The Whitney Starkey Experience

My name is Whitney Starkey. I grew up in Eden Prairie, MN, a middle/upper class, predominantly white, Christian city. I’m the oldest of three children to my parents, who were high school sweet-hearts. My brother plays basketball, my sister loves science, and I’m the artsy one. I started attending church when I was sixteen. When I was nineteen, attending a state university with the hope of getting a bachelor’s degree in art, I decided to follow my call to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church. By the time I graduated from college, I had discovered a desire to work in urban ministry.

This year, my second year in the M.Div program, I began my first field education experience. I was given the opportunity to engage in urban ministry. I love the city but have only experienced its nice parts: the hustle and bustle, the endless resources, and plenty of things to do. But I knew that that was not the complete picture of an urban setting. Sure, I’ve passed homeless people on the street before, but I wasn’t about to think that these limited experiences were sufficient for my preparation for urban ministry. So I asked, and I received a placement at Chicago Uptown Ministry. It is an agency affiliated with Lutheran Child and Family Services. Chicago Uptown Ministry is a civil service organization that offers outreach to the homeless, Alcoholic Anonymous meetings five times a week, substance abuse counseling, and ESL classes for single Latina women. There I was, a young seminarian who knew nothing of real hardship, submersed in the other side of the urban situation. This was where I was to work fifteen hours a week for eight months. What was I thinking?

During the fall semester, I took a Christian history class. I was particularly intrigued when we were reading liberation theology and learning about the social gospel. I took a deep liking to the works of Walter Rauschenbusch. He was a Baptist pastor at a quickly shrinking church in New York City in the early 1900s. The birth of the industrial revolution combined with an increasing chasm between economic classes was quickly turning the citizens of the United States upside-down. Rauschenbusch saw this happening around him, and discerned that Christians need to promote salvation on a societal scale, not just the individual. He believed in an active Christianity and an attitude of solidarity. When we serve our neighbors, we are transformed together, serving the whole of the body, bringing the Kingdom to all.

This is powerful reading material, but it took on a new dynamism as I spent time in Uptown. I was terrified at the beginning of my placement, but I have to say, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve participated in our food pantry, worship services, after-school program, and spend time interacting with the community. I’m honored to be making amazing friendships, regardless of any differences. I’m beginning to understand what Rauschenbusch was talking about in solidarity of the body. We are all children of God. We live in a world of ladders, when the Kingdom calls for a table - one table, where there’s room for everyone. I am thankful to God for this opportunity that not only helps prepare me for my future in ordained ministry, but also exposes me to the Kingdom on earth.

Whitney Starkey is a second year Masters of Divinity student.

How Have You Proclaimed The Good News?

Go now and proclaim the gospel,
not just through words but deeds –
through what you say,
what you do,
and who you are.
May others, as they meet with you, meet with Christ,
and know his living presence for themselves. Amen
-Nick Fawcett, England

As Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself grateful for the people who have proclaimed the gospel to me by simply being who God calls them to be. They are the ones who know that sometimes words fall short, but the ministry of presence does not. They are life-long learners, acknowledging there is always room to grow in the love of God and neighbor. They are co-creators with God who won’t settle for the world as it is, so they continually strive for the kin-dom of God. They reach out to those who are considered by society as ‘less-than’ and, in doing so, they meet Jesus. They study, teach, preach, serve, listen, inspire and learn so that the Bible and theology aren’t used as weapons for harm, but for the flourishing of all life.

It is because of these people – many of whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting both at Garrett-Evangelical and on the road recruiting for the seminary – that I continue to be inspired and passionate about what I do. As the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, I have the profound privilege of walking alongside prospective students as they share their call into ministry, while communicating with them the myriad of ways life as a Garrett student can enrich, inform and strengthen their call to be who God has called them to be.

Here are a few of the things I’ve learned and for which I am thankful:

• Campus ministries are alive and well with students who are passionate about putting their faith into action. Whether it is through serving the ‘least of these’ in their communities, participating in mission trips, or taking the time out of their busy schedules to discern and discuss the connection of their faith to their everyday lives, these students are preparing to make a difference in the world.
• Garrett-Evangelical is committed to living out our mission through practicing what we teach and preach. We may not always get it right, but we strive to be a seminary of and for the church. How do I know this? While I am only in my first year at Garrett, it is evident to me that we don’t simply talk about diversity and the global church; we continually seek out ways to engage in multi-cultural conversations and contexts, widening our understanding of who God is. We don’t simply teach about the ways in which we need to be better stewards of creation; we are renovating our residence hall to be LEED certified with geo-thermal heating and cooling and teaching courses on ecology and theology. Spiritual Formation is not simply given lip-service; we are raising money for endowing the Rueben Job Chair in Spiritual Formation, the first chair of its kind in theological education.
• Our alumni/ae have been prepared to be bold leaders for the church, the academy and the world. Whether it’s through forming an intentional ecological Christian community while serving a local church, providing resources in Christian education and youth ministry, creating sacred spaces through art and liturgy, speaking out against the injustices of our times, or leading a multitude of churches as bishop, our alumni/ae are not satisfied with maintaining the status quo, but continue to find new and creative ways to follow in the way of Jesus.
• Garrett-Evangelical is committed to provide on-going education not only for our own alumni/ae, but for all clergy who are interested through our MDiv Plus program which provides a two-year church leadership certificate program in conjunction with Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, along with clergy coaching opportunities.

There is much for which I am thankful! Becoming a part of the Garrett-Evangelical community and getting to know our faculty, staff, students, alumni/ae and prospective students – has renewed my hope that the gospel is alive and that there are many people ready to be the hands and feet of God in a world that desperately needs to hear the good news.

Where have you heard, seen, experienced the gospel proclaimed? How have you proclaimed the good news? During this season of Thanksgiving, may we be mindful of the ways in which God is at work in our lives, our communities, and our world. And may we live with intention as the people whom God calls us to be.

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Rev. Becky J. Eberhart is the Assistant VP of Enrollment Management at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there was a cohort of students who knew it was time to respond to God’s call in a concrete, loving and meaningful way. The students came to seminary at Garrett-Evangelical and discovered a swirling, invigorating environment of ideas, theories, theologies, proposals, hypotheses and thoughts. The meaning and love were evident, but the concrete aspect of responding to the call seemed elusive. So, day after day, the students came to the Field Education Office and told their stories of what they envisioned ministry could be. The stories were full of dreams and experiences, doubts and hopes, and decisions and questions. The students and the Director of Field Education began to make connections between their stories and God’s Story, and planned together how these might come together in an expression of ministry and service.

One student’s story included the need for discernment between the call to ordination as a United Methodist Elder or Deacon. He was given the opportunity to serve as a field education student in a congregation that had both a Deacon and an Elder to help him find clarity.

Another student wanted to serve in an English speaking congregation so her skills in evangelism could blossom in a new language. She was placed in a congregation she hoped for, with a bilingual pastor who could assist her in the transition from one language to another.

Four students seemed to have similar desires for learning about pastoral care. Their past experiences drew them to the ministry of chaplaincy, but they had not had the opportunity to try it out. These students went to a local retirement center where they learned from seasoned chaplains how to serve elders during a crucial time of life.

Then there were students who were called to ministries of social justice and outreach. They sought to bring the sacrament of communion in an embodied way, by being with people in the midst of their greatest need. They were drawn to baptize people with love and compassion outside the structure of the church. These students explored and found expression of their God-given calls in street ministry, after-school youth programs, legislative advocacy, broadcast ministry, college campuses, international mission sites and ex-offender programs.

The students came from east and west, and from north and south. Their stories were compelling. Many were amazed at how vibrantly God’s Story was already in progress when they arrived at their field education sites. Many were overwhelmed at the amount of effort and time needed to bring Good News to the world. All of them were thankful that they were part of God’s Great Story in concrete, loving and meaningful ways.

May all God’s people live happily ever after.

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Rev. Dr. Ann L. Rosewall is the Director of Field Education and Vocational Formation and Church Leadership at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Words of Wisdom

My name is Kay Burlingham and I am the director of annual giving and alum relations at Garrett-Evangelical and am in my thirteenth year of employment. A real highlight for me every fall is when students join me in sending out fall phonathon calls. It has become such a tradition that some recent graduates have been known to answer their phone by saying “the leaves are falling I bet this is Garrett-Evangelical calling."

Students gather with me in a classroom in October for two weeks during evening hours and together we dial out across the country collecting gifts and promises, prayer requests, recent family news and joyful surprises from seminary graduates from classes 1950 thru 2010. This fall I added one more item for each student to ask for - words of wisdom and/or advice. The older alums were quite generous and supplied us with quite a few pearls. Here is a smattering of what we received as we ended our calls with, “before I say good night, do you have any words of wisdom or advice for me tonight?”

“…had a wonderful time. Fellowship was important. My wife and I had a great time in Christian Education class during seminary. When you get out, take every advantage you have in getting to know people and helping people.” L. W. class of 1950

“Study hard. Keep Christ-centered.” W.T. class of 1951

“Don’t talk so much about the gospel, just live it.” P.G. class of 1952

“Keep your head above water. Don’t study too hard, and don’t take yourself too seriously.” G.W. class of 1953

“Dwell on people.” J.M. class of 1954

“Be true to your faith and be creative.” R.P. class of 1955

“A grateful heart goes with a heart that loves God.” W. P. class of 1955

“Hang in there!” M.R. class of 1956

“Live in the community you serve.” L.H. class of 1956

“That’s your job.” S.H. class of 1956

"Be open to opportunities. Keep your mind open to possibilities.” C.B. class of 1957

“Don’t waste any time getting your papers in!” A.B. class of 1957

“Study hard.” J.J. class of 1959

“Most of what you do will be teaching.” K.W. class of 1971

“Hang in there!” E. L. class of 1972

“You will learn more in a parish than at seminary. Enjoy the seminary, I did. But it doesn’t teach you about loving people.” N.S. class of 1972

“Embrace, enjoy, and suck it all in – and then take it all with you. I am thankful every day for that life changing experience.” L.D. class of 1973

“Take it all in.” B. A. class of 1978

“Just keep doing the good work you are doing.” H.A. class of 1978

“Stay with it, be persistant. Don’t let obstacles deter you.” E. H. class of 1983

“Learn to make coffee.” M. H. class of 1991

“You are not in the real world, you are at Garrett-Evangelical. Garrett-Evangelical is a world of its own. Enjoy it! Stick with it.” V.P. class of 1996

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Kay Burlingham is the director of annual giving and alum relations at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Experiencing the Garrett-Evangelical Community: An Administrator Perspective

I enjoy being on the Garrett-Evangelical campus year-round, but I particularly appreciate being on campus during the fall season. There is something invigorating about fall and the start of the new school year. It gives me a renewed sense of purpose and determination to consciously make a daily effort to improve my service to the seminary and my relationship with the staff, faculty, and students.

This is my second fall at Garrett-Evangelical. I arrived in May of 2009 to take on the job of Controller. I remember walking into the seminary for the first time – from the outside, the building itself is impressive. The picturesque tower exudes all of the things you imagine when you think of a religious institution. I didn’t grow up in the United Methodist church, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from seminary life. I was raised in the Catholic faith, so my expectation was not far from a mental picture of nuns and priests silently praying as they walked the halls.

I will attribute my convoluted notion of a “seminary” to my Catholic upbringing and too many movies! Needless to say, I could not have been more wrong. I sometimes overhear discussions when I walk by classrooms, and I am so impressed by the intelligence of the students. I must confess – please don’t try to have a meaningful academic-related conversation with me. I couldn’t understand your theological discussions if I tried! And as impressed as I was with the students’ desire to learn and grow in their faith, I was even more impressed by the enormous presence of community at Garrett-Evangelical. I still see it in how the students respect and support one another, and it inspires me in my interactions with others.

When I think back to last fall, I recall Board of Trustee Finance Committee meetings approving funding for the Loder Hall and Lesemann Hall renovations. I saw how hard the leadership team and the Finance Committee worked to make the renovations a reality. Now, this fall, I am actually seeing the construction happen – along with all of the invoices the Business Office pays to our various construction vendors! But this is truly a crucial investment in the future of the seminary, and it is worth every penny (especially next winter when I don’t have to leave campus to grab lunch).

I am already looking forward to next fall when I can once again see the results of another year of the seminary administrators’ hard work. Administrative processes may not always run smoothly or perfectly, and I firmly believe there is always room for improvement in all that we do. But the one constant in the transformation of Garrett-Evangelical is the genuine desire of its faculty and staff to help the students succeed. It is so rewarding to work in a place where the priority is to support the community, both staff and students, in all that we do. For this, I am truly grateful to be a member of the Garrett-Evangelical community.

So even though I don’t understand what you are discussing in the classroom, I am always happy to help you deal with the administration of being a student. And if not before then, I will see you at lunchtime in Loder Hall next fall!

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Jessica Johnston is a Controller in the Business Office at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Are You so in Debt as to Embarrass?

“Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your work?”

That is question number sixteen asked by a United Methodist bishop of those who present themselves for ministry in The United Methodist Church. The question sometimes brings awkward giggles and laughter at the annual conference session when it is asked. Even the episcopal leader posing the question may make a side comment to lessen the tension and unease! Some have suggested the appropriate answer should be, “I don’t embarrass easily!” Yet, the reality is, a major source of potential embarrassment is the cost of the candidate’s education.

Student debt is an ongoing subject in the media. It also weaves its way into student conversations, deliberations by academic administrators, and—when thinking about theological education—the church. Of particular concern is the size of the debt for which a student is responsible at the completion of her or his education, whether it be undergraduate or graduate studies—or theological study.

A study of graduates from a Lutheran seminary reported the total educational debt for graduates increased from $28,882 in 2000 to approximately $40,000 in 2010. The figure represents the combined debt from both undergraduate and seminary education.

A Presbyterian survey indicated the average Master of Divinity graduate in 1991 left seminary with a $5,267 debt as a result of her/his seminary education. Ten years later, the average debt had tripled, to $15,599. By 2010, the debt is likely to have increased to $23,000. When a modest undergraduate debt of$16,000 is added to the mix, a student may leave seminary with as much as $39,000 in total educational debt.

Considering modest pastoral salaries, it could take an individual fifteen to twenty years to pay back the loans. That is a long time!

Garrett-Evangelical annually awards more than $2 million in financial annually. Even with generous aid packages, students must secure loans to pursue the training necessary to fulfill their call—and meet the requirements of the church—to be an ordained clergy. The average student debt accrued from study at the seminary is approximately $27,000.

I have a modest proposal.

In United Methodism, an individual pursuing ministry goes through several steps. A criterion for being recognized as a Declared Candidate is to be recommended by the charge conference of one’s local congregation. The folk of the church, in essence, attest they believe the individual is worthy to be a declared candidate and recommend her/him to be one. A requirement to continue in candidacy is the annual recommendation by the charge conference.

Without the official annual support of the home congregation, an individual cannot continue in candidacy toward ordination!

My proposal is “support your candidate!” Support occurs in several ways. The official action of the charge conference or other sponsoring body is one. Ongoing prayer and affirmation is another. There is a third: financial support.

Underwrite the candidate(s) for ministry from your congregation with a scholarship. The annual scholarship could range from $5,000 to the total unmet financial need—as much as $8,000. Over the three years of study for a M.Div. degree, the total financial support would range from $15,000 to $24,000.

What a difference that would make when the bishop asked clergy candidates the “embarrassment” question!

It is a special moment when a United Methodist congregation has an individual emerge from their midst to declare a call to ministry. For most congregations, this happens more rarely than regularly. The needed financial support would challenge the congregation to grow their budget for a few years. Alternately, the congregation could include the cost of the scholarship investment as part of a major fundraising campaign. I am sure there are other options.

One individual has reflected that “financing healthier graduates can only benefit the church."

I see the proposal as more than finances; it is investment in Christian leadership and ministry for generations to come.

It all fits together: a demonstrated commitment to the clergy candidate by a vote of affirmation, continued prayers of encouragement, and providing the financial support necessary for the candidate to prepare for ministry.

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Dr. Jim Noseworthy is the Senior Assistant to the President at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. His personal blog is at http://drjimnoseworthy.wordpress.com/

Finding Community

I love community, which some may find an odd statement considering I’m a fairly introverted person. The truth is, as much as I need to have some alone time, I also need time in community. In fact, community was one of the reasons I decided to join the United Methodist Church.

I remember the very first time I went to youth group at First United Methodist Church of Grove. I remember being welcomed with enthusiasm and excitement. I remember the immediate sense that I was accepted by this random group of people even though they didn’t know me and I was a shy, awkward 8^th grader. I also remember leaving that night with eager anticipation of returning the next week. Looking back, that excitement was because I had found a religious community that I could call my own.

When I left to start undergrad, I had to say goodbye to my old community. My first night in my dorm room, I wondered where I would find my community now that I was in a new city and at college. I soon found that community through the Wesley Center at Oklahoma City University, where my closest friendships were created and strengthened through four years of spending time together in worship, fellowship, service, and study. It was in that community that I found comfort and love during my moments of grief, weakness, and fear. It was in that community that I found a safe place to work through my call to ministry and also be affirmed, more than once, that I was called to teach and preach the Good News. Perhaps most importantly, it was in the midst of that community where I found the courage to follow my calling and apply to seminary.

Now, once again, I am in a new place and once again, I have found that community I so desperately need, here at Garrett-Evangelical. The sense of community and their efforts to create community was something that really drew me here in the first place. I did not realize until I got to Garrett-Evangelical just how many opportunities to be in community there were:

• Chapel Services on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
• Community Dinner on Wednesday
• Community Lunch on Thursday
• The G-ETS Student Center
• Eliza Garrett Day
• The numerous Centers and Student Groups

And those are only a few of the ways to be involved in the community here. It is a poignant reminder to me that when you come to Garrett-Evangelical, you do not only get a great theological education that prepares you for ministry. You will also get a community that will love and support you on your journey through seminary as you continue to discern your call. You will get a community that will challenge you, encourage you, study with you, and pray for and with you. You will get a community that will stay with you long after you have left its stone walls.

I am grateful for the welcome the Garrett-Evangelical community has given me. I am proud to be able to say that I am now a member this community. Most of all, I am looking forward to next year when I will have the chance to welcome a new batch of students into the wonderful community that I now call my own.

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Tasha Sargent is a first year MDiv student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She regularly blogs at http://thethousandmilejourney.wordpress.com.

Reaching the Joshua Generation

In April of this year, I heard Rev. Otis Moss, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, speak to the Religion Communicators Congress. His message was straightforward, “You cannot reach a Joshua generation with a Moses sounding message.” Put another way, eight track ministries cannot survive in an iPod world. It seems the notion of how we do ministry in the 21^st century continues to be challenged.

As we endeavor to prepare bold spiritual leaders at Garrett-Evangelical we are moving forward to embrace such change. Here are just a few of the many ways:

• The 2010 Graduates are the first class to participate in the MDiv Plus program. This first-of-its kind program will allow MDiv students to earn a certificate in not-for-profit management from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. In addition, certified mentors will provide coaching for MDiv students during their first three years of ministry. More information on this exciting program can be found at http://garrett.edu/index.php/why-garrett/mdiv-plus.
• The DMin program is expanding with three new tracks in Congregational Leadership, African-American Congregational Leadership, and Spiritual Direction. The Congregational Leadership and African American Congregational Leadership tracks also connect students with Northwestern’s Kellogg School of management for certification in not-for-profit management. You can learn more about these exciting new tracks at http://garrett.edu/index.php/degree-programs-academics/dmin.
  
• The United Library has more electronic databases and resources for students, faculty and alumni/ae then ever before. You’ll find a complete listing of these resources in the Alums section at www.garrett.edu/library/.
• Garrett-Evangelical has made a commitment to offer 12 online courses on a rotation basis for three years, including some courses that combine online and on campus weekends. A course listing for 2010-2011 can be found at www.garrett.edu/DL.
• Our Development Office has been working diligently to endow one of the first chairs in spiritual formation among any of the protestant seminaries in the United States. This chair is being named in recognition of our distinguished alum Bishop Rueben Job who has been at the forefront in spiritual formation in the Church. To learn more go to www.garrett.edu/ruebenjob.
• We are also undergoing an 11 million dollar renovation of Loder and Lesemann Halls. Each dorm room will now have its own bathroom, all of Loder will be handicap accessible, and smart technology classrooms will be installed. Most significantly, this entire project is LEED Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) with a completion date of Summer 2011. 

These are just some of the many ways Garrett-Evangelical is addressing the needs of the Joshua generation.  I cannot help but be excited about the steps we are taking to be a seminary for the 21^st century while remaining dedicated to our core purpose of knowing God in Christ, and through preparing spiritual leaders, to help others know God in Christ.
 

I am also excited that this academic year Garrett-Evangelical welcomed over 120 new students, our largest class in decades.  These students come with amazing gifts, abilities, and a passion for ministry.  Their stories are awe inspiring and it gives me great hope for the Church and for the generations to come.

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Shane Nichols is the Manager of Communications and Events at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Witnessing Our Past in the Present

By Jason Gill and Krista McNeil

As the month of August 2010 waned, the administration’s anticipation of the new class only grew and grew. It becomes an additional season of advent as we prepare a place for our new students—our new academic colleagues—our new brothers and sisters.

The heritage to which our new family members can now lay claim is rich and deep, and the stories—humorous and heart wrenching—bind us to one another. Our personal stories, our institutional story, and the Biblical stories are the framework upon which we build our ministries and the future.

Though tiny Garrett-Evangelical is often lost in the shadow of Northwestern, its stories are not. Northwestern is part of our story and they are family, too. That Garrett and Northwestern are sister institutions to one another should be remembered. Like real family members, their presence is sometimes forgotten; they blend into each others’ normalcy of life. Each takes the other for granted.

Though the Northwestern charter was established first, Garrett started teaching classes a few months earlier than NU. For a brief time the name, Northwestern Biblical Institute was considered – clearly they made the better choice. For years the two schools shared students, faculty, and trustees.

In the 1920’s, either sadly, or appropriately, Northwestern changed its mascot from the Fighting Methodists to the Wildcats. Do names matter? Sisters often take their husbands’ names, but the familial relationship isn’t lost. The essence of the institution is preserved despite this transition. Over the years, Garrett-Evangelical’s name and appearance has changed, too.

The administration was acutely aware of changes in appearance in the last weeks before this semester started. “Where will the students live, eat and commune?” echoed through the halls between the scaffolding and power tools and the smell of fresh paint.

This was not unlike the August and September of 1923. Incoming students that year, Murray and Dorothy Leiffer remember that the Main Building was still being built. “[…] it became apparent that the concrete flooring on both first and second stories was not well laid, and President Stuart, a meticulous man who watched details and wanted things to be done correctly, insisted that both floorings be removed and relaid […] the noisy, messy work had to be done after the autumn quarter had begun.”

Of course, we are in the midst of construction now; building both new facilities and new communities. This year we celebrate both the most intensive year of remodeling and construction as well as the largest incoming class in decades. We can celebrate together such an achievement; that Garrett-Evangelical continues to change and grow.

This is shared as a gentle reminder that human memory is brief and institutional memory even more so, and to once again share the well-worn adage that history does repeat itself. The value of reveling in the nostalgia of family history is not only identity, but reverence for the delicate though indelible threads that bind us to one another.

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Jason Gill is the Administrative Coordinator for Admissions. Krista McNeil is the Administrator of Academic Affairs.

Why I Chose a Theological Education

Originally posted on September 6, 2010

Tomorrow, I will be starting my first day of class at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, the beginning of my graduate level theological education. In the months prior to reaching this point, I had to spend a lot of time explaining to family members, friends, and acquaintances why I was going to seminary in the first place. In some of their minds, if I wanted to be a pastor all I should have to do is find a church that needs a pastor or start one up on my own. If I knew my calling, why spend three years at seminary, especially if my undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and I had already spent time working in the church?

Well, the first reason is that to be ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church you have to earn a Master of Divinity degree. However, there are other reasons I chose to go to seminary, besides fulfilling a denominational ordination requirement:

1. The Education

I wanted to be taught by some of the best and brightest in the fields of theology, biblical studies, pastoral care, Methodism, and Christian history. As a pastor, I will be charged with the daunting, though honored, task of teaching the sacred text of Christianity to my congregation, sharing my knowledge of the history of the Church, explaining what it means to be a United Methodist, and encouraging them to be thinking theologically about their life and the world. I also will be the listening ear for their troubles, trials, and tribulations. I owe it to my congregations and the One who called me into ministry to learn all that I can so that I will be fully prepared to lead, teach, and help my congregation grow intellectually, as well as spiritually.

2. The Diversity

I was reminded during orientation that the world is a very diverse place. Seminary provides me with an opportunity to study with professors and students of all ages, races, and ethnicities, from every part of the political and theological spectrum. While I may not agree with every person or every viewpoint, being able to hear all the different voices, opinions, and beliefs allows me the chance to critically think about what I believe and why I have those beliefs. I also get to interact with people whose background differs from my own and hear how they see the world, the Church, and the Scriptures.

It is important that, because we live in a diverse world, that we learn how to hear the voice of the other and, even when we disagree, to treat them with the same respect and dignity we desire. The truth is, the churches I will serve will be diverse, even if it is only in stances on church issues. Seminary allows me the chance to learn how to listen and dialogue differences of opinion and belief while respecting the other and without giving up my opinions and beliefs.

3. The Experience

Seminary is a unique experience that does not come around often (unless you’re looking for multiple master’s degrees related to religion/ministry, in which case, I will pray for your sanity). For many of us in the 2010 incoming class, we’ve made a lot of sacrifices to be here. We’ve moved away from places that we have called home for a long time. Some of us brought our family with us and others have left them behind. There is no doubt that I will experience A LOT in seminary – good and bad – but as with all new experiences, it is another opportunity for me to step outside of my comfort zones to grow and learn in this new place.

My experiences in seminary will not only prepare me for my ministry, but for living in this diverse world. I’m an Oklahoman who moved to Evanston, IL, just a short train ride away from Chicago. Life is very different here and I have already experience many, many, many new things – such as a lack of air conditioning in apartment buildings, which would be considered a sin in Oklahoma. However, I’m already cherishing these experiences – and I am really loving that I can stay cool in September with nothing more than a fan and some open windows.

These are just a few of the reasons I chose to go to seminary but they are all very important ones that also a played a part in my decision to choose to come to Garrett-Evangelical. I know that three years from now I will receive a degree that not only will fulfill an ordination requirement, but will also be a symbol of the choice I made to learn and prepare all I possibly could, so that I could answer my call to ministry with my very best.

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Tasha Sargent is a first year MDiv student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She regularly blogs at http://thethousandmilejourney.wordpress.com.

The Significance of James Cone, Part III

By Dr. Stephen Ray

James Cone sought not only to expose the captivity of the Christian faith in America to the regime of white supremacy but, also to begin the work of constructing a theology which was grounded in the lives and witness of the Black Christian community. More specifically, he sought to ground this work in those dimensions of Black communal life which bore witness to the workings of God’s Spirit in the midst of the struggle against the distortions of the faith which had come to characterize its practice in the United States. As mentioned in my previous blog, Cone’s project was initially to expose the ways that Christian theology, as an academic discipline, participated in the often violent oppression of Black persons and communities. With the publication A Black Theology of Liberation Cone’s project Black Theology, the first explicit work of Liberation Theology in North America, comes onto the scene in seminary classrooms and other venues around the world.

With A Black Theology of Liberation, Cone accomplishes three things. First, he gives lie to the reigning commonsense that the religious experiences of marginalized people, generally, and Black people, more specifically, have no value to the Christian tradition, save as quaint expressions of folk religion among the masses. Second, he develops a methodology which influences the development of a number of streams of constructive theology such as Womanist Theology, Second Wave Feminist Theology, Latin American Liberation Theology and Minjung Theology. These theological movements follow in his demand that theology take seriously both the existence of the least of these as prophetic critique against the temple theology ensconced in the theological academy precisely by taking seriously the intersections of race, culture, economics and religion as the critical principle which norms all its work in the contemporary world.

Beyond developing his work as prophetic critique, Cone mines the religious experience of Black peoples for the traces of the movement of the Spirit as sources for his constructive theological work. In books such as For My People, he engages in dialogue with the long tradition of the Black witness to the apostolic faith to identify those dimensions of its development witch both enhance and critique Black Theology as an academic project. It is precisely this engagement with the traditions of the Black Church which guards his work against the frequent, but unfounded, claims that Black Theology is little more than ideology cloaked in Christian trappings. In fact, it is precisely his dogged commitment to the frames and symbols of the Western theological tradition which exposes these particular critiques as being more committed to the maintenance of white normativity than to interpreting the Christian faith in our present era; an era largely structured by the working of racial and economic oppression.

If we were to name the significance of James H. Cone for the theological academy in the late modern era we might begin this way. Cone develops a theological methodology that deconstructs and critiques the captivity of the Christian faith to hegemonic forces of racial supremacy and economic exploitation. This work is done by exposing the false claims of universal humanity behind which exploitative constructions of normativity hide and in its place constructs a theological account of what it means to be human which begins exactly at the place where oppressed peoples experience their humanity in its fullest—at the intersection of oppression and human creativity in response to it. In Cone’s work this site is named Blackness but, as I have suggested many others have found that this methodology allows them to speak their humanity as well. So then, James Cone gives us a theological method that unmasks the powers and principalities of this age and gives voice to those suffering their terrible reign so that they might speak their humanity in the face of these powers. What could be more Christian than that?

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Dr. Stephen Ray is the Neal F . and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Systematic Theology at Garrett-Evangelical. To learn more about James H. Cone and the 2010 Academic Convocation at Garrett-Evangelical go to www.Garrett.edu/convocation.

The Significance of James Cone, Part II

By Dr. Stephen Ray

A friend of mine who currently leads a Center for Reconciliation at a major Divinity school tells a poignant story from his days at a small Christian college in California. As he tells the story, it was a late Spring afternoon and he was headed back to his room after class when he heard a cheer go up from the lounge in his dorm. Thinking that there was great baseball game he was missing he headed down to the lounge to see what all the excitement was about. The date was April 4, 1968 and the major news networks had just confirmed that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had died from the gunshot wound he received earlier while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine motel as he prepared to go to a church service being held in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. My friend headed back to his dorm room shaken by the news but more so by the response of his dorm mates, who all attended a small Christian college, in California.

When James Cone begins his seminal contribution to the work of Black Theology it is precisely in response to the general, yet sometimes malevolent, ambivalence that the theological academy in particular, and the larger white Christian community more generally has shown toward the physical safety and the material well-being of Black people in the United States and the world over. While the staunch opposition to the Civil Rights movement evident in vast numbers of Christian communities across the nation was but the contemporary expression of this ambivalence, we would do well to remember that violence toward Black people and their communities at the hands of “good Christian folk” has a long history in the United States. It is no coincidence that if one were to lay a grid of lynchings of Black people, burning of Black churches, and the destruction of many Black communities across a map of the  United States that grid would tragically follow the contours of what we call today the Bible Belt. It is this tragedy to which Cone is responding. So, in the first instance his work is an effort to rescue the Christian faith from this sordid and tragic history of physical, economic, and cultural violence perpetrated by “good Christian folk” against Black people and Black communities and to confront the silence in the face of it by the theological academy.

James H. Cone is a Christian theologian trained in systematic theology at one of the finest schools of theology in the nation, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Thus, his engagement with this tragic corruption of the faith is through the theological exposition. Put another way, he writes theology. Within his theological work we find the righteous and prophetic rage against both the ambivalence of the theological academy toward the violence visited upon Black people and their communities by “good Christian folk.” This ambivalence was evident in the almost total absence of systematic reflection by theologians in journals, books, or academic proceedings on Civil Rights Movement and the violent reaction to it. There were few who raised the questions what it might mean to apply the Protestant Principle to the unholy fusion of race, religion, and nation apparent in the Christian identity of millions of Christians across the nation; or, what it might mean to reconstruct the doctrines of justification and sanctification in light of increasing violence by white Christians against their fellow Church people; or, what it might mean to revisit the doctrine of the Church in light of Sunday morning at 11 a.m. being the most segregated hour in American life; or, what it might mean to revisit the doctrine of eschatology in light of the common practice of segregating church graveyards; or, . . . You get the point. Instead, there were pronouncements and missives in church magazines about the times which treated them almost purely as current events and not as crises for the faith. Cone’s works God of the Oppressed and A Black Theology of Liberation are best understood, then, as his attempts to both challenge and reconstruct, systematically, the theological underpinnings of the Christian faith which had allowed the close cooperation of the faith with cultural practices and ideologies whose final results were violence against Black people and their communities. By challenging the ambivalence of the theological academy through reconstructing the doctrines of the faith with the evil of racism explicitly in view, Cone sought to articulate a faith worthy of the devotion of the faithful. In the end, if such a reconstruction is not done and if we are left with a faith that forms Christian folk whose response to the murder of a fellow Christian whose only crime was to believe that his nation could be better and that the Church might indeed lead the way, then perhaps we are as Paul opined, “the greatest fools among men.”

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Dr. Stephen Ray is the Neal F . and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Systematic Theology at Garrett-Evangelical. To learn more about James H. Cone and the 2010 Academic Convocation at Garrett-Evangelical go to www.Garrett.edu/convocation.