New Faculty Highlight: Dr. Mims

The Biblical Studies department has recently gained a new professor, Dr. Tim Mims. Many readers may already know him, either through his classes or by hearing him speak in chapel on occasion. Friendly and encouraging, Dr. Mims is a welcome addition to the BMC family.

Dr. Mims attended college right here at Blue Mountain, and later went on to seminary to acquire a master’s and then a doctorate degree. When asked what advice he would give current students based on his own experience, Dr. Mims replied,

“I would encourage students to make the most of their time. Rather than rushing through it, wring it dry for every opportunity to be able to know God more and build relationships with other people. So I would say that some of the best advice I could give is, don't waste it.”

Dr. Mims has been teaching in some capacity since 2008, when he was a teaching fellow in graduate school. Dr. Mims states that teaching was a calling he felt from God, and he described a call as an overwhelming desire to serve the Lord.

“And so with that call I noticed that God really began to burden my heart to invest in the next generation. Doors began to open for me to do just that.”

He also states that he was called back to BMC to teach; although he recognizes the importance of leadership of the college and Dr. McMillin, he says that it was ultimately God working all the details out behind the scenes to bring him here.

Dr. Mims did not have a least favorite thing about the campus, but his favorite is most definitely the spiritual atmosphere of the college. He spoke of the genuine compassion and care that he sees as evidence of the presence of God.

One interesting thing about Dr. Mims is that he has a hidden talent. “I do imitations. Now here, I haven't really developed my imitations, but I was a teaching fellow for a graduate of Blue Mountain College, and I do a pretty good imitation of him.”

He told a story from his graduate school days when he was a teaching fellow for one of his professors, Dr. Jake. One day he was teaching Dr. Jake’s class and he did an imitation of the professor, warning the students not to tell on him because he was the one grading their papers. “I come back the next day and go to his office to pick up some papers, and Dr. Jake is sitting there. He tells me, so I hear you do a good impersonation of the professor!”