Denver Seminary

ENGAGE 17 We gain insight into that kind of forgiveness through the experience of Billy Waters, senior pastor and priest of Wellspring Church of Englewood, Colorado. Though Billy grew up familiar with church, his faith journey gained traction when he went to college. He dreamed of playing Division One football and was accepted to Colorado State University in Fort Collins. But it didn't take long to realize his dream would not become a reality in the way he had hoped. His senior year of high school, he suffered from significant injuries and other setbacks that dashed his football dreams. Reflecting on the period after his injury, Billy said, "I left the disciplined life of sports to go to the undisciplined life in a fraternity." After several months indulging in fraternity life, he woke up one Sunday morning with a hangover and thought, This is not what life is about. Billy got up and visited a church a former teammate had invited him to several times. On this particular Sunday, a traveling preacher was speaking, and in the course of his sermon, extended an altar call. God, in His extraordinary grace, cleared the fog in which Billy had been living. Billy gave his life to the Lord. He left the fraternity and moved in with a friend from the church. This roommate became his long-term mentor, teaching him the disciplines of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. " It was like they were painting for me a background on which I could incorporate all of these different worldviews, understandings, and mindsets." Billy and his roommate pursued the Lord ardently. They sought opportunities to minister and serve—particularly among the poor—and prayed for hours each day. Billy's pastor took note of his zeal for the Lord and encouraged him to go to seminary. But Billy had been studying for a career in medicine and didn't even know what a seminary was. To honor his pastor, he agreed to attend a preaching conference to learn more. At that conference, the Lord moved in Billy's heart, and he felt called to investigate further. Eager to learn more, but lacking the Internet search engines of today, he went to the library and carefully combed through the pages of a copy of Christianity Today for any ad that referenced a seminary. Though he found five, Billy ultimately chose Denver Seminary because it was close to home and the training and mentoring program appealed to him after the wonderful experience with his roommate as an informal mentor. PAINTING ON HIS CANVAS OF FAITH Going into seminary, Billy was a blank canvas. "I had no background in theology whatsoever," he said. "It was like they were painting for me a background on which I could incorporate all of these different worldviews, understandings, and mindsets. It gave me a way to make sense of things." As Billy worked to attain his MDiv, he developed something he considers vital: a secure, orthodox foundation before going into ministry. "It helped me identify the difference between the essentials and the non-essentials of our faith. It taught me to discuss issues in a cogent way while not being so emotionally wrapped up in them." In seminary Billy gained a firm grasp on truth. He learned to recognize when something was off and why it was off, so he could then articulate it to others—an invaluable skill for a pastor. "In fact," Billy said, "Denver Seminary was a game- changer for me. I loved every square inch of it because I couldn't have gotten that foundation in my faith in any other way in life. Seminary was it for me." PLANTING A CHURCH OF JUSTICE AND JOY Billy graduated from seminary in 1999 with a vision. He had a formative conversation in a missions class about church planting. That, coupled with what he'd learned from Danny Carroll about justice and the poor, drove him to become a church planter in Englewood, a city TAKE IT FROM HERE DenKuvaiev/iStock

• Cover