Alumni Updates
1960s
James W. Andrews (ThM, 1963) has served for over sixty years at Lake Bible Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
1970s
Mark S. Hopper (ThM, 1975) married his wife, Susan, on Valentines Day after having attended the same church.
David B. Wyrtzen (ThM, 1975; ThD, 1980) teaches Old Testament and biblical languages at Southern Bible Institute and College, which is now fully accredited.
Above: Congrats to Gilbert B. (ThM, 1960) and Sally Weaver on seventy years of marriage!
Norman Mather’s (ThM, 1976) son, Dr. Robert T. Mathers, Ph.D. (Akron) is Distinguished Professor of Science in Chemistry with The Pennsylvania State University System and member of the Royal Chemical Society.
Charles D. Tabor III (ThM, 1978) celebrated fifty years of marriage to his wife, Suzanne.
Above: Virgil L. Reeves (ThM, 1979) and his wife, Lois, celebrated their fiftieth anniversary and had a small group of DTS alumni in attendance! (L to R) Bob (ThM, 1987) & Brenda Kinzel, Virgil & Lois Reeves, Harry & Kathy Walker (ThM, 1975), Bob & Susan Osburn (ThM, 1978).
James A. Smith (ThM, 1982; DMin, 1999) serves as the chaplain to the graduate students at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. He has over forty years of Leadership Coaching experience with over twenty-five thousand sessions and seminars. He recently addressed the United States Air Force senior medical leaders and is focused on discipling college students. He is the author of The Master Coach Model, which was adapted from his doctoral dissertation at DTS.
Robert Boyd, Jr. (ThM, 1983) rejoices with his ministry, New Fire for Christ, which saw over 88,500 people pray to receive Christ. New Fire for Christ operates in ten countries, has planted over fifty churches, and is in over two hundred universities. Robert is also one of the co-founders of the World Evangelization Conference at DTS.
Kenneth J. Muckle (ThM, 1983) recently retired after twenty-seven years as an ABWE missionary in Spain. Ken and his wife, Carolyn, are settling into life in Lancaster, PA with their four children and four grandchildren nearby.
1980s
On October 9, 2022, Valmore Vigue (ThM, 1980) resumed the pastoral role at Crossroads Bible Church in Madison, Maine. He served there from 2004 to 2009. Last winter, Valmore became sick and was diagnosed with inoperable, terminal cancer. The doctors predicted he would die by July 4, 2023. His church family prayed earnestly and the Lord continued to sustain him. Treatments and prayer have shrunk the tumors—to God be the glory, Valmore is a living miracle.
Cary Clifton (ThM, 1981) trains cross-cultural workers and assists Asian leaders to help them equip their own congregants.
After retiring in October 2022, Paul Utnage (ThM, 1981; DMin, 2012) began to serve as an Interim Lead Pastor two weeks after retirement in November 2022, focusing on strengthening hurting churches and leadership cultures in a similar way as his formal career. He currently serves as the Interim Lead Pastor at Calvary Church in St Peters, Missouri through Interim Pastor Ministries IPM.
Above: Ron Klassen (ThM, 1982) retired from his role at Rural Home Missionary Agency (RHMA) and has handed the baton to Adam Kipp (ThM, 2008),
Timothy (ThM, 1984; PhD) and Michele Cole celebrate the Lord’s goodness in fortyu years of pastoral ministry and are currently involved in a church plant in Seminole, Florida. Their middle son, Zachary J. Cole, (ThM, 2013) is serving Christ at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, and as Associate Professor of New Testament and Assistant Pastor at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Orlando.
Gary S. Karwoski (ThM, 1984; DMin, 1996) retired from full-time ministry on Aug 21, 2022 on the seventeenth anniversary of planting Cornerstone Community Church in Brookfield, Illinois. For thirty-six years, Gary pastored four churches in Tennessee, Minnesota and Illinois. He also taught part-time in Bible colleges in Ghana, Ukraine, and Chicago (Moody Bible Institute). He currently is an at-large speaker and teacher.
Dave Moore (MABS, 1984) was interviewed on The Table Podcast by Darrell Bock. The interview revolved around Dave’s latest book, Stuck in the Present: How History Frees and Forms Christians.
S. Michael Latsko (ThM, 1985) enjoyed twenty-two years of pastoral ministry before switching over to the missions side with Frontiers in 2004. Since then, he’s become increasingly involved with global networks like Vision 5:9, Finishing the Task, 2414, and Lausanne. In January 2023, he and a few friends started The Engage Network, which focuses on reaching over 1,600 unengaged, unreached peoples.
Robert L. Dyer (MACE, 1988) serves as the Director of Biblical Immersion and Worldview at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, Texas.
Cameron R. Garven (ThM, 1989) serves as the president of Productive Lives, a training organization that motivating people to improve their lives and the lives of others through servant living and leadership.
1990s
Michael Karpf (ThM, 1993; DMin, 2019) shared his DTS training with a group of nearly seventy pastors in India.
CORRECTION: Stanley C. Newton (ThM, 1996) pastors at Jacob’s Church in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.
Mark A. Evans (ThM, 1997) self-published Broken Pencils: A Sinner’s Look at Genesis in July 2021.
April Moreton (MACE, 1997) serves as Executive Director of Advancement at The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM).
In 2020, based on 2 Corinthians 4:15, Brad E. Robertson (MACE, 1997) started Gracereach for the purpose of reaching more people with the good news of God’s grace freely given in Jesus.
Jason D. Shepherd (ThM, 1997) pastors at Christian Church of Midland in Midland, Texas.
2000s
Todd Groat (MACE, 2000) serves as the Senior Pastor at Reeve Evangelical Free Church in Clear Lake, Wisconsin and has served there since May 2000. Tood also became the part-time Director of Plethos Global, a discipleship ministry aimed at resourcing and equipping church leaders. He also accepted the role of Lead Choaching Training with the ReachNetwork of the EFCA. ReachNetwork coaching works to train and provide coaches to all church planters within the EFCA.
Above: Shiela M. Catanzarite (MACE, 1990) published the first volume of Living Verse Language Arts in Poetry, a curriculum to teach language arts through poetry in a simple, beautiful, and gentle resource.
Above: Dave Shepherd (ThM, 1992) spoke at the annual national Cru conference in Slovakia. He and Michael Meyerdirk (MACM, 2021) realized their DTS connection on the last day!
Kelley M. Mathews (ThM, 2000) transferred from Northern Seminary to Houston Theological Seminary to continue her doctoral studies under Dr. Lynn Cohick. Her latest book, 40 Questions About Women in Ministry was released January, 2023 with Kregel.
Ben Mathew (MABC, 2001) recently accepted a new position as a Professor of Clinical Counseling in the Seminary and School of Counseling at Columbia International University, in Columbia, South Carolina.
Robert Andrew Barlow (ThM, 2002) completed a PhD in Biblical Studies in 2023 at Asbury Theological Seminary under the mentorship of Dr. Ben Witherington III. His dissertation is entitled, “A New Identity for Anatolia: Investigating the Abutment of OIKOS Texts on Jewish Temple Imagery (1 Pet 2:4-10) and a Greco-Roman Haustafel (1 Pet 2:11-3:12) Visualized through the Intersection between Social Identity Approaches and the Social Character of Paraenesis.”
E. Esther Dureus (MABS, 2002) serves as the CEO and President of Beth-Hanan Foundation. Beth-Hanan Foundation (BHF) was founded on March 6, 2006, as a multi-faceted nonprofit organization. As a faith-based Christian organization, BHF believes that the grace of God has the power to transform the lives of children and families locally and around the world.
Jason K. Gupta (ThM, 2003) and his wife, Kerri, serve in Colorado Springs as directors overseeing the ministries of WorldVenture in ten countries across the Americas.
Lauren Walter McClain (MACE, 2005) and her family moved to Auburn, Alabama in May 2023 to escape the Texas heat and be closer to grandparents. Lauren has started her own counseling practice focused on teens, women and couples. Her family attends Grace Auburn church, and they enjoy trying all the new restaurants in town.
Justin K. Hughes (MABC, 2008), owner of Dallas Counseling, PLLC, is a clinician and writer, passionate about helping those impacted by OCD and Anxiety Disorders. He serves on the IOCDF’s OCD & Faith Task Force and is the Dallas Ambassador for OCD Texas. Working with a diversity of clients, he is in both psychology and theology, regularly helping anyone to understand the interaction between faith and OCD.
Christopher D. Sneller (MACE, 2008) published Exporting Progressivism to Communist China: How New York’s Union Seminary Liberalized Christianity in Twentieth-Century China in the Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series.
2010s
Matthew T. Martens (MABS, 2010) published his first book, Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal with Crossway in 2023. Drawing on over twenty years as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney, Matt proposes a Christian theology of criminal justice and applies it to the American justice system.
Cristian G. Ramirez (ThM, 2011) has been working as a missionary in Colombia since 2012. By God’s grace, he has helped create a Bible Institute for the local churches and pastors a chapel in the North of Bogotá.
After 12 years in pastoral ministry, Jürgen Schulz (ThM, 2011) accepted the call to become the next president of Adelshofen Theological Seminary. It is located in the beautiful south of Germany, near Heidelberg. In 2023, they celebrated their sixty-fifth anniversary and are in a transitional phase as they prepare to train the next generations of clergy for ministry in a post-Christian context.
Mark A. Phillips’s (ThM, 2012) oldest daughter Hannah graduated from Moody Bible Institute May 2022, his son Jacob graduated from Salome High School and is now working in the solar industry, and his youngest daughter Alyssa graduated from Central Noble in May 2023 and is now attending Purdue in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jennifer and Mark have been married twenty-seven years.
John D. White (MACE, 2012) has served as a youth pastor, senior pastor, small group coach, curriculum writer, and church planter in and around the Houston area since 2006. He is married to Denise and the father of their son, Trey. Currently, John serves as the senior pastor of Trinity Fellowship in Friendswood, Texas.
Forado “Dodie” Leonor Serrano (ThM, 2014) and his wife, Celia, serve at Punchbowl Baptist Church in Punchbowl, New South Wales in Australia. Dodie has been serving as the Senior Pastor since November 1, 2020. Previously, Dodie served as Senior Pastor at Queens Bible Church in Queens, New York since 2013.
James L. Burnside (MACE, 2015) is both founder and teaching pastor @biblestudynow on Instagram. The global discipleship ministry reaches on average 244K per month and in the last over 1.3 million people worldwide. The ministry provides verse-by-verse, Genesis to Revelation livestreams with live Q&A. In addition, Jimmy serves believers through one-on-one discipleship, courses, leadership training, and eGuides for discipleship.
Brandon P. (MABS, 2016) and Christine Giella welcomed their baby girl Camille on February 13, 2023. Christine runs a mental health counseling practice and Brandon works full-time with his marketing firm, Giella Media.
Dorian A. Harris (MACS, 2019) is a bi-vocational teacher and pastor. He teaches secondary Bible at Lakeland Christian School in Lakeland, Florida and pastors St. Paul AME Church in Lake Alfred, Florida.
Tawni Jacobson (MABC, 2019) has been enjoying her work and ministry as a therapist in Utah, a region of the country with less than 10% of the population professing a biblical faith in Jesus. Soon, Tawni will be relocating to Colorado where she will continue her professional counseling ministry, both remotely and in person.
2020s
S. Brooks Nesse (ThM, 2021) began his two-year pastoral residency with Christ Community at their Olathe Campus in the Kansas City area. While a resident, he serves as an associate pastor.
After seventeen years of pastoral service, Ivis Fernandes (DMin, 2022) and his family begin a new ministry in preparing future pastors, missionaries and leaders for the Brazilian church, through the Seminário Bíblico Palavra da Vida.
Stewart Severino (MACL, 2022) serves as the Head of Innovation for The Navigators. Part of his work is to find digital pathways for new and existing believers, moving them into disciplemaking communities. He also consults for Chip Ingram‘s Living on the Edge ministry as their fractional chief marketing officer where I help lead their digital efforts to reach the next generation.
Congratulations to T.S. (MACS, 2022; MAAE, 2022) and Taylor Weaver on the birth of their first son, Noah! T.S. serves as the Engage Pastor/Missions and Men at Grace Bible Church in Dallas, Texas.
Bellanira Guerrero (MACE, 2023) has been married to Marcos for 28 years, and they have three wonderful boys, one sweet daughter in-law and two beautiful granddaughters. Bella has a compassionate heart for women. Through a cup of coffee Bella has been teaching, speaking, and sharing Jesus for over a decade. Her ministry, Cafe con Bella, has taken her across North America to teach and share God’s word.
Above: The Gonzales family has many DTS alumni! (Adults L to R) Joy Gonzales (MACM, 2023), Alex Gonzales (MBTS, 2021), Dr. Alex Gonzales (STM, 2006; PhD, 2012; associate professor of Bible Exposition), Dr. Deedy Gonzales (DEdM, 2021), Deanna Marie Gonzales (MAC, current).
Obituaries
Robert E. Williams (ThM, 1956) went to be with the Lord in late 2023.
Paul U. Harbaugh (ThM, 1957) went to be with the Lord on March 26, 2023. Paul and Ludy served as missionaries with Biblical Ministries Worldwide in Hagåtña, Guam.
William W. Briggs (ThM, 1958) passed away September 8, 2023.
John Richard Siemens, Jr. (1961) passed away on August 18, 2023. John and his wife, Gracie, served in two African countries as missionaries—Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia. John also served as SW Area Director for the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society, later known as World Venture.
Sutherland MacLean (ThM, 1962) died January 26, 2023. Suthy served as a missionary in Europe, working primarily in France and Ukraine. He served in Bible Open Air Missions, Fellowship International Mission, and Crossworld.
Scott McCarty (ThM, 1962) passed away January 5, 2022. Scott cofounded the Evangelism and Missionary Information Training Center in Grenoble, France. He was on the editor board of the Swiss Biblical Reflection Journal, Promesses. He also wrote numerous pieces, including Cremation or Burial and the upcoming book, For Whom Did Christ Die?
Franklin J. Shannon (ThM, 1963) died June 15, 2023. Franklin served as the head of several music departments and taught theology, Bible, and pastoral ministry. He also served overseas in, Haiti, the Philippines, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia founding the Voronezh Theological Seminary in Voronezh, Russia. He also founded Cooperative International Studies, a consulting firm for Christian higher education institutions.
Rodney H. “Swede” Anderson (ThM, 1964) passed away August 17, 2023. During ministry with political leaders on the East Coast, he earned his DMin at Westminster Theological Seminary. Swede and his wife, Judy, served around the country and world with Campus Crusade for Christ.
Richard Lee Ruble (ThD, 1964) passed away on August 16, 2023. Richard started the Psychology Department of John Brown University in 1964 and served as a professor of theology, psychology, and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Richard loved archeology, his family, and the local church.
Donald R. Glenn (ThM, 1965) went to be with the Lord on June 8, 2023. Don worked as a member of the Old Testament faculty at DTS until 2003 and was involved in Bible translation. He worked extensively on serval English translations, including the New International Version, The Message, and The NET Bible. Don worked with doctoral students, served at DTS in Luke’s Pantry, and at Community Bible Chapel’s children’s camp.
Larry E. Williams (ThM, 1975) passed away September 23, 2023.
Eileen B. Rodriguez, the wife of H. Rick Rodriguez (MABS, 1976), passed away March 25, 2023. She and Rick were married for fifty-five years with over forty years of ministry experience. They served at Grace Chapel in Havertown, Pennsylvania, Florida Bible College, Church of the Open Door in York, Pennsylvania, Calvary Fellowship Church in Downingtown, and Global Training Network. Together, they modeled a faithful and loving relationship to those around them.
Right: William E. Mouser Jr. (ThM, 1978) went to be with the Lord on May 20, 2023. Bill served in Austria as the pastor of the International Chapel of Vienna during the 1980s. He was founder and Director of Five Aspects Ministries and vicar of St. Athanasius Anglican Church from 2004-2020 where he led worship.
Right: Carl Sanders (STM, 1985; PhD, 1995) passed away March 6, 2023. He taught at the college and seminary level since 1999: Bethel University (St. Paul, MN), Northwestern College (St. Paul, MN), and Washington Bible College (Washington, DC), where he also served as chair of the Bible and Theology Department. From 2013-2022, Carl was a Professor of Theology at Lancaster Bible College and Capital Seminary.
Elaine Grubbs passed away January 2, 2023. Elaine was the wife of Richard L. Grubbs (ThM, 1991). She married Richard Grubbs on July 2, 1968, in Kansas City, Missouri. She studied at Calvary University in Kansas City in the field of elementary education. Her ministry involved teaching children, playing music, singing, crocheting, and scrapbooking.
Paul Cunningham (ThM, 1995) passed away July 19, 2023. He served as the senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Moreno Valley, California for nineteen years. He also started a non-profit called Wild Warrior Adventures.
Ben Haralson (CGS, 2010) passed away April 4, 2023.
Above: Adam W. Fisher (ThM, 1968) passed away on November 27, 2022.
Mary Sue Tiffin, the wife of Douglas R. Tiffin (ThM, 1980) went to be with the Lord October 12, 2022, after a brief illness.
Diane Smith, the wife of Gerald R. Smith (ThM, 1983), went to be with the Lord in late August 2023.
John Jelinek (ThM, 1986) passed away August 23, 2023. John served as Dean of Students and Instructor in Bible and Theology at Alaska Bible College (Glennallen, AK), Chaplain and Associate Professor at Baptist Bible Seminary, (Clark Summit, PA). He went on to co-found Michigan Theological Seminary where he served as Professor of Theology and Academic Dean. John later served as Vice President and Academic Dean at Moody Theology Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. John co-edited and contributed to numerous books and theological journals.