Nurturing Christ-like Relationships: Tim Padgett’s Story

“Going to Trinity was one of the best happy accidents of my life,” says Tim Padgett.

Tim grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and shares that as a “stereotypical Gen-X slacker,” he did not do much with his life for quite some time, simply jumping from job to job.

“I did begin to develop a habit of constantly reading theology, history, and philosophy at local coffee shops, a practice that has been of great help over the years,” Tim says. “Finally, in part for no other reason than the sense of embarrassment in seeing people I had grown up with become established while I just floated around, I applied to and was accepted to Covenant Seminary in St. Louis.”

During his four years there, Tim worked at the Francis Schaeffer Institute, earned his Master of Divinity, and, most importantly, met his wife. After graduation, the couple moved to the Chicago area so Tim could attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), first for a Master of Arts in Church History and then for a PhD in historical theology.

Today, Tim, his wife, and their four children live in Colorado Springs, where Tim serves as the Resident Theologian for the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

Tim was drawn to the job in part because he remembers pouring over evangelical magazines and seeing how people like Carl Henry were able to use their “bookish” skills to aid the church by guiding people through the difficult philosophical and cultural questions of their day.

“I recall thinking to myself how much fun it would be to do that myself,” Tim says. “I then came across an opportunity with the Colson Center where I could help to do just that. For just over six years now, I’ve helped to shape content for Christians trying to live Christianly in what is often a confusing world, first as managing editor and then as Resident Theologian.”

While Tim has enjoyed all aspects of his job, some of his favorite moments have been from people responding to something he has written, saying that it helped them to better understand and live out their Christian life.

Tim’s wealth of knowledge stems from his education at TEDS.

“I spent roughly a decade at Trinity,” he says. “That time accounts for a significant element in the formation of my understanding and a key component in getting me where I needed to be. It has been one of my greatest blessings for my life, and I will be eternally grateful for what I gained there.”

Tim holds the general sense of camaraderie he felt at TEDS close to his heart as well.

“It was more than community,” he says. “That was there, but it was more the very real sense of being part of something, working together toward a common goal, even if we were doing so in our different fields. We were from various denominational backgrounds, yet, at least for me, there was a tangible quality of being one in purpose and aim.”

For Tim, nurturing the relationships he built at TEDS is a big part of his life still today.

“Whenever I am at a conference or similar event, it is the guys I went to TEDS with that I am most keen on meeting up with,” he says. “It is the continuation of that sense of camaraderie that began back then but endures and even grows as our careers progress in their various ways. In this way, my time at Trinity has given me a wonderful image and practice of what the church ought to be — members of one body with different gifts but a common hope.”