Tom Cupka, MDiv student, matriculated at CTS in the fall of 2018. Cupka grew up in Ellettsville, IN, and was raised in the Christian Church. He worked in the insurance industry after studying 
banking and finance at Ball State University and lived for a time in Auburn, IN, where he and his wife started a family. Feeling a call to ministry, he studied at Huntington University and Lincoln Christian College (now University), where he received an MA in Biblical Theology.
According to Cupka, faith has always played a prominent role in his life. He explained his decision to come to CTS for an MDiv because an alum recommended it as “an amazing place filled with diversity and Christian love.” Thus far, he has found his seminary experience to be both challenging and invigorating. He noted the many strengths of CTS’s insightful and diverse faculty, whom, he said, have “excited my theological imagination.”
After graduation, Cupka hopes to become the pastor of a local congregation, knowing firsthand the important role congregations play in the lives of their members and communities. He described a longing to “expand the horizons of those I serve, the way mine have been expanded. I want to introduce into the setting a vision of a larger community, a global community, that is often shielded from view.”
He explained that, “As the parent of three students, burdened with student loan debt for their well-being I never expected to be able to return to school myself.” Blessed by the extraordinary generosity of the CTS community, he expressed profound gratitude for the scholarships and financial assistance he has received. “I see these blessings as actions of Christian love and worship,” he said, “for which I not only get to witness, but which have spoken directly into my life.”
Cupka is finding pastoral ministry to be deeply rewarding, and he recalled several examples of how his education informs his work and is preparing him for a life in ministry. He explained that, “through my studies in Pastoral Care I have been able to modify the shape of my dialogue… I have learned to explore the stories of person’s life and pay attention to their support mechanisms, to better know a person and more appropriately engage their needs.” This training has helped him establish a local chapter of an addiction support group at his church. The chapter provides refuge and impacts the lives of many people seeking to move away from addiction. Cupka frequently receives appreciation from families made stronger thanks to the support group.
He also reported that his denominational studies have equipped him “to review the Disciples of Christ History and Polity with the leadership at the church where I serve” and to better contribute to discussions about church growth and organization. In all, he said, “the courses I have been in have expanded my understanding and perspectives, which have enhanced my sermons and fostered deeper discussions.”
