On January 1, 2014, Lallene J. Rector assumed the new role of president of Garrett-Evangelical. Rector is the first woman and the first layperson to serve as president in Garrett-Evangelical’s 160-year history. She has been a member of the seminary faculty for 27 years, with the last seven spent as vice president for academic affairs and academic dean. We, at Garrett-Evangelical, know President Rector well, and we welcome her leadership with great joy and enthusiasm. We are delighted to introduce you to her in the following interview. A portion of her interview from AWARE, Garrett-Evangelical's quarterly magazine is below. You can read the full interview (pp. 4-6) here.
As you begin your presidency, what is your understanding and commitment to the seminary’s emphases of evangelical commitment, creative and critical reason, and prophetic participation in society?
I am aware that a significant percentage of our faculty have joined us during the tenure of President Amerson and did not participate in the formation of these emphases as part of the vision and identity statement process completed under the presidency of Neal Fisher.
Nonetheless, I still find them relevant and quite compelling. In our work together, I want us to revisit the three emphases with the hope of newly embracing, perhaps redefining, and re-appropriating them.
“Evangelical commitment” points to our intention to train leaders who can communicate the Good News of the gospel in winning ways not only for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ, but also to bring a word of Good News to a world that is desperate for hope. The need for “Good News” and a reason to hope never goes away in this life.
“Creative and critical reasoning” presaged, I believe, our more contemporary work on pastoral imagination. I believe this emphasis defines so much of how we understand the knowing, being, doing goals of our curriculum. We want to help our students develop the skills of critical thinking as they engage the historical and theological dimensions of the Christian tradition(s); as they engage the scripture and the primary texts of scholars; and as they enter into the various practices of ministry. We also want our students to be equipped with creative thinking abilities as they enter into pastoral ministry and other forms of leadership ministries, especially those new situations and challenges that could not have been anticipated. We want them to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in their ministries and to be able to welcome the new, the creative, and the unplanned for, even as they will be able to “think critically” about all of this.
“Prophetic interaction in society” still speaks to the ways in which “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, CEB) I do not mean this in a moralizing, judgmental way, but simply to say that our theological anthropologies help us understand the inescapable brokenness and vulnerability we bring to our living and the ways in which this brokenness leads us to harm ourselves, our neighbors, and our environment. Prophetic interaction, as well as personal and corporate immersion in spiritual disciplines, helps call us to accountability and to take up the mantle of seeking the well-being of all.
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