Why Garrett?

To live into God’s call requires vocational courage. It requires being open to going to unexpected places, being stretched in unexpected ways, and being transformed into the fullness of who God created you to be.

At Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, we walk alongside you and help you think creatively and prayerfully about your calling. Our flexible curriculum and location in the Chicago metropolitan area give you abundant opportunities to further explore and refine your call. What you learn here can take you just about anywhere.

JOURNEY TOGETHER

Rooted in the Wesleyan and Methodist traditions, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is where people from 28 different denominations journey together. We foster a culture that celebrates and learns from the unique gifts and experiences of each individual within a community that seeks to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and to lead transformative change for the well-being of all persons and creation.

Through countless partnerships with local churches, nonprofits, health organizations, and more, you can tailor your journey with opportunities to discern, test, and refine your call to ministry.

LEAD A MOVEMENT

Our vision of theological education embraces John Wesley’s understanding of personal and social transformation. We trust that God is at work in reconciling, liberating, and sanctifying the lives of persons, communities, and nations, and we witness that work in and through the lives of our graduates and their ministries. The leaders we seek to prepare will not just manage churches, organizations, and institutions, but will lead movements in their local communities and our world.

We prepare students to thrive as creative, innovative, and spiritually-centered leaders who bring the resources of their faith to the seminary, the sanctuary, and the streets. The driving force behind our work is a commitment to share the transforming love of Jesus Christ and to address headon the variety of challenges and injustices our churches and communities face.

ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE SEMINARY FACULTIES IN THE NATION

Garrett values the particularity and diversity of God’s human family and we seek to represent that diversity and inclusion within our community. As a student you’ll learn from one of the most diverse seminary faculties in the nation — diverse in race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, culture, and theological thought.

Our faculty offer more than excellence in teaching and research. Their research and teaching engagement is aimed at making a difference in the church, the academy, and the public square. They work tirelessly to ensure that courageous and talented persons are made ready for ministry in a wide-variety of vocational settings.

As distinguished scholars, practitioners, and experts in their field, our faculty produce numerous articles, blogs, books, videos, podcasts, and more each academic year.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

As a community of learners, you will have the opportunity to build transformational relationships both in the classroom and beyond .

COMMUNITY WORSHIP AND SACRED SPACES

Worship services are held weekly in the seminary’s historic and beautiful Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful. These services are streamed online for all to participate.

On campus you’ll find six dedicated spaces for prayer and reflection, including the seminary’s Prayer Garden and beautiful Lake Michigan.

INSTITUTES, CENTERS, AND STUDENT GROUPS

With three institutes, five centers, and 15 student groups, you can bet there’s an organization for you. A few of our organizations include:

Center for Asian/Asian American Ministries Center for the Church and the Black Experience Center for Ecological Regeneration Garrett-Evangelical Black Seminarians

Hispanic-Latinx Center Korean Student Association Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation Sacred Worth Stead Center for Ethics and Values Styberg Preaching Institute

COMMUNITY MEAL AND COFFEE (WHAT REALLY MATTERS!)

Sponsored by the Office of Student Services, Community Meal is open to all and held each week during the academic year.

On campus you’ll find coffee at the dining halls, Starbucks, and BrewBike, and there is a Keurig in the main building. Off campus, you’ll find coffee, well, everywhere! We recommend Coffee Lab on Noyes Street, just around the corner from Garrett’s apartments.

#CHITOWN

Ample opportunities for exploration, learning, and a whole lot of fun.

With the “L” Purple Line just blocks from campus, you can explore all Chicago has to offer. With worldclass museums, concerts, theaters, miles of beaches and trails along Lake Michigan, and so much more, you can enjoy Chicago on any budget.

Did we mention the food? From Michelin Star restaurants to Chicago hotdogs, there is something for everyone. You’ll also find Chicago deep-dish pizza, including two options near campus.

The Chicago metropolitan area is home for the Association of Chicago Theological Schools, the largest consortium of theological schools in any city in the U.S. As a student at Garrett, you can cross-register at any one of the 11 other theological schools, and you’ll have full access to their libraries and acquisitions.

World-Class Museums

and Recreation

Theater, and Culture

#HEAVANSTON

Close to campus, Lake Michigan, and all of your daily living needs, our residence halls and three apartment buildings are ideally located to all the city of Heavanston, we mean Evanston, has to offer.

Living in residence creates a shared seminary experience where your academic, spiritual, and social life will be nurtured. Garrett works hard to provide affordable and attractive housing for all students who desire to live on or near campus.

Loder Hall and Old Dorm are located on campus and provide affordable and secluded living in the center of the Northwestern University campus.

in Evanston

miles north of Chicago’s downtown

who call Evanston home

Just west of campus you will find the seminary’s three apartment buildings that offer space for singles, roommates, and families. Fur babies (cats and dogs) that fall within the housing guidelines are welcome too!

When living in community is as rewarding as learning in community!

Sherman Avenue Apartments

Loder Hall

Expect more!

Today’s ministries demand more. Today’s faith leaders need a holistic theological education that offers more. At Garrett, your tuition dollars give you more!

More courses that integrate theology, spirituality, and practice

More field education opportunities to discern, test, and refine your call to ministry

More opportunities to cross-register for courses offered at Northwestern University and 11 additional seminaries in the Chicago area

More diversity in our faculty and student body, who will equip you for today’s ministry

More partnerships to tailor your theological education to your vocational goals

More resources from one of the top theological libraries in the nation

More programs and workshops to help you develop the professional skills needed for your vocational calling

More opportunities to continue learning through our lifelong learning programs

Garrett offers more than a rigorous theological education, we offer a transformational life journey with practical vocational outcomes.

is the only seminary

a BIG10 campus. Located in the heart of the Northwestern University campus,

students have access to numerous university resources including courses, libraries, facilities, technology, and cultural and sporting

students are globally connected and locally committed. As a result, the classroom is truly a global experience.

the student body are international students.

Diversity:

of

of tuition

Asian

Black

8% Hispanic | 41% White

dish pizzerias within walking distance of campus.

serving church

society in all 50 states and over 30 countries.

Hispanic

White

YOUR PATHWAY TO MINISTRY

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is committed to providing degree programs for the thriving of the Church and the healing of the world. Our degree offerings—offered in-person, hybrid, and online— expand our ability to do that and to walk alongside those who are called to this work regardless of where they live out that calling.

Our faculty have worked diligently to create a curriculum and modality plan that reflects enhanced learning options for better accessibility, affordability, and flexibility for all students.

ACCESSIBLE

Residential and distance learners will have the same opportunity to learn directly with Garrett’s renowned faculty. Our faculty are also amplifying their commitment to cultivating leadership for multiple settings and vocations, holistic formation and care for students, and the importance of a global perspective that accentuates multiple centers of knowledge and networks of learning and partnerships.

AFFORDABLE

Whether hybrid or residential, all admitted students qualify for scholarships at Garrett. Our hybrid degree options allow you to remain deeply located in your particular place or ministry context as you complete your studies without the additional costs of moving to Evanston.

FLEXIBLE

We offer a variety of degree programs, certificates, and continuing education for passionate, creative, and courageous spiritual leaders seeking to make a difference. Hybrid and residential options have been designed to provide greater flexibility regardless of where you live out your calling and how you chose to study.

OF DIVINITY

At Garrett, we equip students to be servant leaders who can listen, recognize, analyze, and respond to the needs of our communities out of a radical theological imagination rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a Master of Divinity student, you will take an active part in exploring and defining your strengths, background, gifts for ministry, and vocational calling through our integrative curriculum.

Whether you are called to parish ministry, campus ministry, advocacy work, or are still discerning God’s calling, our MDiv degree prepares you for today’s church and a wide variety of ministry settings.

and Hybrid Options 76

The Master of Divinity is an credit hour program that can be tailored to you and your vocational goals

2semesters of field education to hone the skills you need to thrive

$All students receive a stipend for their work at their field education site

of the 76 credit hours are open electives15

concentrations to further tailor your degree to your ministry context

14Some traditions have specific requirements for ordination. United Methodist students are required to take 1/3 of their courses in-person to qualify for ordination

Having the opportunity to explore the relationship between knowledge and practice has been transformative. At Garrett I have encountered numerous professors who can reconcile knowing with being in inspiring ways. That alone has been very significant to my growth and development as a theologian, a pastor, and a leader.

Efraín Belmontes, Class of 2021

MASTER OF ARTS IN FAITH, CULTURE, AND EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Residential and Hybrid Options

The Master of Arts in Faith, Culture, and Educational Leadership will prepare you for ministerial vocations that intersect faith, culture, and educational leadership in ecclesial, congregational, and public settings. The degree emphasizes methods, model, and approaches that ground contemporary educational and leadership practices in traditions of critical pedagogies, emancipatory education, social justice advocacy, U.S. civil rights and global liberation movements.

Our Christian education faculty bring a variety of theological and global perspectives with a strong commitment to education, advocacy, and preparing educational leaders. They are arguably one of the top Christian education departments in the nation.

credit hour program

2semesters of practicum hours to hone your skills and gain real-world ministry experience

4faculty members who specialize in Christian education and bring a multinational experience to the classroom

The purpose of Christian education is to set people free. Free to be children of God and free to be co-creators with God. That’s the big picture.

Rev. Dr. Reginald Blount Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture

MASTER OF ARTS IN PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSELING

The Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling offers a distinctively interdisciplinary pastoral care and counseling training program designed to produce highly skilled, compassionate, and socially engaged practitioner-scholars with a robust and evolving sense of pastoral identity. You will be equipped to integrate theology with psychological theories to address human suffering and facilitate the healing and flourishing of persons and communities.

TWO DISTINCT DEGREE TRACKS

To meet your specific vocational goals and needs, Garrett offers two tracks for MAPCC students. credit hour program

Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care | Hybrid

This track will equip you for chaplaincy and spiritual care practice across a variety of contexts—hospital, military, movement, prison, first responder, campus and urban ministry.

Clinical Track | Residential

credit hour program

This track will equip you for licensure as a professional counselor who can integrate theology with psychological theories to address human suffering and bring forth healing.

Garrett was my top choice for seminary because of the school’s ethos and commitment to public theology and human flourishing. I knew that I would be challenged, encouraged, and prepared for today’s ministry.

Danny Profit, Jr.

Current Seminarian

GARRETT.EDU/MAPM

MAPM

MASTER OF ARTS IN PUBLIC MINISTRY

Residential and Hybrid Options

Students in the Master of Arts in Public Ministry program aspire to fulfill their Christian vocations to love God and serve neighbor through public ministries of advocacy, organizing, and justicemaking in collaboration with other communities of faith and conscience. In particular, this program equips laity and deacons serving in community, social, or justice-oriented organizations who seek to enhance their public work by engaging with theological education and formation.

CONCENTRATION TRACKS

Students in the MAPM program take a combination of foundation courses, public ministry courses, and open elective courses. With your concentration courses, you can choose a focus in Ecological Regeneration, Racial Justice, or Child Advocacy. You may also propose a concentration based on relevant course availability.

VOCATION PREPARATION

credit hour program

semesters of field education where you will gain practical ministry experience

Community Organizing Ordained Ministry (UMC Deacon) Nonprofit Work Child Advocacy Public Advocacy

Garrett has helped me articulate my calling through reflection in courses, exposure to public theologians, and numerous experiences. I’ve been challenged and pushed to name my theology and find ways of living it publicly.

Maria Alejandra Salazar Class of 2019

MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

Residential and Hybrid Options

The Master of Theological Studies program allows you to pursue rigorous and critical theological study within one of six areas of specialization. Through individual attention from faculty members and a curriculum that can be tailored to your area of interest, you will build a strong academic foundation for future graduate-level research, professional enhancement, and personal enrichment.

hours

area

specialization

Areas of Specialization

Hebrew Bible

of Christianity

New Testament

Religion, Personality, and Culture

and Ethics

World-Class Resources at Your Finger Tips!

Renowned Faculty

The Styberg Library

University Association of Chicago Theological Schools

The MTS program attracts students from as close as the suburbs of Chicago to as far as Myanmar. This global experience greatly enriches ones own studies and theological thought and it moves me most. Over the duration of the program, our students support each other and form deep bonds that sustain them far beyond graduation.

Dr. Julie Duncan

Associate Professor of Old Testament and Director of the MTS Program

GARRETT.EDU/PHD

PHD

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Residential

The Doctor of Philosophy program prepares teachers and scholars for seminaries, church-related colleges, universities, ecumenical agencies, and local congregations. While the program is centered at Garrett, it draws on faculty resources at Northwestern University, the Association of Chicago Theological Schools, which includes four seminaries with PhD programs, and other approved universities. You will not only receive individual attention from faculty members but also a curriculum that can be tailored to your area of interest.

You may specialize in one of six concentrations with an optional focus in Black Religious Studies available in any concentration:

Biblical Studies

Christian Education and Congregational Studies

History of Christianity and Historical Theology

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

Hybrid

Liturgical Studies

Pastoral Theology, Personality, and Culture

Theological and Ethical Studies

Our Doctor of Ministry program invites those engaged in professional ministry to reflect on their experiences in ministry, hone their ministerial talents, and expand their intellectual horizons. As a DMin student, you will be connected with other colleagues in ministry, with scholars recognized in their fields, and with distinguished practitioners of Christian ministry who will help enhance your skills, stimulate your pastoral imagination, and attend to ongoing spiritual and vocational formation.

TAILORED TO YOUR LIFE

credit hours

Classes are offered in a hybrid model of two-week, on-campus intensives and online courses to give you high quality theological education in a flexible format.

Multiple tracks are available in the DMin program to meet your specific vocational goals and needs.

CREDIT

CERTIFICATES

As a clergy or lay person focused on a particular area of ministry, our certificate programs integrate rigorous academics and realworld application that better prepare you professionally for your vocational setting. They are also an affordable way for those who are still discerning God’s call to experience theological education and earn up to 15 credit hours that can be transferred into one of our degree programs.

Credit bearing certificates

Planting

BASIC GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

The Basic Graduate Theological Studies program provides a solid theological foundation to enhance your ministry. As a BGTS student you will study the Bible, theology, church history, the mission of the church, evangelism, worship and liturgy, and United Methodist doctrine, polity, and history.

My time at Garrett gave me the language and discernment skills to sharpen my call. It felt like I was looking through the viewfinder of a camera, adjusting the lens, and everything started to come into focus. The education I earned taught me how to be a deep and critical thinker, how to embody my theology, and how to practice solidarity with marginalized people.

Maria Penrod Class of 2021

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU THRIVE IN MINISTRY

At Garrett we understand that not every skill necessary to succeed professionally can be mastered in the classroom. That’s why we offer co-curricular workshops, programs, and resources to help you develop the practical skills needed for your vocational calling.

Through our Vocational Network initiative, you can explore questions of vocation and take full advantage of a variety of resources and programming that will help you navigate the ordination and job search processes. Our three-tier approach of discernment, development, and placement will better equip you to thrive in the unique ministry to which God has called you to serve.

Testify!

Garrett is truly a world-class place for those preparing to be pastors, deacons, chaplains, educators, scholars, counselors, musicians, and more. But don’t take our word for it, here’s what current students and recent graduates are saying.

My time at Garrett gifted me with ways of experiencing and being in the world that I aspire to carry forward as I now engage in my calling as a servant leader.

Daniel Shroyer, Class of 2021

Of the schools I considered, Garrett stood out for its diverse faculty and students and its commitments to sustainability, public theology, and justice.

Kimberly Chin, Class of 2020

Since attending Garrett, my view and understanding of God continues to expand. I am seeing God from cultural lenses and viewpoints that I haven’t previously considered.

Sara Miller, Class of 2022

Through my classes, I gained a deeper appreciation of Jesus Christ. I have also experienced Jesus’ deep love for the poor and most vulnerable among us.

Beverly Dukes, Class of 2019

My experience at Garrett has truly gone beyond my expectations. I have found new colleagues who love God and who have compassion for the Church and the world.

Leonard Gaines, Seminarian

Garrett opened my eyes to reality. It expanded my knowledge and opened my heart. It took my finite existence and demonstrated the infinite love of God.

James Hofert, Class of 2019

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

We challenge persons and faith communities to fashion themselves as servant leaders who are equipped to listen, recognize, analyze, and respond to the needs of our communities. Every day our 4,500 living alums rise to the challenge. You’ll find them in all 50 states and in over 30 countries around the world.

Bishop Tracy S. Malone The United Methodist Church

Bishop Zothan Mawia Methodist Church, Lower Myanmar

Rev. Gregory Gross UM Deacon, Care for Real

Rev. Dr. Byoung Sam Kim Manna Church, Seoul, Korea

Rev. Jonah Holm Church Planter, Zao MKE Church

Dr. Leah Gunning Francis Dean, Christian Theological Seminary

Julia Puac Romero Campus Minister

Rev. Adam Ericksen Clackamas UCC, Oregon

Evens Paul Sustainable Action International

Dr. Kit Evans-Ford Founder, Argrow’s House

Rev. Jennifer Hill Anderson United States Navy Chaplain

Cathleen Falsani Religion Journalist, Editor, & Author

Dr. Peter Mageto Maiko Vice Chancellor, Africa University

Elizabeth Case Founder, Arrayed Ecological Clothing

Rev. Daniel Seunghyun Cho Church Planter and UMC Elder

Rev. Dr. Eddie L. Journey Licensed Mental Health Counselor

FOR THE transformation OF THE WORLD

The concerns of the church, our society, and of our wider world demand leaders who push beyond “business as usual” and dare to join God’s active presence in the global community. At GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary you will experience a comprehensive theological education and a beloved community that will transform you so that you can transform the world.

COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF