Ph.D.

As for fund-raising, I serve as a consultant for a firm that helps churches raise money for buildings, etc. I don't want to divulge the company's name for privacy issues. I don't want some wacko to call.

Ministerial supply = I am "on call" for several churches in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. I have relationships with several churches and help ministers out with whatever they need - I preach (or perform other ministry duties such as music, youth ministries, revivals, etc etc) for them when they are sick, resign, or offer a bottle of Jack when they need it. I do this for every position in ministry - youth ministers, music, education, whatever. The company name is Angellous, Incorporated.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by Wilder

How fun, i never thought i could live off religion, i admire those who do

Actually, I've been losing money for the past several years.

EDIT: I'm hoping that this trend will change when I am no longer a full-time student. I'll be eligible to be hired as a New Testament professor next Spring, and I am in contact with several schools now who may be interested in me - particularly if I can publish a few articles and my dissertation as planned. However, I am very young and may need to serve as a pastor for a few years first before I can teach in a seminary. My primary interest is teaching religion and classics in a state school which has no reservations hiring your profs rather than a seminary, but beggers can't be chosers.

[!Fluffy!]

Baptist ministers being trained to destroy each other's careers and other people's lives

i'm sorry to hear it. how? is this something going on with the prof's, the seminaries, baptist leadership?

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by Moon Woman

i'm sorry to hear it. how? is this something going on with the prof's, the seminaries, baptist leadership?

It's definately in Baptist leadership. Our denomenational structure was completely taken over by a minority fanatically conservative group which took the presidency and with it controlled every descision-making committee within the governing structure of the denomenation, turning a democratic republic into a dictatorship - an all to familiar story from Rome to Star Wars. It was a process that took 30 years, recently reaching its pinnacle with Paige Patterson finally gaining control of Southwestern Seminary in 2001, firing all the female profs and instilling his radical agenda into its 1500+ graduates per year.

Its from the top down.