Stepping Forward in Faith

Joshua Rozells was born and raised in Perth and married his wife, Rae, in January this year. Together, they attend and serve at Vic Park Presbyterian Church. After working full-time with vulnerable youth and completing a two-year ministry apprenticeship, Joshua felt called to full-time ministry and has now finished his first year of a Master of Divinity.

Joshua grew up in a Christian home, and his faith in Christ became more personal and formative during his late teens. “I think particularly in uni, going from an environment where I was more sheltered to more independent as an adult, and being exposed to other ideas and other people a lot more, really helped me realise I had to take ownership of my faith. At university I joined the Christian Union, and one of the AFES (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students) groups at UWA. Seeing people from lots of different backgrounds and a lot more people my age with their faith really continuing for Christ in university was a real encouragement and joy, and helped me to grow being alongside them”, he shares.

Before studying at Trinity, Joshua completed a two-year ministry apprenticeship with AFES at UWA’s Christian Union. Prior to that, he spent almost three years working in child protection at the Department of Communities, focusing on at-risk youth and early intervention after completing his Master in International Relations. His ministry apprenticeship provided a taste of full-time ministry, and helped to discern his decision to study at Trinity and work in full-time ministry. 

Joshua chose Trinity Theological College for its strong teaching, supportive community, and alignment with his reformed evangelical convictions. “When I was looking for a theological college, I wanted somewhere that would teach well, that would have a good community and broadly align theologically to where I’m at, which is of reformed evangelical,” he shares.

Joshua has enjoyed his first year at Trinity. “The community at Trinity is like a really close-knit community of people who love God and really want to serve God with their heart, whether that is full-time vocational ministry or part-time within their local church. It’s been a real encouragement being around them, whether it be in casual conversations or whether it be in class as iron sharpening iron.”

Looking ahead, Joshua is eager to keep digging deeper into theology. He shares, “Going really deep into theology and the nitty-gritty, having the environment of sitting in a class, talking to other people, having a lecturer going through readings and looking at big theological topics and views of understanding ‘why do I believe what I believe.’ That will be really good, to help me with pastoral ministry and hopefully shape me as well.”

Reflecting on his first year, he has especially appreciated studying biblical foundations and church history. “It’s fascinating, encouraging, and challenging learning about the kind of church fathers. And it also gives you a lot of perspective as well, as we often think we’re in this unique moment in time where the issues we face as a church are new and we’re trailblazing, going on a path that other people haven’t gone before. And to some extent that’s true, we are in a different context to others. But you go through history and you realise they were always dealing with issues, the same kind of themes and ideas have come up multiple times. And that was really encouraging.”

For Joshua, the heart of study and ministry remains clear: “It’s all about the gospel. It’s all about Christ. And so I definitely would love to keep in connection with people both students but also faculty as well post Trinity.”

For anyone considering theological study, he encourages, “I think that there’s kind of a perception that Bible college is for people who want to go to full-time vocational ministry, becoming a minister, missionary or something else. But I think what’s been encouraging is particularly seeing people who are not doing full-time ministry\, and just seeing the impact that it has on them and how they are able to love and serve their own local church and whatever ministry context they have. And regardless of whether you want to do full-time ministry post Trinity or not, I think it’s worth doing.”

After graduation, Joshua hopes to serve in full-time pastoral ministry, likely within a Westminster Presbyterian church or a similar context.

Please pray for Joshua as he continues his degree. Pray for wisdom and discernment about where God may lead him after Bible college, and pray also for his marriage, that he would serve and love Rae well, and that this time of rest over the holidays would refresh and strengthen him.