When I left for college right out of high school, I had things all mapped out — or at least I thought I did. I planned to enroll in college as a pastoral ministry major, finish in four years, and then begin pastoring somewhere far away from my hometown of Galax, Va. What I didn’t count on was falling in love with learning, especially learning dead languages and exploring the discipline of biblical studies.
My newfound desire for wisdom and knowledge and a professor’s urging to consider teaching as a calling complicated my initial vocational plans. I made the decision to pursue an M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary, where I continued to grapple with what I felt then was a tension between a call to pastoral ministry and a call to teach. Even so, I chose to pursue Ph.D. studies in Hebrew Bible and later accepted a teaching position at Lee University, where I taught for six years. After Lee, I pastored the Madisonville Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) while also serving as Chaplain and adjunct professor at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, TN.
My work at King now as chaplain and professor brings together my great love for pastoral ministry and teaching Biblical Studies and Religion.
- Ph.D., Hebrew Bible, Emory University
- M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary
- B.A., Lee College
Brian J. Alderman and Brent A. Strawn, “A Note on Peshitta Job 28:23,” Journal of Biblical Literature 129:3 (2010): 449-456.
“Empowering vs. Enabling: Developing Independent Learners” (January 21, 2010), Center for Teaching Excellence, Lee University, Cleveland, TN.
Invited panelist, “A Review of Chalice Introduction to the Old Testament,” Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion, Winston-Salem, NC, March 12, 2005
“What Job and His Three Friends Could Learn from a Liberal Arts Education (and What We Could Learn from Them): The Liberal Arts as a Model for Exploration and
Understanding,” Lee University, September 24, 2004.