I don’t look back wishing I’d studied full-time and just “settled” for part-time. I’m really glad I trained this way.
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Adam studied part-time for six years with Oak Hill whilst at Duke Street Church in Richmond. He is now a pastor in Cambridgeshire.
"Before that, I was working in financial services in Bournemouth. I was involved at Christchurch Westbourne and getting stuck into lots of different areas of church life. During that time, I felt an encouragement from the church to explore ministry more seriously. My wife and I came up to Oak Hill for an Open Day around 2017, knowing we wanted theological training but with no clear idea how it would work. Finances were a big question for us, especially as we were in an independent church. We were waiting for clarity.
That’s where the part-time model at Duke Street made such a difference.
In theory, my week looked like this: Mondays and Tuesdays were college days, and the church very generously gave me a study day each week as well. The rest of the week—Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays—was church life. Over the years I’ve been involved in youth work, evangelistic courses, preaching, leading services, and all sorts of other ministry. There’s been a real variety.
The challenge has been time—trying to fit everything in and give the right amount of attention to each thing. But the benefits have been huge. I honestly wouldn’t have done it any other way. I don’t look back wishing I’d studied full-time and just “settled” for part-time. I’m really glad I trained this way.
One of the biggest benefits has been studying in the context of a loving church family. If you want to be a pastor, it’s because you want to pastor people. Being embedded in a local church over time—loving people, being loved by them, serving and being served—has been invaluable. It’s allowed me to see church life play out over years, not just in snapshots. There’s very little in ministry I feel completely unfamiliar with now.
Alongside that, studying at Oak Hill over six years gave me space. It’s been stretching, but not a pressure cooker. There was time to think, to reflect, and to come to convictions carefully. College and church have constantly informed one another. Studying theology while living ministry made it easier to engage honestly with what I was learning and to test it against real pastoral situations.
The support from Oak Hill has been exceptional. Lecturers, office staff—everyone feels invested in helping you get through the course, especially when life or ministry gets complicated. There’s flexibility, care, and a genuine desire to see students flourish.
If you’re unsure whether full-time study is right for you, or finances are a concern, and there’s a church willing to walk with you—I wouldn’t hesitate to say: go for it."