God’s champion
‘If you ever lose a fight, you’ll have me to reckon with.’
Lucian Dumitrescu’s father was a man’s man, and he had no time for losers.
Lucian only knew he had to do whatever it took to be stronger, faster and better trained than the other men he encountered in the back streets of his notorious Romanian neighbourhood. It wasn’t long before he was earning good money fighting—mostly illegally.
And then Lucian encountered Christ—a seventeen-year-old for whom might was right, he came face to face with a mightier than himself: One who came into this world to bind the strong man and plunder his house. He was taken captive by the one who came to set him free.
Two years later, when the call to the ministry came, Lucian knew he had to answer it. Unwittingly, he was fulfilling the words of David in Psalm 110: ‘Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power.’ He placed himself under the care of his elders, who put him to work. The next decade would see him begin to preach, speak at conferences and assist in church-planting.
In 2018 he moved to the UK and established an engineering business that flourished, but his heart was not in the work; he wrote, ‘After three years of hard inner battle, I gave up everything and I want to serve God in the pastoral ministry.’ Lucian enrolled at Westminster Seminary UK, willing Paul-style to work night and day to study while supporting himself and his growing family.
God has honoured his step of faith; Lucian has just been made the Ministry Assistant of Solihull Presbyterian Church, allowing him to focus all his energies on his first love: studying and proclaiming Christ crucified! While studying at Westminster, he will preach and teach, evangelise and pastor, benefiting from weekly meetings with the minister.
Lucian is a Knox Fellow, one of a number of Westminster UK students who combine study with an internship in their home church. It’s win-win: for the ministerial student, the chance actively to put theory into practice can supercharge studies—and for the local church, the passion and energy that a godly young intern brings to bear can be transformational.
Lucian is the seventh Westminster student to accept a pastoral role alongside their studies this year. But many of our students continue to support themselves and their families in secular employment, working up to 47 hours a week while studying for their theology degree.
We encourage church leaders with an aspiring future minister in the congregation to get in touch. Westminster UK’s hybrid learning model (online study supplemented by intensive teaching weeks) allows a man to remain in his own church whilst gaining a Master’s in Divinity. The Knox Fellowship tops up what the church can afford to pay, ensuring a fully-funded internship for the duration of the degree.
For potential donors able to contribute to the Knox Fellowship fund—however modestly—we would be delighted to tell you more about this scheme.
