Summer 2009 | Volume 67, No. 4

Pat Findley: Text-Driven Student Ministry

by Benjamin Hawkins

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From Xbox and Wii to the latest movies, music, and ministry methods, youth ministers often feel obligated to follow the trends of their students. For Southwestern Seminary student Pat Findley, however, no trend is more important than the clear exposition of the Word of God.

“Shame on me if I think there is something more trendy than communicating God’s Word in the way that He has revealed it,” says Findley, who serves as student minister at Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. Although the verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture is more often associated with the pulpit than the youth room, Findley has preached through the Sermon on the Mount, Romans, and other passages of Scripture with his students.

“Since coming to Southwestern, I have been challenged with this idea that sermons don’t have to stand alone,” Findley says. By preaching through portions of the Bible, he is able to help his students understand the progression of God’s revelation in Scripture, as well as teaching them how to determine Scripture’s implications for theology and life.

A native of Springfield, Mo., Findley entered the Advanced Master of Divinity program at Southwestern after graduating from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., with his Bachelor of Arts in Ministry. Currently, Findley and his wife, Becca, are expecting the birth of their first baby—a little girl—in June. With plans to graduate this December, he is considering the Ph.D. program at Southwestern, with an emphasis in preaching. Whatever God might have for his future after that, Findley says he is certain that God has called him to preach.

Findley has enrolled in Southwestern’s advanced courses on the theology of preaching and the practice of evangelistic and expository preaching. In 2006, he also preached in Centralia, Ill., during Southwestern’s Spring Evangelism Practicum. During the practicum, Southwestern sends students all over the nation  to rural churches that cannot afford to hold revival meetings. After returning, he received the Todd Brooks Riza Memorial Award, which is given to practicum participants each year who demonstrate a unique compassion for the lost and a passion for God’s Word.

Because of his passion for preaching, Findley uses every opportunity to improve his craft. As often as possible, he attends preaching workshops at Southwestern. He also listens to the sermons of men like Paige Patterson, Jerry Vines, and Johnny Hunt, and he reads at least one sermon a week from preachers such as Charles Spurgeon and G. Campbell Morgan. Furthermore, he critiques one of his own sermons each month. Despite this training, Findley continues to be amazed that God works through mere men who preach the message of the cross in the power of Holy Spirit.

“There is a sense in which you are excited to preach,” he explained, “and a sense in which you say, ‘No one is qualified to do this.’ ”

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