What Makes Garrett-Evangelical Great

I chose to attend Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary because of their emphasis on social justice, cross-cultural education, and a strong desire to prepare students to go out and make the church relevant for a divided world. It has been my experience that Garrett-Evangelical not only appreciates diversity of staff, student, and curriculum – Garrett-Evangelical thrives on it. I’ve never been in a classroom before with a full spectrum of gender, race, age, and experience. It makes the seminary experience unbelievably rich.

I feel called to ordained ministry and am very interested in urban ministry. Garrett-Evangelical takes full advantage of its access to one of the biggest cities in our country, Chicago. Through events, speakers, classes, and field education, any student at Garrett-Evangelical has the opportunity to jump head first into all the diversity of the city has to offer. I’ve expanded my experience with the Kingdom of God, specifically in my field placement at Chicago Uptown Ministry, thanks to Garrett-Evangelical.

We are currently living in a time of uncertainty and misunderstanding. Economic and social instability of today are minute compared to the effects they have on the furthering of our ignorance and distrust toward others we do not understand. Though my own faith, I am challenged to love instead of judge. Religion today is a reason and a vehicle to stay grounded in the love and presence of God, and to trust that all faithful people want peace, justice, and mercy. Because of our faith we can be reminded to put down the stones we were about to throw and use them as stepping-stones to a greater good and the kingdom of God.

Churches need to get real and start responding to the needs and concerns of the people. There is a disconnect between the ideals preached within the church walls and the actions of people outside of the church walls need to be recognized. This disconnect causes people to ask, “So now what?” People come to church looking for the love of God. People stay in churches when they feel like they’re doing something real to spread that love of God. Churches need to take a stance in the concerns of today: political, social, and cultural.

Garrett-Evangelical understands this and responds in turn. Garrett-Evangelical makes preparing their students for the transformation of the Church its utmost priority. They are constantly developing classes using feedback from students and United Methodist Boards of Ordained Ministry in order to improve the student’s experience. Garrett-Evangelical is a good school. But what makes Garrett-Evangelical great is the fact that it wants to be a good school, and the faculty and staff are willing to listen, willing to change, and willing to act in order to prepare students for the holy work of ministry.

Whitney Starkey is a second year Masters of Divinity student.