My name is Adam. I’m planning to become a pastor, but knowing God comes first.

After high school, Michigan native Adam Mater attended a community college for a semester, but dropped out in order to work for a ministry in his hometown. It wasn’t long, however, before he realized that he could benefit from furthering his biblical and theological education. “At the time I heard about RBC, I was teaching junior high youth group and occasionally on Wednesdays and Sundays when I was asked to fill in. I soon realized how little I knew and I needed to have a biblical education to be more effective in pastoral teaching. I chose to attend RBC because I knew I could get an incredible biblical education from some of the greatest Christian minds of our time.”

Now that he’s here, Adam is already seeing the fruit of his studies. “RBC is equipping me with an abundance of sound biblical doctrine and honing my ability to interpret the Bible through studies in hermeneutics, church history, and the languages.” When he graduates with the class of 2017, he plans to apply these skills in seminary in further preparation for ministry.

But while Adam senses a call to pastoral ministry, he encourages prospective students to consider RBC for whatever calling they have. “If you desire to serve God in any way with your life, RBC does a fantastic job at readying minds for God-honoring service.” He also has another bit of advice for future students: while the work at RBC is challenging, they should find motivation in Paul’s admonition to “work heartily, as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23-24), and not see the difficulty of academic inquiry as a burden. “After all,” he says, “our education is for the service of Christ.”