Craig Long was a pastor ministering to Christians. Now, he is teaching about ministry to guide future pastors.
Long grew up in a Christian family in Oklahoma. Having strict values, such as education, Long’s church congregation would usually involve itself in whatever was going on in their local town. Long remained in that church until his third year at Oklahoma Baptist University.
Despite having grown up in church, he didn’t fully accept Christ until late in his high school career.
He and his peers would often grab a friend and bring them to the morning service. One morning, Long had the opportunity to pray over someone he had brought to the service.
That was the moment he heard God telling him to pray for himself rather than for his friend.
“That’s kind of when I made my commitment to Christ,” Long said. “Even before then, I’d kind of always known, or always sensed that I would do something in ministry. When I was a little kid, I used to line up stuffed animals and preach to them.”
Long decided to take Bible courses during his time in college, including Greek. He enjoyed these classes because they helped him study the Bible through an academic approach.
It has helped him develop questions, answer them through a critical lens and read the Bible better, he said.
“I spent years as a pastor trying to help church members read the Bible better,” Long said. “And I think academic ministry is a continuation of that as I work with students through Scripture engagement to help them read the Bible better (and) experience God more clearly as they read it.”
Long received his bachelor’s degree in Bible. While he was in the process of pursuing his master of divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was serving full-time as a pastor. As a result, it took him 10 years to receive his degree.
Finally, Long received his doctorate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago.
Three years into college, Long decided that it was time to change churches. One church he went to was facing difficulties in its future. During one service, a lady scolded Long’s pastor, Pastor Fowler, for his decisions about the church. Rather than condemning her like Long’s childhood pastor would have done, Fowler redirected the conversation back to the sermon.
“I began to see this way of engaging as a pastor that was far more gentle and far more guiding than what I grew up with,” Long said. “That was like this really formative church moment for me.”
Long’s church transition made him realize it was possible to admit to being flawed without feeling ashamed. He noticed that when churches were left to look out on their own, there were going to be errors along the way when making decisions for their members. Whenever this happened, he would remember Pastor Fowler handling situations such as redirecting conversations.
In 2016, Long received a call from a former colleague at Trinity International University.
The school was starting an undergraduate program at a men’s prison in Wisconsin. He was asked to be a professor, and did so for several years. The following years were a rough transition due to COVID-19.
Fortunately, Long’s wife, Angi, found an opportunity to work at the registrar’s office at Taylor University. Around the same time, Craig discovered an open position to work in Biblical Studies at Taylor.
“We applied for those positions, and God worked it out. We’re here now,” Craig Long said. “Part of why we came to Taylor was, as we reviewed things like the Life Together Covenant and Statement of Faith, it was the kind of place we fit in. ”
Craig Long’s favorite class he’s taught so far this year is Historic Christian Belief. He finds the large class discussions interesting. As a foundational core class, there are even students involved in the class who are not majoring in Biblical literature or Christian ministries.
Craig Long’s message to Taylor students is that Bible classes and the Scripture engagement minor are difficult and cause a lot of critical thinking, but those are the classes that will help them perceive what is right and wrong to God in the real world.
As the new visiting assistant professor of biblical studies, Long hopes to teach not just about the Bible, but also to engage with the Bible to contribute to the Kingdom.
