Ryan Deyo
MDiv, 2023 (expected)
I chose Wycliffe College because its faculty and staff believe that people may be called by God into ministry later in life, and they have made a way for people without the normal educational background (like me) to study. I have worked in the trades for seventeen years and did not have an undergraduate degree when applying to Wycliffe, being admitted through the MDiv Special program. My wife and I felt so sure about God's call on our lives that we sold our house so that I could attend school full-time. The fact that Wycliffe is strictly a graduate school has been amazing, as we have been able to find community and relationships with others who are in similar seasons of life to us.
I have spent about 34 years at Sanctus, the Associated Gospel Church in which I grew up. I believe deeply in the Church as one body in Christ, and as such, I wanted to attend a school where I would be exposed to a different expression of church and worship.
I have enjoyed the process of academic biblical studies more than I could have imagined. An essential part of that has been the professors’ encouragement and genuine interest in my thousands of questions, never once making me feel like a burden.
My hope is to become a pastor after graduating Wycliffe, though I will likely continue some form of academic study as well. Wycliffe's approach to pastoral theology, biblical studies, and systematics, is necessary preparation for me to be able to equip and teach my future congregation well.
