New Director of Enrollment Management

Mid-America is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Jeff De Boer to a new position at the Seminary, Director of Enrollment Management (DEM). He will be responsible for recruiting and retaining students as well as reviewing summer assignments, connecting with alumni, and teaching an occasional class.

A 2000 graduate of Mid-America, Rev. De Boer served the RCUS congregation in Garner, IA, and currently pastors the PCA congregation in North Liberty, IA. He and his wife Karen anticipate moving to the Dyer area with their five children shortly after the first of the year.

“As a graduate of Mid-America intimately acquainted with our approach to training students for the gospel ministry, Rev. De Boer will provide prospective students with an ‘insider’s’ view of our program’s strengths,” Dr. Cornel Venema said. “His pastoral experience enables him to testify to inquirers about how the unique features of our Ministerial Apprenticeship Program (MAP) form students for the challenging work of the pastoral ministry.”

Rev. De Boer hopes to accomplish three goals: “First, I believe Mid-America Reformed Seminary specializes in training men for the central way in which Christ builds His church. It does that work with excellence, confessional commitment, and at a cost to the student that is almost unbelievably affordable. An institution might define itself by a personality or theological uniqueness. I am glad that Mid-America has defined itself by its task. So, simply put, I want more potential students and supporters to know about the Seminary.

“Second, I believe that a seminary education should seek to shape the mind, build ability, and set the student on the path to spiritual maturity. In the past, I believe seminaries have done well with the first and second, but have not given sufficient attention to the third. I want to be part of an institution that intentionally introduces men to the necessity of spiritual maturity and provides them with categories for growth, which I believe Mid-America is uniquely equipped to do.

“Third, I want to recruit the best men to the Seminary. I hope to encourage men who might otherwise go to law school or be business entrepreneurs. I want men who sense that our times and our churches need the most capable to serve in pastoral ministry.”