When Taylor Sinclair graduated from The Master’s University in December of 2016, he was certain of two things: He wanted to marry his girlfriend Kelsey and he wanted to attend The Master’s Seminary. At the time, one of those seemed much more attainable than the other.
“When I graduated from TMU, I knew without a doubt that I was going to marry Kelsey,” Taylor said. “What I couldn’t figure out was how I was going to afford seminary education.”
For Taylor, The Master’s Seminary had always been the goal. He knew he wanted to eventually go there the day he transferred to TMU from a Christian college in his hometown, Minneapolis, Minnesota. His desire for seminary training and pastoral ministry had been affirmed by friends and mentors since he was a young believer in high school, reading his Bible for the first time with spiritual eyes, listening to John MacArthur sermons, and teaching children’s Sunday school at his home church in Minnesota.
“I jumped into children’s ministry because I figured that was the only place the pastors were going to let a new believer teach,” Taylor said.
The desire for ministry was there. The affirmation was there. He was ready to get married and attend the school of his dreams. There was just one problem. He had no idea how he was going to afford rent, provide for his wife, and pay for tuition.
“Facing some very real financial challenges, I started to look at other seminaries. I considered one in the Midwest that wasn’t too far from home,” Taylor said. “But as I’m praying about this, I hear about this new, full-tuition scholarship at TMS.”
Taylor is referring to the Mayhue Scholarship, named in honor of Dick Mayhue, who served as Executive Vice President and Provost for more than two decades. A few years after Dr. Mayhue retired, donors set up the scholarship in his honor. It provided full tuition for recipients and included a cost-of-living stipend to help ease the burden of rent in Los Angeles County.
Taylor applied for the scholarship but knew it was far from a guarantee. The standards to receive the scholarship were high and they were only awarding a few. In fact, only two men received the Mayhue Scholarship the first semester it was offered.
“By God’s grace, I was one of them,” Taylor said. “Without it, I genuinely don’t know if I could have afforded to train at TMS.”
Thanks to the generosity of those donors through the Mayhue Scholarship, as well as an internship in the children’s department at Grace Community Church, Taylor was able to train for ministry, provide for his family, and receive invaluable pastoral preparation at Grace Church.
Not long after he graduated from TMS, a ministry opportunity presented itself. Foothill Bible Church in Upland, California, about an hour’s drive from the TMS campus, needed a student ministries pastor. Their senior pastor, Micah Lugg, had attended The Master’s Seminary, so there was already a familiarity between Taylor and the congregation.
“There were so many strong connections with Foothill,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to get better than Grace Church. It’s an incredible church. But there are all sorts of churches like Foothill around the globe that need guys who are willing to shepherd and preach the Word. Here at Foothill, I get to build on the foundation that’s already been laid. I can serve the church and help it grow stronger as I continue to mature and grow as a preacher and pastor. It’s a sweet joy.”
Taylor is still just 29 years old, so he knows that if the Lord wills, he may have more than three or four decades of ministry ahead of him. And he knows that no matter how long his ministry lasts, it will always be rooted in what he learned at TMS. 
“Even now, I still look to the faculty for help and guidance,” Taylor said. “That’s one of the benefits of the somewhat small classes. I still reach out to pastors, elders at Grace, and professors that I’ve had. I’ll ask them for help with preaching, counseling, and other ministry questions. I don’t think I can overemphasize just how helpful it is to be on a local church campus and to learn from men who are both pastors and professors.”
As the first-ever recipient of the Mayhue Scholarship, Taylor has gone before nearly 70 men who have received the scholarship since 2017. And there are sure to be many more in the coming years who, like Taylor, couldn’t afford a TMS education without the financial assistance this scholarship provides. One day, because of the Mayhue Scholarship, there will no doubt be a small army of pastors around the world with the same desire that Taylor shared as he talked about his long-term goals in ministry.
“I just want to be faithful,” Taylor said. “I want to figure out exactly how I can maximize the ministry God gives me and use my gifts for His glory and the good of His church. I’m so thankful for my time at TMS. It prepared me to be faithful, no matter what my ministry looks like in the coming years.”