When Dr. Clayton Coombs Ph.D. '13 talks about church and the inspiration of Scripture, he gets fired up. He uses the word “fire” frequently in his light-hearted Australian accent, because he believes the fire of the Holy Spirit is involved in both. 

Raised in Melbourne, Dr. Coombs felt called to minister through teaching by age 17. However, he didn’t begin formal theological training until eight years later, while serving as young adult pastor of City Life Church in Melbourne for five years. 

"Doing a Ph.D. wasn’t initially on my radar, but I had a desire to study,” Dr. Coombs says. “It’s something God put on my heart. A good teacher is a good learner.” 

Dr. Coombs’ passion for Scripture led him to pursue a Ph.D. with the hope of bringing sound Bible teaching to the Pentecostal environment of Australian churches. His dissertation focuses on the “long ending of Mark,” which refers to the disputed final 12 verses of the Gospel of Mark (to be published in a forthcoming book from Fortress Press in 2016). 

“When someone picks up their Bible, the first question they often ask after reading that footnote is, ‘What does that mean? Is this the word of God or isn’t it?’” Dr. Coombs says. 

Coombs now serves as academic dean of Planetshakers College, an institution that emerged from Planetshakers Church, one of the largest churches in Australia. He is also a teacher with David McCracken Ministries and an adjunct lecturer at Harvest Bible College in Melbourne. 

“My calling is to be a prophetic theologian— somebody who is passionate about theology, but also has a fundamental commitment to the local church,” Dr. Coombs says.