Eves finds ‘a place of equilibrium’ at Erskine Seminary

Terry Eves pursued a “simultaneous call to minister and teach” which led him eventually to Erskine Theological Seminary (ETS), where he has taught since 2005 and now serves as professor of Old Testament. Engaged as a teacher and mentor of students and serving as a leader in the church, “For the first time in my life I have found a place of equilibrium,” he says.

Prior to and during the first two years of his tenure at the seminary, he taught at Erskine College. Earlier in his career, he taught at several Christian colleges, and also worked for seven years in pastoral ministry before coming to Erskine.

Eves’ family background gave him an “inherited” Christian faith. His family left the church they had been attending their whole lives when the increasingly liberal theology “became unbearable,” he said. A neighbor invited them to attend an evangelical church where the entire family heard the Gospel for the first time and responded to the Gospel within six months. Eves, under the influence of the choir director’s family, made a Christian commitment during his senior year of high school. He became Reformed and Presbyterian while attending Grace College.

After college, Eves did a two-year internship in an Orthodox Presbyterian Church whose session then offered him a sponsorship to attend Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He went on to earn several graduate degrees, and served as an Old Testament translator for both editions of the New Living Translation of the Bible.

Now, after nearly 15 years at Erskine, Eves says of Erskine Seminary, “I have never been in a place where scholarship and the church are so intimately fused with each other.”

Speaking about recent challenges at ETS, he pointed out the professor-led initiative in which seminary professors agreed to take a cut in pay in order that more faculty members might retain their positions. “We did this because we are committed to the mission of Erskine Seminary, its future, and each other,” Eves said.

Erskine “has genuine scholars and professors here who care deeply about Jesus’ Church,” Eves said. He remarked on the faculty’s commitment to students, and their willingness to go out of their way to be “both casual and official mentors for their students.”

He is happy to assist students as much as he can, and frequently stands where many of them are planning to stand: in the pulpit.

“I’m teaching and helping people minister to the church and to a needy world, and I enjoy every time I preach the Good News in church,” he said.

“I also appreciate the privilege of mentoring younger ministers. One of my greatest blessings is to participate in the ordination services of our graduates.”

 

Dr. Terry Eves lives in Due West with his wife Dianne. They are the parents of two grown sons. He hopes Erskine alumni and friends will continue to support Erskine Seminary with prayer as well as financial gifts. “If you love us and care about us, then now is the time to support us and join us in our great mission. Please pray for us, support us financially, send us students, and share with others our great story of what God is doing here,” he says.