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 cover the remaining cost I am praying for:

• 10 partners committed for 25$/month +
• 8 @ $50/month +
• 6 @ $100/month +
• 3 @ $200/month.

THE LONG VERSION:

Two years ago, I moved to Israel to pursue a biblical studies Masters in Jerusalem. What I got in return was beyond an education; it crystalized a calling. I conclude these two years full of gratitude and a deepened conviction of the need 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 Bible is an invitation into story. I witnessed firsthand the power of that story to reconcile, to mend the broken, and call into redemption. My mission is to see the church come alive to the Story. I am committed to equipping pastors, teachers, and the faithful to meet the challenges of our time by standing confidently on the Scripture.

In pursuit of this call, I am thrilled to share that I have been accepted into a world-class biblical studies program at the University of St. Andrews this fall September 2025. St. Andrews is one of the most respected centers for biblical scholarship, and I believe it is the next key step in being outfitted to teach, to write, and to serve the church with fidelity and clarity. This step would be a funnel into a fully-funded PhD program where I could begin training at the deepest level, and teaching at the highest level. I have experienced firsthand how sound biblical scholarship can build bridges, shape hearts, and bear witness. I believe this next season at St. Andrews will build on the foundation begun in Jerusalem—refining the tools, widening the scope, and pressing further into God’s call.

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

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

Would you consider investing in my mission? Hudson Taylor has said, God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply. And I have found that to be true. If you're willing support this mission, through a one-time gift, ongoing monthly partnership, I would be deeply grateful. Every gift helps me take the next step toward preparing the next generation to love and live the Word. Above all, I ask that you pray that I’ll be able to discern God’s work, and God’s way. Thank you for 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.