John Minnema (ThM, 1982)

Jake Minnema (MACL, 2019), the Pastor of Student Ministries at Hawthorne Gospel Church in Hawthorne, New Jersey, serves under his dad, John Minnema (ThM, 1982), the church’s Senior Pastor. One of the many things Jake admires about his dad is his leadership style. According to Jake, it is a style characterized by constant humility and grace, rooted in John’s quiet confidence in God’s calling on his life. In John’s everyday life, those Christlike qualities appear often. He humbly fulfills his regular responsibilities, while carrying himself in a manner that portrays his assurance in the God who gave him those responsibilities. John’s door is always open for everyone, whether staff members or congregants, as he lavishly extends grace and loves others well. John is also deeply committed to God’s Word. John’s highest calling is to properly exegete the Word for the people under his care. He has faithfully tended that calling for forty-five years, serving first as Hawthorne Gospel Church’s Youth Director for four years and then as her Senior Pastor for forty years and counting.  

Over the course of its one-hundred-and-one-year history, Hawthorne Gospel Church has only had two pastors: Hermann Braunlin, who pastored the congregation for a little over sixty years, and John. The church got its start in 1925 when a small group of believers started holding weekly meetings. They gathered on Sunday afternoons to preach the gospel, evangelize, and host Bible teachers. At first, the group met in the local fire hall, but before too long, the congregants raised enough money to purchase a tent. They called Hermann Braunlin to be their first pastor, and in 1928, Hawthorne Gospel Church used its tent to host its first-ever Bible conference. The conference became an annual tradition. Every summer, the wider community would gather under the tent, listening to Bible expositors for a week or two at a time. As Hawthorne Gospel hosted those conferences, a relationship with DTS began to bloom. Conference speakers included Harry Ironside, Charles Ryrie (ThM, 1947; ThD, 1949), John Walvoord (ThM, 1934; ThD, 1936), Dwight Pentecost (ThM, 1941; ThD, 1956), and Merrill Unger (ThM, 1943; ThD, 1945). In more recent years, speakers have included DTS faculty members such as Norman Geisler, Mark Bailey (PhD, 1997), Mark Yarborough (ThM, 1996; PhD, 2008), Michael Svigel (ThM, 2001; PhD, 2008), Darrell Bock (ThM, 1979), and John Hannah (ThM, 1971; ThD, 1974)—all traveling to Hawthorne, New Jersey, to preach God’s Word. John attended one of those conferences not long after coming to know the Lord as a college freshman, and it was there that the Lord worked on John’s heart. That experience, listening to Dallas professors preach the Word, prompted him to attend DTS.   

John spent the next several school years in Dallas, working on his ThM. He thoroughly enjoyed his seminary days, and he is especially thankful for the friendships he formed on the Dallas campus, bonding with classmates over shared Greek-exam dread and preaching seminars. They bonded (less stressfully) over their basketball league, which John thoroughly enjoyed, especially as a six-foot-six former college player. John lived in Lincoln Hall for the first few years before moving into a one-bedroom apartment in Woodstone, a nearby complex, with four other guys. He lived there for two years. John spent his summers at home in New Jersey, which is where he met his wife, Laura. They got married in 1981, right before John’s last year of seminary. 

Attending the seminary in the late 70s and early 80s, John learned from several classic DTS professors. He sat under John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, Howard Hendricks (ThM, 1950), Stan Toussaint (ThM, 1955; ThD, 1957), Zane Hodges (ThM, 1958), and Roy Zuck (ThM, 1957; ThD, 1961), just to name a few. It wasn’t just their classroom content that prepared John for the pastorate. John’s exposure to the lived lives of those godly men etched a deep love for God’s Word and God’s people into his heart. John especially enjoyed his time with Dr. Pentecost. John’s youngest son, Jonathan (ThM, 2016), enjoyed sitting under Dr. Pentecost’s teaching too—a sweet gift for which both John and Jonathan are thankful. John also appreciated Dr. Zuck. One Thanksgiving, when John was still living in Lincoln Hall, Dr. Zuck invited him over for their family’s Thanksgiving meal. John says he will never forget sitting at their dinner table. Dr. Zuck had everyone go around the table, listing the books of the Bible, an activity followed by a traditional Thanksgiving pastime—piling on the couch and watching football.  

When asked what advice he would give fresh seminary graduates, John responded, “Well, I guess the very things Paul told Timothy.” Paul exhorted young Timothy to preach the Word, holding tightly to the faith delivered to the saints, and to entrust others with that good deposit that they might preach the gospel (2 Tim 1:13; 2:2). In many ways, John himself has followed Paul’s advice for the last four decades, holding tightly to the faith handed down to the saints and faithfully preaching the Word. John came to DTS because a group of faithful believers gathered under a tent to preach God’s Word. John carries on their legacy, as well as that of his DTS professors, as he exposits the Scriptures and cares for his flock. He carries out his God-given tasks with humility and grace, confident that the God who called him will bring every good work to completion (Phil 1:6). That kind of life requires endurance, something else Paul exhorted Timothy to practice (2 Tim 2:3; 4:5). According to John, growing into Paul’s advice never really stops. He says, “It really always comes back to spending time with the Lord, growing in obedience to him and enduring the difficulties as we joyfully wait for his glorious coming.” For John, there is no greater joy than serving the Lord. Digging deeply into his Word not only brings fruit to the ministry; it excites the heart for the Lord and one’s calling.