A Message to Pastors from Dr. Matt Williams, Vice President for Ministry Affairs
Welcome to this portion of the website, designed specifically for pastors. We hope you will find it helpful as we seek to answer your questions, provide resources, and let you know about various services we provide for pastors.
Mission—Our Purpose
You will continually hear that the mission of Northland is “preparing servant-leaders for Great Commission Living.” It is a college born out of the burden to influence and shape young lives for service to God. It continues with that same focus today. At the heart of that service is the local church ministry. Our desire is to help prepare leaders for today and tomorrow in local churches here and around the world.
Message—Our Presence
Many people use the word heart when describing the atmosphere at Northland. As we seek to prepare leaders for service, the heart is the key. At Northland, we are committed to helping one another crucify the flesh and submit our lives in obedience to God and His Word. We intentionally strive to be a place where worldly behaviors and attitudes stand out as abnormal and where peer pressure is godly rather than worldly.
As we seek to prepare leaders for service, pastors are key to us. Our desire is to send disciples back to you with more purpose and more preparation for ministry. Pastors are important to us. It is from churches like yours that our students come. Our desire is to communicate with you, fellowship with you, and partner with you as we seek to make disciples. But not only that, many of us in administration here at Northland either have been or currently are pastors. As an institution of higher learning with so many incredible resources at our disposal, we desire to provide services that will uplift pastors and strengthen the local church.
Ministry—Our Plan
Dr. Sam Horn articulated well our plan for discipling our students in a Heart article some years ago. “It was because of this philosophy and heart for students that I was drawn to Northland. I can say that even now—after changes in faculty and staff, changes in name, and changes in student body—this philosophy remains unchanged.” He writes:
How has Northland accomplished the mission of raising up a generation of servant-leaders, an army of dedicated soldiers abandoned to the cause of Christ and stationed around the world for over thirty years? The answer is found in our seal. The Northland seal articulates four values that make up the how’s of successful Christian living. Without these life values, no believer will be successful as a soldier of Jesus Christ. These four values are honesty (being transparent with God and appropriately transparent with others about my life), obedience (doing what I should do, when I should do it, in the way it should be done, with the right heart attitude toward the authority asking me to do it), wisdom (the skill, ability, or insight gained daily from God's Word necessary for living a life that honors and glorifies God), and service (investing my life, time, talents, and treasure for the glory of God and the good of others). Read more...
Ministry—Our Partnering with You
We seek to offer helps to you as pastors as we partner with you in this discipleship process. Whether you are seeking to continue your education, connect with other pastors of like faith, or simply receive encouragement and refreshment, we hope to provide something for you.
On-going training: Classes are available through Northland Graduate School and Northland Online.
On-going ministry: Take advantage of the energy and enthusiasm of Northland students in your church ministry and at the same time disciple them as they learn from your experience in ministry.
For those closer to us, students may become involved in a regular extension ministry at your church. (Read more here.)
For those farther away, there are a variety of ways that students become involved in local church ministries around the world—through internships, student teaching, study abroad programs, and more. E-mail the Ministry Affairs office to find out if there is some way that you can get involved in the training of future servant-leaders.
On-going inspiration: Listen to chapel messages at home or in your office. I remember visiting Northland as a parent and sitting in chapel thinking, "My children get to hear this every day!" Now, you can too. Click here to access Northland's chapel messages.
I have the privilege of directing our Ministry Affairs Office where I am able to make that connection between Northland and pastors as well as between our students and the ministries they are involved in. Please contact me or one of my office staff if you have any questions about how we can be of service to you. You can e-mail or call 715.324.6900 ext. 1650. We would love to hear from you!