Beth duly noted that faculty reviews often address the UD mission statement more directly, so here I will address aspects of the seminary mission:
"A Community after God’s Heart" — I think this theological focus is our proverbial North Star, reminding us to set our minds on divine things, not (exclusively) on human things (which is easy to do, and we see many doing it, but such forgetfulness toward God leads to disaster). In preaching class, students are asked to give a properly theological focus to their sermon focus statements (i.e., to summarize their claims with God — by whatever biblical name — in the nominative).
We "... Join God’s Mission / "... forming God’s people for servant leadership in ministry and mission" — We are humbled to remember and we teach — across all programs (at least I gather this from all my colleagues) — the prior action and providence of God in both testaments of scripture, along the road to Emmaus, throughout church history, and in the mission field. God is always in the lead, we are disciples and followers, not greater than the Teacher. To follow up on the sermon preparation process, I encourage students to frame the sermon function statements in response to this question: How we should pray and discern what God is going or wants to do with this message and how we the might join in God's mission in response to the sermon?
"... to be reformed according to the Word of God." I think we aspire to place a proper emphasis on "the whole counsel of God." Our Bible faculty teach very full loads with both graduate and undergraduate classes; both Dr. Schlimm and Dr. Elder are working their way through their respective testaments in their scholarship; Dr. E. has even taught as class on Revelation. Meanwhile, I emphasize, in ministry courses, the role of the canon as the norm that bounds text selection for preaching and worship design and that safeguards against aberrations that can arise when we fail to employ the Reformed principle of using scripture to interpret scripture or draw on too narrow a selection of politically acceptable texts. So I encourage students to preach one sermon on a lectionary text and require them to preach on another that is not in the lectionary.
In his staple textbook, Worship: Reformed According to Scripture, the late H. O. Old, listed three basic principles: (1) Worship is according to Scripture, (2) it is offered in Jesus' name, and (3) it is a work of the Holy Spirit (before it is, as it is often often observed, "the people's work"). In supporting his first point, on p. 3 (!) of his book, he devotes a full paragraph to John Oecolampadius, the Reformer of Basel, who "developed at considerable length what the early Reformed theologians meant by worship that was according to scripture. ... As [he] understood it, the worship of the church should be consistent with such essential principles as justification by faith, prevenient grace, and, above all, Christian love."
Where the reformed tradition is concerned (to which I think this bullet point alludes), I am revisiting these primary 16th c. sources that have large fallen out of the church's memory, at least in the Anglosphere, and doing so precisely 500 years after the fact, publishing annual collections of freshly translated sources, most of it for the first time in English. [But I guess this now goes to ...]
• Growing in the Church’s biblical faith in the Triune God. • Excelling in theological education and scholarship. • Living as faithful stewards of God’s gifts.
Both the emphasis on canon over lectionary as the norm for worship and preaching and as a check against heresy, as well as consulting early, but forgotten, Swiss Reformed sources seem to me to be matters of (in some cases, long overdue) stewardship. They are also examples of the practical theological approach according to which the Spirit often works by way of a figure-ground reversal (i.e., shining the spotlight outside the proverbial "box" that is otherwise so familiar we cannot see, without the Spirit, the possibilities that lie beyond it).
• Engaging the changing needs of the church and world.
UDTS has this responsive engagement and forward-thinking nimbleness in our DNA, from starting the distance program in the mid-2000s, to our spiritual formation emphasis (first taught by the whole faculty, and now ably steered by Dr. Forshey), to clergy-coaching (Dr. Colyer), to building local and regional cross-denominational connections in the church (Dr. James), to the current shift toward interfacing more directly with judicatories for training of church members to address all facets of congregational life (Dr. McCaw). President Bullock has described us publicly as both "nimble" and "outside-the-box." Both are very apt descriptors.
At the nexus of growing biblical faith, stewarding gifts, and engaging the needs ... I would mention MN616—The Use of the Psalms in Christian Worship, which emphasizes the frequency with which scholars have observed the general and inscrutable neglect of the lament psalms, which is all the more puzzling in light of their majority in the psalter and their transforming power in (or rather, God's faithfulness in responding to them by) converting complaint into praise. The state of the church and the world are presenting fresh opportunity to use and appreciate these psalms. Meanwhile, I am attempting to both steward and sharpen my musical gifts (such as they are) and encourage others to use their own talent stacks to offer these psalms to the church in fresh ways, with the expectation of transformation. The printing and distribution of psalms recordings and other publications align with a sense of call to equip the saints for the work of ministry.