Dr. Dorian Coover-Cox (MABS, 1984; ThM, 1988; PhD, 2001) and Janet Winston-Young (ThM, 1990), some of the earliest women to graduate with ThM degrees, are two of the steadiest people you will ever meet, their steadiness rooted in their conviction that God is sovereign. Their calling and preparation for ministry display the wisdom and stability of God’s sovereignty. In their unique ministry contexts, they lead others to look at God with clarity and curiosity, and those treks lead to the flourishing of God’s kingdom across the globe.
Dorian arrived on campus for the first time to take a five-week-long Greek class. She hoped to enhance her editing skills through just one summer class; she so enjoyed the coursework that she wrapped up a year’s worth of Greek by the end of the summer. Dorian decided to save her money and return to Dallas the following summer to take Hebrew. Eventually, the registrar required Dorian to enroll in a degree program if she wanted to take more classes. She picked the MABS and spent all her hours taking ThM electives. After graduating with her MABS, Dorian continued taking courses and waited. The school had opened the PhD to women; the ThM would surely follow.
Janet traveled to Dallas all the way from Belgium. She knew the Lord had called her into ministry, and she needed to prepare for that ministry. Janet also longed to expand her horizons beyond the borders of her small country. Like Dorian, she believed that the program she really wanted to enroll in would soon open to women. Janet started with her MABS, aligning all her coursework with the ThM. When women could finally enroll in the ThM, Dorian’s and Janet’s academics transitioned seamlessly into the degree.
Dorian and Janet were determined to obey God and pursue their God-given callings, which included attending seminary. Dorian, Janet, and their peers stepped onto the seminary’s campus because they loved the truth. They occupied classrooms and haunted the library to know the truth and the Truth more deeply. Both Dorian and Janet chose to attend DTS without worrying about the thoughts of others. They knew that God longed to prepare them within this specific context for the good works he had sovereignly prepared for them to do. Attending seminary would sculpt their minds and hearts for their God-ordained, kingdom work. Dorian and Janet may have felt a little out of place in some of their classrooms, but they memorized paradigms, sketched outlines, and soaked up teaching methods displayed by their professors.
When Dorian first started taking language classes, women were new to the language classrooms. Dorian now serves as an Old Testament faculty member, and countless students have encouraged others to take her Hebrew classes. Dorian walks alongside students, helping them “learn Hebrew in the process of coming to know the Lord better.” She has been honoring this call since she began working as a grader and tutor during her days as a student. Dorian’s tutoring helped her better understand what she liked about the editing process. She enjoys helping people learn and become better in their craft. Dorian edits the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, while also serving as an assistant editor for Bibliotheca Sacra. She also served as a contributing editor for The NET Bible, author of the study notes to Exodus for the HCSB Study Bible, and a translator for the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). Her seminary training equips her to serve in these roles and to bolster authors and their writing. Dorian says that education is both a privilege and a responsibility since what you learn transfers to others. Not only are you shaped by your learning, but your learning also shapes those around you.
Janet serves alongside her husband, Fred, who she met at DTS. Together, Janet and Fred run what they call a two-track ministry. Firstly, they work alongside believers to plant and strengthen churches throughout Janet’s home country, Belgium. They host conferences and seminars, helping churches cast vision and restoring churches to health. They also offer discipleship training and classes on how to read the Bible. Secondly, they work with non-believers, primarily through the non-profit basketball ministry they started together. This ministry magnifies the gospel in Belgium and ensures that Fred and Janet continually minister to those who do not know Jesus. The Lord has specifically gifted Janet with evangelism. After living through the bombing at the Brussels airport in 2016, the Lord has opened doors for her to lean into her evangelistic giftings. She simultaneously shares her survival story and the gospel with those who know Jesus and non-believers—all drawn to the gospel truths that marked her experience.
Both Janet and Dorian invite others to witness who God is, his works, and his ways. They embody a deep love for the truth and a deep love for others. When it comes to truth and love, Janet believes that teaching truth and loving well requires simplicity. Simplicity does not water down the truth. Simplicity crouches, eye-level with the listener, and places the truth gently into their hands. It retains the depth behind a concept; it brings that depth closer, like a magnifying glass, allowing the giver and receiver to inspect it together. People who bring others close, inviting them to look at the things of God, love well when they make things simple.
Bringing clarity to the truth is love in action. God himself has shown and still shows his love to us by making things clear through Christ, and we wonder at his goodness. Since God has taken care of us and brought us close to his Son, should we not invite others closer too, making the truth accessible and clear while still marveling over its depths? Something Dorian loves to do is invite people to come and see. Since God has extended the invitation to us, we are to extend that same invitation to others—come and see what God has done; marvel at the mysteries made clear. Dorian and Janet steadily extend that invitation to others, their hearts assured that their God is sovereign and wondrous to behold.
