Dan Turis, a senior at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, worked in campus ministry for 10 years prior to enrolling full time in the M.Div. program. He started as a part-time student while maintaining his position as campus minister. However, he soon realized that he wanted to be immersed in the Seminary community and thanks his wife, Leslie, for the push into full-time theological education. “My wife recognized that I needed to be in a theological community discussing Christ.”

The couple made the move from Columbus to Pittsburgh in 2009, where Leslie took a position in fund-raising and Dan maintained a job writing curriculum for a campus ministry organization part time. After diving into the PTS theological community, Dan began to cultivate relationships with faculty and students. He attributes his understanding of how to bridge the Word and the world to these relationships as well as the formative experiences of being a part of this vibrant seminary community.

“Through the work of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit this community has transformed me into a better pastor-theologian. I realize that I’m not just not just learning information, but ingesting knowledge that will become the lens and reason for how I will see and perceive the world,” says Dan.

In preparation for the completion of his studies this November, Dan and Leslie have returned to Ohio. Dan is currently preaching at a church as a pulpit supply pastor. He has also gone back to his roots as a campus minister working part time at Ohio State University. Finding himself a commuter again—this time on a megabus for four hours traveling from Columbus—Dan uses his travel time to study, prepare sermons, and meditate on the Word in prayer. Additionally, as a commuter Dan relies on the hospitality of others for which he feels incredibly blessed. 

“I’m grateful to be able to complete by degree at PTS. This time has developed my theology not by simply reading books, but by having a drink with a fellow student, sitting with a professor who tells a joke at the lunch table, and by questioning someone’s statement in love.”

“As I travel back and forth from Ohio and face the certain end to this community as I know it, I realize just how valuable my wife’s advice was to me.  She was the one who pushed me to fully commit to this theological community.”

Dan Turis, a senior at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, worked in campus ministry for 10 years prior to enrolling full time in the M.Div. program. He started as a part-time student while maintaining his position as campus minister. However, he soon realized that he wanted to be immersed in the Seminary community and thanks his wife, Leslie, for the push into full-time theological education. “My wife recognized that I needed to be in a theological community discussing Christ.”

The couple made the move from Columbus to Pittsburgh in 2009, where Leslie took a position in fund-raising and Dan maintained a job writing curriculum for a campus ministry organization part time. After diving into the PTS theological community, Dan began to cultivate relationships with faculty and students. He attributes his understanding of how to bridge the Word and the world to these relationships as well as the formative experiences of being a part of this vibrant seminary community.

“Through the work of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit this community has transformed me into a better pastor-theologian. I realize that I’m not just not just learning information, but ingesting knowledge that will become the lens and reason for how I will see and perceive the world,” says Dan.

In preparation for the completion of his studies this November, Dan and Leslie have returned to Ohio. Dan is currently preaching at a church as a pulpit supply pastor. He has also gone back to his roots as a campus minister working part time at Ohio State University. Finding himself a commuter again—this time on a megabus for four hours traveling from Columbus—Dan uses his travel time to study, prepare sermons, and meditate on the Word in prayer. Additionally, as a commuter Dan relies on the hospitality of others for which he feels incredibly blessed. 

“I’m grateful to be able to complete by degree at PTS. This time has developed my theology not by simply reading books, but by having a drink with a fellow student, sitting with a professor who tells a joke at the lunch table, and by questioning someone’s statement in love.”

“As I travel back and forth from Ohio and face the certain end to this community as I know it, I realize just how valuable my wife’s advice was to me.  She was the one who pushed me to fully commit to this theological community.”