New divinity students challenged to deliver “ancient message” to today’s generation

New divinity students with faculty.
BUIES CREEK — One early morning not too many months ago, at about 2:30, Jeffrey Wilson jolted awake. “Campbell,” he thought.
He had heard of Campbell University, and he knew it was near his hometown of Fayetteville. But he didn’t know much else about it. He went online, googled “Campbell University,” and found exactly what he was looking for — a dual degree program in Master of Divinity and Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling.
“Campbell got in my mind,” he said, “and I knew it was right.”
Validation of that came Tuesday, he said, when the Campbell Divinity School commissioned him and 17 other students in Butler Chapel during its spring Service of Convocation and Commissioning. The ceremony was a time to celebrate the new students and to mark their undertaking of theological education.
Along with his new classmates, Wilson received a pin in the shape of a Celtic cross that symbolizes Campbell Divinity’s commitment to provide a Christ-centered, Bible-based and ministry-focused theological education. The pin is also intended to serve as a reminder of the call that God placed on their lives and the daily cross they bear as they live out that calling as Christians.
“Being commissioned is a way for the school to validate me and say, ‘Hey, We support you, and we know that God has called you, and we’ll help you and send you on your way,’” Wilson said.
Dr. Clifford A. Jones, senior pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, delivered the commissioning service’s Charge to the Students. In his sermon, he urged students to live out their callings by approaching the challenges of today with “the ancient message”—which is that “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
Holding on to that hope and wanting to share such a message with others is what ultimately led Wilson to Campbell Divinity School, as well as his classmate, John Wiggins.
Before beginning at Campbell this January as a full-time Master of Divinity student, Wiggins had a long career in the U.S. Air Force and with the Goldsboro Police Department. In those professions, he was exposed to “a tremendous amount of heartache,” he said. “I really couldn’t have made it through my career without having someone to turn to and release the heartache to.”
He attended church regularly and then started working with the youth at his church in LaGrange because of his own children—five sons, which today range in ages 17 to 27. As he was preparing materials, studying scripture, and getting ready for a youth camp one week, “things were revealed to me,” he said. He had been called to serve in the ministry full time, particularly with youth and missions.
He retired from the Goldsboro Police Department and enrolled at Campbell Divinity. He chose Campbell Divinity because its “No. 1 mission is faith,” he said. “It’s not just about school; it’s about the faculty, staff and other students sharing their faith and preparing men and women to go out and share their faith.”
It’s for similar reasons that Wilson ultimately chose Campbell Divinity. He has spent the past 22 years working in mental health services, most recently as the lead substance abuse consultant for an agency in Fayetteville. But he feels called to serve as a Christian counselor who works “with anybody who is lost or who needs direction and guidance.”
“I’ve always had a passion to help people and see people heal,” he added.
Though he has felt that calling for years, the timing was never right before. At one point when he had planned to begin divinity and counseling studies at another institution, his eldest daughter died, putting his plans on hold.
When he began thinking of pursuing theological studies again, and when “Campbell” first popped into his head, he called Dr. Lynn Brinkley, Campbell Divinityl’s director of student services and alumni relations. He told her he had been thinking about Campbell.
“You would fit right in at Campbell,” she told him. “We’re Christ-centered, Bible-based and ministry-focused.” Those weren’t just words, he soon discovered.
“Other colleges say that or something similar,” Wilson said. “But Campbell says it and actually lives it out.”