Editor's Note: This story first appeared in the 2025 Beeson Magazine, which can be read in its entirety .
With eight graduates and one student on staff, it’s safe to say that Redeemer Community Church, a non-denominational, reformed church in the Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, has been heavily shaped by Beeson Divinity School. Lead pastor Joel Brooks, MDiv ’99, said he sees the school’s influence on each of them.
“It's always safe to assume that a Beeson graduate has a high view of Scripture. While this doesn’t always mean we will agree on some of the more peripheral doctrinal issues, it does mean we will both appeal to Scripture and not to our culture as our guide. Augustine said, ‘In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.’ And a Beeson grad would add, ‘In all things, biblical.’”
Redeemer is one of many Birmingham area churches led, at least in part, by Beeson graduates. It carries the same interdenominational spirit found at Beeson. Serving at Redeemer has reinforced the need to be able to minister to believers from different denominations, something Beeson instilled during their seminary careers, explained Josh Hausen, MDiv '13, executive pastor at the church.
Cole Shiflet, MDiv ’25, serves as Redeemer’s global missions director, and said Beeson forms graduates who have both conviction and charity. “Beeson students leave more charitable than they were when they arrived,” he said. “The rigor of the education combined with classical, inperson education leads to greater humility.”
Because of the plethora of Beeson graduates serving Birmingham-area churches, this network of alumni has created more of a fellowship within those church networks and strengthens the city spiritually as a whole, Hausen said.
Redeemer also feels 极乐禁地’s influence through the large number of students who attend each week, participating in college ministries and volunteering in others. Molly Grace Cortez, who just finished her second year at Beeson, serves Redeemer as the youth ministry coordinator, and sees the impact of 极乐禁地 students befriending and supporting the church’s youth. Cortez is working toward a joint Master of Arts in Theological Studies and Master of Social Work with 极乐禁地’s School of Public Health.
As she studies, Cortez said she’s benefited from being around the alumni on staff, as they benefit from having her. “There’s a certain level of trust I’ve been given by going to Beeson,” Cortez said. “Grace is given with schoolwork. I feel like I’ve been able to be guided well, and it’s helped contextualize what I’m learning.”
Mountain Brook Community Church (MBCC) in Mountain Brook and Iron City Church in the Five Points South neighborhood of Birmingham are two other local non-denominational churches with multiple Beeson graduates and students on staff.
Ben Telfair ’10, MDiv ’13, DMin ’21, serves as the executive pastor at MBCC. With four Beeson graduates on staff and a recent graduate and current student serving as interns, there is a commonality amongst the team, he said. “Being Beeson graduates gives us a common vision. There’s similarity in the way we all think because we went to Beeson.”
Chris Morgan, MDiv ’20, the discipleship pastor at MBCC, said, “I can trust a Beeson graduate to think deeply about certain things, to not be dogmatic and rigid in their perspective. I can trust they’re going to work hard… and do their job with excellence,” he said. “I can trust they haven’t been able to skirt the difficulty of academic excellence.”
Besides being equipped with a theological depth and a good work ethic, Telfair also said Beeson graduates understand the importance of community, coming from an in-person, communal seminary.
Kyle Schumpert, MDiv ’23, serves as the middle school pastor at MBCC and said as a student at Beeson there were days he needed to be ministered to by professors and students from different backgrounds. “We still have access to that in a way at MBCC,” Schumpert said. “Fellow Beeson pastors, they have appreciation for that interdenominational education, which is helpful at a non-denominational church.”
Agreeing with Schumpert, Seth Locke, MDiv ’22, said Beeson’s interdenominational approach helps him as MBCC’s college pastor as students come from a variety of denominational backgrounds.
Salvador Blanco-Perello, MDiv ’25, is the pastoral assistant at Iron City, and said working alongside fellow Beeson alumni brings a certain kind of trust. “I know I will meet someone who loves the Bible, thinks deeply about it and respects the tradition of the faith handed down to them,” he said.
Beeson’s commitment to in-person learning has helped Blanco-Perello commit to being where he is, and the school’s weekly chapel services helped him as he serves the church as a worship leader. “Beeson pushes students to take what they’re taught in the classroom and apply it in the church,” he said. “The various traditions in weekly worship have also shaped what elements I may include when I write orders of service in other contexts.”
At Iron City, Blanco-Perello reports to Dustin Ratcliff, MDiv ’17, who serves as staff pastor.
“Salvador is an incredible gift to our church,” Ratcliff said. “I have seen him grow, thrive and mature at Beeson. He has a pastor’s heart and is deeply thoughtful. Beeson has provided him a place to be engaged, sharpened and challenged.”
Beeson is a place like no other, preparing graduates and future ministers with excellence, Ratcliff said, making it a special place for anyone considering pursuing seminary. “There is no other place that provides a community of faith that is centered around seeing preachers and pastors grow in their love and faithfulness to the Lord while engaging in rigorous, world class academic studies that focus on the historical creeds and doctrines of the faith,” Ratcliff said. “The theology you learn is practiced, lived, honed and embodied in deep relationship with your fellow students that will serve as co-laborers in Christ’s church for years to come.”