Faith Journey of Tom Bier January, 2010
I was born into a strong heritage of faith in Christ. Both of my parents were leaders in their Plymouth Brethren church and in our blue collar, West Michigan, primarily Dutch, community. I accepted the gift of salvation at the age of six and in my freshman year of High School began leading others in summer camp, youth group, High School groups, and athletics.
In 1975, at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, I became a leader in an Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship chapter. During those college years my faith in Christ grew strong. I heard amazing Bible teachers, grew in knowledge of and trust in God’s word, and made many life-long friends. My faith in God’s love and forgiveness became so much more real as I learned life-long skills on how to study the Bible for myself and what is true Christian community.
After graduation in 1979, I taught High School Biology at a Catholic High School. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching, coaching two sports, and watching students mature and develop into young adults. However, after three years of teaching, I wanted to develop a systematic understanding of our Christian faith, and work on my skills as a personal counselor.
In 1982, I went to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. While there I ministered in an Episcopal church as the Minister of Youth and worked as a Manager of Adult and Youth Leagues at a local YMCA. I also owned my own painting business. I explored other varieties of ministry and church work, as well as, setting a course in life independent of my home church, family and friends.
At the age of 28, in 1985, I married Rhonda. We both decided that our desire was to serve Christ and His Church rather than to pursue careers in counseling, business or in teaching. Both of us had the desire to pursue a deeper life of devotion to Christ and help others do the same. As we started our family, we realized that we would pass on gifts of grace to our family as our first priority of ministry. We homeschooled our children through eighth grade until our fourth child who started public school in fourth grade. Our children are now serving Christ in a variety of capacities, as well.
In January, 2010, I went back to school to complete my training as a Pastoral Counselor. I am enrolled in the Doctorate in Ministry degree program in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I take courses both on campus and off, and am required to have many supervised hours of counseling and a thesis within five years. Part of my thesis is to discover ways to to help ministers counsel couples more effectively.
Rhonda and I have been given a wonderful network of friends and fellow workers for the gospel throughout the past 25 years of ministry together. We have served two churches and now, are privileged to serve a New Church Development of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Johnson City, TN. Our greatest lessons have come in times of stretching our faith to believe that God’s grace is the most powerful agent for change in the world, and that God’s Spirit is always active in giving us direction and encouragement on this journey of His Grace.