Liam MacKichan
MTS, 2021
Although my undergraduate background is in engineering science, my motivation to build up the church led me to pursue further studies at Wycliffe College. Throughout the first and third years of my Wycliffe studies, I worked full time as a structural Engineer in Training while continuing to be a part of Toronto Alliance Church.
My Wycliffe MTS thesis was titled "A Multi-Dimensional Framework of Spiritual Maturity: How Does Pauline Literature Describe the Nature and Function of Spiritual Maturity?" The thesis allowed me to dive into my interests regarding how leaders are equipped to guide people into maturity and what spiritual maturity looks like in the lives of Christ followers. I am particularly interested in the "small" expressions of church (e.g., several believers gathering in a home to share a meal, read the Bible, and love their neighborhood together), which the epistles seem to present as uniquely fit to guide people into spiritual maturity.
I feel just as confident as when I began my studies at Wycliffe that I want to give my life to building up the church by pastoring and equipping people. However, what did change was my original expectation that this would occur within a full-time, vocational, pastoral role. I am beginning my teacher education studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) this September (2021). I look forward to teaching high school math and physics, while also making space and time to live into "small" expressions of the church to see believers equipped and growing in maturity.
