How Majoring in Public Relations Has Prepared Me For Ministry

Recently I was asked to write an essay on how my experience in the public relations department has prepared me for my future career. The following is what I wrote.

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My career journey is not a usual path for a public relations student. Many students dream of working large events, going to law school or owning their own public relations firm. These once were my dreams too; however the work of God in a person’s life can open their heart to paths which at a time may have seemed very unlikely. My future now includes going to seminary for graduate study to prepare me for becoming a minister in a local congregation. How then do I justify these four years of study with such a drastic career change, one that seems so far and distant from the field of which I have studied these past four years? The answer lies in the biggest lesson I have learned throughout my time in the public relations program: the practice of public relations is everywhere and can be useful in everything.

I knew entering my first years of undergraduate study that the field was interesting; I know leaving that it is one of the most fascinating areas of study because of its application to almost every field and avenue of life. In my future ministry, the fundamentals that have been taught to me will prove beneficial to helping me fulfill what I believe is my life’s utmost calling: to know God more fully and make Him more fully known. Even one of the crucial tools of understanding and knowing your audience applies to my future ministry; the ability to know and to discern the culture in which I live and minister.

The experiences that have helped better equip me for that life are endless. However, the craft I believe will be most useful in my future work is writing. Entering into the program my freshmen year, I knew I enjoyed writing, but had yet to be challenged in a way that brought out my full potential. My four years within the public relations program have helped me to discover my potential in writing; so much so, that one of my heart’s desires is to someday write a book. The skills I have acquired in being able to pull from numerous sources and create a final product with the power of words will be highly valuable. I leave this program believing that one of the greatest abilities one could possess is that of understanding the beauty of words and how to use them to best serve one’s purpose.

There was a moment in my years of study that I fooled myself into thinking that my undergraduate degree would be a waste. Conversely, the experiences and skills I have learned within the public relations program have proved so valuable; there is not another program available that would better prepare me for the future that lays waiting. Many think my love for the field is unusual, being that I will never have a typical public relations job. My future career may not be typical, however, it will certainly be public relations: for God.

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Mohler on Starting What You Cannot Finish

In honor of commencement ceremonies across the country and more specifically at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Albert Mohler reflects on the meaning of a commencement ceremony and the world's pull of finishing what we begin. In his article, Mohler writes:

Nevertheless, the biblical conception of the Christian ministry is, as we should not be surprised to find, radically at odds with worldly wisdom. According to the New Testament, one of the most important insights about the Christian ministry is this: We will not finish what we begin. This is not to say that we will never set goals and reach them or that we will never complete plans and programs. It does mean that the Christian ministry must be seen in the context of faithfulness extended from generation to generation until Christ returns to claim his Bride.

This was a great challenge to me, as was the article in its entirety. Perhaps the part that challenged me the greatest and that I hope will stay with me in the remaining days God has ordained for me on this earth was his final call to those graduating from Southern:

Start something you cannot finish and give yourself to it for the length of your days, with the strength of your life, to the glory of God. Dream dreams and see visions, and take up this calling as you plant and water in the fields of Christ. Build carefully upon the foundation laid for you. The hopes and prayers of God's faithful people go with you.

May this encourage and move you as deeply as it did myself and may you go out with boldness, willing to start something you may not be able to finish, or with courage to build on that of which someone who has gone before you has already begun.

You can read the rest of Mohler's article here.

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