Graduate Profile: Colin Rueter (DTS)

My name is Colin Rueter,

I am 39 years old, and thankful for a Holy, Merciful God who has poured out grace upon grace in my life. I have been married to my wife, Susan, for almost 16 years, and we have five sons: Ethan, Caleb, Nolan, and Silas. They have been my supporters, encouragers, and stood with me as I have worked the rigorous courses at Reformed Baptist Seminary.
I was raised in a Roman-Catholic home, hearing the importance of faith in God, yet always feeling like I wasn’t doing enough to earn a place with Him. It wasn’t until high school friends invited me to their church’s youth group that I remember hearing the gospel for the first time. The pastor stood before us, yet felt like he was speaking to me, “You cannot do good works to please God, you must come with the open hands of faith, trusting in Christ and His works, death, resurrection, and ascension to be saved.” While hearing this struck me, it wasn’t for another year and a half that the Lord would open my eyes with faith as I repented, and was saved – glory to God! Over the course of the next few years, my faith remained infantile, until I met my future wife. We both knew the faith and desired to grow, so together as a couple, we pursued God. We were married in ’05, and found a good evangelical church in ’07. Here, we were discipled and found a community of believers who could teach, encourage, and support us in the faith. It was also at this church that I first felt the call to pursue the ministry. This call began with my wife speaking to me about it, then being confirmed by the pastors and elders in the church. They cultivated this call by helping to teach Sunday school, disciple others, and evangelize. It was this group of men who I learned what shepherding Christ’s church looked like and had the opportunity to do this for the last part of our time there. In 2013, I received and accepted a call to become the Student Ministry Pastor at a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Elk River, MN. I remained in this church until early 2016, working with students, as well as creating a multi-generational ministry to be a community to disciple, help others to teach from the bible, and encourage one another as “the Day draws near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). It was during this time of exiting and transition in 2016, that my family and I learned to trust the LORD in deeper ways by faith.
We moved to St. Cloud, MN and found Calvary Community Church, where the Bible was proclaimed, Christ was magnified, and community was found. Through a couple job changes, a short 9-week stint of unemployment, the church’s classical academy sought me out to become a teacher. Now, in my fourth year of teaching, I have become the Dean of Students, overseeing chapel, student discipline, and school assembly time. In addition, I teach Logic, Rhetoric, and Omnibus (a combination of history, literature, and theology) to 7th-10th graders, learning much from them as they learn from me. In this time, I have seen my wife become a teacher at the school, four of my boys become thriving students, and an adventure for us as a family that we could not have imagined. While serving at Calvary Community Church as a layperson, I have the privilege to teach Sunday school, disciple others, and opportunities to preach on Sunday mornings. I have grown in my faith and calling by applying my coursework from RBS into the local church.
I am thankful for RBS and the opportunity they have given me to grow as a minster of the gospel. The Christ-centered, Bible-saturated, and God-fearing courses have stretched me and allowed me to see the beauty of God’s grace. I believe that the model of partnering with a local church is one of the most effective ways to help seminary students train up and apply knowledge learned in a classroom for the real world of ministry. As I complete my degree, my family and I are trusting in the Sovereign Lord to take our plans and hopes and establish our steps to His glory (Proverbs 16:9).