After seven years of service at Westminster Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Alfred Poirier, Professor of Pastoral Theology, and his wife Trudy, will retire in June 2025, returning to their home in Bozeman, Montana.
Dr. Poirier held several additional teaching positions, and has thirty-eight years of pastoral ministry experience, including his time as a pastor at Rocky Mountain Community Church (PCA) in Billings, Montana, a service to God that spanned twenty-six years. Much of this work has culminated in fruitful publications, such as The Peacemaking Pastor (Baker, 2006), and Words that Cut: Learning to Take Criticism in Light of the Gospel (Peacemaker Ministries) and several articles in The Journal of Biblical Counseling.
Dr. John Currie recently commented that Dr. Poirier brought to his teaching a combination of penetrating insight that he applied through practical examples and decades-worth of understanding of God’s word and how it intersects with the most difficult pastoral problems, along with a profound care and personal investment in his students.
Along with Dr. Poirier’s role as a professor, Mrs. Poirier served in music ministry, which included providing accompaniment for Westminster’s weekly chapel services. Dr. Currie remarked of the “incomparable combination of Alfred and Trudy…they have been the image of the ideal model of marriage and ministry for Westminster students.”
Dr. Rob Edwards likewise shared that Dr. Poirier “has been integral to our pastoral theology team, bringing much wisdom from many years of pastoral experience. But it’s far more than his experience that he's brought to Westminster. He has been a minister among us. Not only have our students profited from his teaching in counseling and preaching, but the faculty has benefited in so many ways through his counsel and care. We will miss him greatly as a colleague and friend.”
The Poiriers expressed their gratitude to God for their call to serve Him at Westminster. They said, “our time here has been incredibly rich and rewarding as we’ve witnessed the Lord raise up and equip the next generation of godly men and women and their families to proclaim clearly and faithfully the whole counsel of God, calling men, women, boys and girls to repent and trust in Jesus Christ the only Savior. The sacrificial dedication of the faculty and administration to advance the gospel worldwide is a strong encouragement to us and a great testimony to the faithfulness of our Lord and Christ. We shall continue to pray the Lord sustain you all as you equip laborers for the harvest.”
Join us as we thank our Lord for such God-honoring service and ministry in and through the lives of the Poiriers. It is our prayer that they have a restful retirement in the Lord.