COMING ALIVE TO THE WORD

IN SHORT:

I got an offer to study at a world class biblical studies program to pursue a vocation as a Bible teacher. I plan to start this Fall, September 2025. The program runs for one year. I am praying for monthly partners who are willing to help me see it through. 

To make it happen I need:

• 20 partners committed for 25$/month 
• 20 @ $50/month
• 15 @ $100/month
• 4 @ $200/month

THE LONG VERSION:

Two years ago, I moved to Israel to pursue a Master’s in biblical studies in Jerusalem. I came to immerse in the language, land, and world of Scripture. What I got in return was far more than an education: it was a deepening of calling. The war that erupted during my time in Israel touched every part of life. After October 7th, sirens, rocket fire, attacks, and unrest became the backdrop of our studies. Yet in the chaos, the Lord poured out grace. In the midst of tension and uncertainty, He anchored me deeper in His call. I witnessed firsthand the power of the gospel to reconcile enemies, to speak hope into brokenness, and to awaken hearts to redemption. In the midst of war and uncertainty, God confirmed a clear mission: to help the church engage the Bible with confidence, clarity, and depth.

I conclude these two years full of gratitude and a deepened conviction of the Lord’s call on my life to bridge the gap between biblical literacy and the mission of the church. What was confirmed in the fire of these years is this: the church is in desperate need of leaders who are equipped to teach the Scriptures in their depth, relevance, and richness. We live in a day when many are walking away from the Bible, unsure how to reconcile the “God of the Old and New Testament,” to know how the often-neglected Old Testament is supposed to deepen discipleship to Christ, to address the challenges leveled against the Bible by the culture, and to read it as one story of redemption from cover to cover. I believe this generation is starved for understanding and answers to the hard questions— exactly what the Scripture has on offer. These come into commanding clarity the more we are able to engage the Bible on its own terms, coming alive to its context, its coherence, and its Christ-centered message. The work I began in Jerusalem, engaging Scripture through its original context, languages, and landscapes, has crystalized my burden to help the church confidently stand on God’s Word.

My part is to help people cultivate a dynamic engagement with Scripture, and to train future generations to embrace the Bible as one message of redemption with Jesus at the center, and the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as its foundation. In an age of growing biblical confusion and cultural pressure, I believe we need teachers who can bridge the ancient and the present—who help people engage the Word of life faithfully.

In pursuit of this call, I’m thrilled to share that I have been accepted into a top postgraduate program in biblical studies at the University of St. Andrews. This program is a direct continuation of the work begun in Jerusalem, cultivating my training in biblical languages, hermeneutics, and the literary and historical frameworks of the text. This is the next step in preparing for a future of teaching, mentoring, and equipping others to engage the Bible with integrity. St. Andrews is one of the most respected centers for biblical scholarship in the world, and I believe it is the next essential step in being outfitted to teach, to write, and to serve the church with faithfulness and clarity. The decision to move forward has not been made lightly. I have experienced firsthand how sound biblical scholarship can shape hearts, build bridges, and bear witness in the most unlikely places. I believe this next season at St. Andrews is a progression of the work begun in Jerusalem—refining the tools, widening the scope, and pressing further into God’s call to be faithful in both word and deed.

To take this step, I’m raising $50k to cover:

• Tuition and academic fees – $35k
• Room and board, living expenses – $15k

Hudson Taylor has said, “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.” I’ve seen that truth borne out in my life time and again, and I am confident of it. I am working to secure scholarships and part-time work, but I can’t do it alone. If you feel led to support this mission, through a one-time gift, ongoing monthly partnership, or prayer, I would be deeply grateful. Every gift helps me take the next step toward preparing the next generation to love and live the Word.

Thank you for your investment in me and walking with me into this next chapter.

— Hayden Ikerd

FAQ's

Q: “Why Scotland? Why St Andrews—and isn’t that expensive?”

It’s a good question. The short answer is: length, cost, specialty, and excellence.

This program is strategic in a number of ways. First, the University of St Andrews is one of the top institutions in the world for biblical studies with a faculty that has shaped global scholarship and mentored some of today’s leading theologians and Bible teachers. In particular, St. Andrews leads biblical scholarship in my field of interest: the study of how the Bible interprets the Bible, and how the Bible has been understood by Christian and Jewish interpreters across history. It offers a rigorous academic environment that will uniquely compliment the tools I’ve begun to develop in Jerusalem and prepare for future teaching and doctoral work.

Second, the program is only one year. Most comparable postgraduate degrees would require two to three years and an even greater financial burden. This program is intensive, but highly efficient—allowing me to be trained at the highest level, at a world-class institution, and to step more quickly into the work of teaching and ministry.

I see it as a stewardship decision, balancing quality, duration, and cost in a way that makes this a wise investment.

Q: “How many more years of school before you start working? Why don’t you start teaching now?”

Teaching at a university level takes more training. Best case: teaching within a year.

Right now, I would be qualified to teach at a high school level, but in order to teach at the university level, I am required to have a PhD or be a PhD candidate. So the short answer: this is the transition. This next step at St Andrews is a one-year program that will serve as a launchpad into a PhD. From there, I’ll be able to receive funding, a stipend, and begin teaching as part of the program. So while I am still a student in this season, this is the turning point where training begins to overlap with the work itself. This next year will place tools in my hands that I can turn around and begin putting to work immediately—teaching, writing, discipling, and guiding others into the world of the Bible vocationally.

The good news is I’m just about there. This one-year program at St. Andrews is the final piece of preparation before I apply to PhD programs, where I’ll be able to receive funding, a stipend, and begin teaching as part of my training. In other words, this next step is a bridge. It not only gives me advanced academic tools from one of the world’s top programs, it also positions me to enter a fully-funded doctoral track, where I can begin teaching, researching, and serving the church and academy in a more formal capacity. In other words, this is the home stretch.

Q: Weren’t you on the path for ministry and on the track to become a pastor?

Teaching is ministry, and professorship does not close the door on pastorship.

Yes, when I began at JUC, I was on track for the pastorate. However, as I’ve reflected on my journey, the ways the Lord has led, and the confirmations I’ve gotten along the way, it’s become increasingly clear that an academic path is more in line with both the gifts I’ve been given and the needs I feel called to meet. While I hold a deep respect for pastoral ministry—and remain open to serving in that capacity if the Lord should lead me there—I’ve come to see that teaching, mentoring, and writing are not merely vocational preferences, but expressions of my call. As I have spoken with more Bible teachers with a blended vocation in academia and pastorship, it has been reiterated to me that accepting an academically oriented vocation is not turning down a call to ministry, but taking another approach to ministry. While the academy can never take the place of the local church, the academy should powerfully compliment the work of the church.

The classroom is a pulpit of its own. The classroom equips future pastors, leaders, and the faithful with depth, clarity, and theological conviction. The church is in desperate need of voices who can bridge the ancient and the contemporary—who can draw from the deep well of Scripture and scholarship to address the real questions facing the church today. That is the gap I believe I am called to.

Academia is not a retreat from ministry—it is ministry. It's a way of forming minds and hearts, not only with information but with the kind of theologically grounded imagination that nourishes faith and builds up the body of Christ. I see it not as an alternative to pastoral work, but as a strategic extension of it—one that allows me to equip others, write with purpose, and speak into the church from a position of rooted, studied engagement.

This path doesn’t close the door on pastoral work– It allows time to form ideas, cultivate wisdom, and offer something substantive to the church in season. In short, it’s not that I’ve stepped away from ministry, but have found the particular shape that mine takes.

The church today needs more than passion. It needs depth. I believe God is calling me to meet that need through scholarship and teaching—equipping others, shaping doctrine, and keeping the door open for pastoral service in God’s timing.