Aware A Quarterly Publication of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
2020-2021 Annual Report
Yeo Jin Yun
Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling
Aware
FALL 2021 | ANNUAL REPORT
5 We reminded each other what it means to ache for hope as one body, bound in Christ’s love. Rev. Dr. Mai-Anh Le Tran Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean
1 | Presidential Perspective 4 | Trustees Welcome Four New Members 5 | Academic Dean’s Report 6 | Retirement of Cosgrove and Schmidt 7 | Reyes and Yarborough Join the Faculty 8 | Dean of Student Life Report 10 | 2020-21 Development Report
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11 | 2020-21 Financial Report
Your faithful and prayerful philanthropic, volunteer, and spiritual support was critical in the seminary’s journey through the second year of the pandemic.
12 | Thank You Volunteers
Joseph R. Emmick Vice President of Development
Aware is published quarterly by the development
office for alums and friends of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church. Founded in 1853, the seminary serves more than 400 students from many denominations and various cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. GarrettEvangelical creates bold leaders through master of divinity, master of arts, master of theological studies, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of ministry degrees. Its 4,500 living alums serve church and society around the world.
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PRESIDENT
Javier A. Viera
EDITORIAL BOARD Mary Bowman Arents Katharine Duke Joseph R. Emmick Shane A. Nichols Tasha N. Sargent Maudette Watley PHOTOGRAPHY
Bill Burlingham of Burlingham Productions Shane A. Nichols
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary | 2121 Sheridan Road | Evanston, IL | 847.866.3900 | Garrett.edu
PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE WHY WERE WE CREATED? WHY DO WE EXIST? In this issue of Aware, we look back at the academic year that was 2020-21. It was a year of great change, of unexpected challenges posed by a global pandemic, of reckoning with our national and institutional history on race, and of tremendous perseverance on the part of our students, faculty, and staff, as well as the institution itself. It’s safe to say that this past year was unlike any other, and yet because we have such a rich history of institutional perseverance, we are weathering the challenges of the present moment with characteristic aplomb. I hope that as you read this annual report, you will share my sensibility that in the face of multiple challenges, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary remains strong. Planning responsibly for the future and rising to the challenges of the current moment often require that one understands the past well. This has been part of my own work as I’ve assumed leadership in this storied institution—to remain focused on the future, but to learn the origin stories and to understand and appreciate the many other stories that have made this seminary what it is today. Yet, understanding that past cannot simply be accomplished by reading historical descriptions of past events, for understanding history well requires analysis and evaluation, leaving room for nuance and for what is not explicitly said in written accounts. Oral histories, which abound at GarrettEvangelical, are as much a part of the story as what has been recorded for posterity. Origin stories are always somewhat misleading because they claim something that is almost always not entirely true. Origin stories often claim to tell or recall the beginning of something, but in doing so, they must start from arbitrary places. Otherwise, all origin stories would have to start so far back in time as to make the telling of the story a near impossibility.
Just think about the question a child might ask her parents, as mine asked me, “Papi, where did I come from?” To answer that question in an ageappropriate way is a bit of a dance, isn’t it? Parents always struggle with providing their kids either too much information or too little. To tell the story of where a child came from requires a parent to make certain assumptions: first, that the child’s question wasn’t biological in nature, and second, that they were not asking for a detailed accounting of the family tree. These are important parts of their own origin, and in due time, they should understand both well, but I doubt that their innocent, yet profound question is motivated by these factors. In my experience, I chose to start the story my daughter wanted to hear in Puerto Rico, where I came from. But the truth is that I could have started the story in England, from where her mother descends. Yet, even starting there is arbitrary because those lineage stories could have started back just one or two generations, and they would have then been situated in completely different places, like Spain and Africa on my side or Germany and Wales on her mother’s. In truth, I don’t think my daughter was asking for a geography saga, but the origin story I wove seemed to suffice. Upon reflection, I actually think my daughter was asking a deeper question she wasn’t yet able to put into words, even though her little frame and heart could already fully sense and feel it. She wanted to know why she was here, and I assume she also needed to know that love was at the center of the story. (Continued on page 2) AWARE MAGAZINE | 1
Think about the origin story of this seminary. Where do we start? Do we start with Eliza Garrett’s generosity and vision for an educated clergy, which led to the founding of Garrett Biblical Institute? In terms of strict chronology, there is a case to be made for that, but it’s still an arbitrary place to start. We know that our origin story has multiple origins. The full story must also entail the founding of Union Biblical Institute in Naperville, Illinois, which sought to serve recent immigrant communities and churches and eventually became Evangelical Theological Seminary, as well as Lucy Rider Meyer’s vision for the Chicago Training School, which was founded to train women to minister to the needs of the most vulnerable in late 19th century Chicago.
Yet, the Genesis story isn’t an “out of nothing” story; it is an “out of chaos” story and that is what makes it so interesting. In v. 2, the author describes an event so potent that it characterizes all that follows, even to our own day:
Yet, even these more expansive narratives are arbitrary places to begin because the story could go back even further, including the Native peoples who lived on these lands and what happened to them and their communities and cultures when our three institutions claimed or purchased their lands. Or we could go back even further to England and Germany, for example, and the beginnings of the Methodist and Evangelical movements in those countries. More importantly, these origin stories don’t readily address the more important questions: Why were we created? Why do we exist?
This is not an account of a distant God who stands in nothingness to create something; rather, this is the dynamic, emotive story of a God who is brooding, sweeping rather closely over what did exist, a primeval chaos that lacked something fundamental to God’s very character, something necessary to God’s needs or desires, something essential to what God longed for within God’s self. God, it seems, had reached a moment of personal distress (“… brooding over the waters …”) or personal longing to the point of needing something other than the chaos that currently existed. The Spirit of God broods over this chaos and emptiness and decides to act. No longer resigned to what had been, God instead allows something new, powerful, beautiful, and relational to surge forth out of the chaos.
Take the biblical account as a case in point. “In the beginning …” These are perhaps the three most familiar words in all of scripture. Most hear those words and immediately know that what follows is the biblical account of the origin of all that is. But as I’ve already said, origin stories aren’t ever really origin stories, and this biblical account is no different. The predominant interpretation of this so-called origin story of the Jewish and Christian traditions frames this as a story of a God who stands outside of and beyond anything and nothing and who then speaks something and everything into existence. We assume that this is, in part, a story about God’s great power (omnipotence is the theological word), to create ex nihilo—out of nothing. Out of nothing comes everything. That’s how powerful God is, we were told, and that’s the real meaning of our origin story. 2 | AWARE MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
• “The earth … (notice that the earth existed) • … was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep … (notice darkness existed—it’s not just the absence of light) • … while a wind from God … (literally: ruach Elohim—the Spirit of God, the breath of God, the wind created by God’s movement, presence, and nearness) • … swept over the face of the waters (notice that the waters existed)
Into that chaos, God’s breathed order, beauty, connection, love. In that emptiness, God willed a bountiful diversity and declares that it is very good. All that God needs for relationship, for overcoming the primeval emptiness and chaos that defined what had been, has now been newly infused by God’s Spirit (ruach Elohim) and transformed into something beautiful, alive, colorful, harmonious, and intimate. This is a story, above all else, about God’s intent and desire, a story about God moving powerfully into the present chaos, the deep void, the pervasive emptiness until another more powerful, compelling reality emerges, and the results are astounding.
Once we allow the divine drama to sink in, Garrett-Evangelical anew with great power, great we’re logically led to consider or to ask the desire, and a great call for us to help transform the more profound question: Why? Why were we chaos, the emptiness, and the voids in the lives created? Why do we exist? How we answer those and communities of those we serve. Why were we questions, both about our God and about our created? Why do we exist? To be God’s creative founding institutions, will partners in this world and have profound implications to see the possibility, the for our individual lives and promise, the hope that God for our future work as a intended “in the beginning.” seminary. When I think about the fact that our The stories that follow in I believe that sacred wind is sacred text opens with these pages are expressions sweeping through Garretta story about existence of this seminary’s attempt Evangelical anew with great being mired in chaos and to be co-creators with emptiness and that God God of a new future, to power, great desire, and powerfully sweeps into be partners with the Spirit a great call for us to help that reality and radically of God in speaking peace transform the chaos, the transforms it, I’m filled with and hope into our national emptiness, and the voids in a sense of hope and awe. and global chaos. In the I also wonder, however, research and teaching of our the lives and communities of why we so often forget this faculty and in the sending those we serve. powerful truth that our forth of our students to ancient forebears so wisely communities around the and intentionally placed as the opening narrative globe, we see ourselves as participating in the of scripture. It functions more as a profound ongoing work of God’s never-ending creation. expression of faith and trust, a recognition of There is no doubt in my mind that the founders who God is from the beginning, rather than as an of the three institutions that today are Garrettaccount of something that occurred long ago. To Evangelical shared this creative hope and the contrary, it is something that is still happening intention. While we may approach and embody today. their vision differently today, the work remains the same—Garrett-Evangelical exists to be the creative, Walt Whitman wrote: transformative, powerful presence of God in the I have heard what the talkers were talking, world that speaks and embodies peace, harmony, the talk of the beginning and the end; justice, and love to a world in chaos. What a But I do not talk of the beginning or the end. privilege to be called to that work and to be able to There was never any more inception than there is share in that work together. now … Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
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If Whitman is right, then our present moment is a Creation moment. It is a moment infused with ruach Elohim (the Spirit of God) to transform what is into what God intends. I honestly believe that the same creating Spirit of God described in Genesis is brooding over us right now, brooding over the chaos of this world and of our lives, brooding over the emptiness of our souls, the voids that persist in our common existence. I believe that sacred wind is sweeping through
Rev. Dr. Javier A. Viera President
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TRUSTEES WELCOME FOUR NEW MEMBERS We are very proud to welcome this new class of trustees who will join us in our work of stewarding this institution. The new class brings to our board expertise in pastoral and organizational leadership, strategic planning, higher education leadership, finance and auditing, real estate, and global missional service. They also represent a significant step forward in our commitment to diversify our board in terms of race, gender, and professional expertise. Each new member is a prominent leader in their professional field, as well as a person of authentic faith and commitment who will help strengthen an already strong board. -President Javier A. Viera Rev. James Clark III grew up in New York City and now serves at a parish in Aurora, Illinois. He holds a master of divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical. He has 35 years of experience encompassing commercial real estate investment, finance, development, portfolio management, and leasing. He serves as the managing director of Mission Real Estate Development for Trinity Church Wall Street. He founded EnTrust Realty Advisors, was president of investment services at Transwestern, ran the Midwest real estate region for an insurance company, and worked on Wall Street in real estate investment banking at Lehman Brothers. He was inducted into the Midwest Real Estate News’ Hall of Fame in 2016. He serves as board member at Wheaton Bank & Trust Company, Wintrust Community Bank, and Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago.
Ms. Tiffani Shaw is the executive vice president and chief operating officer at the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. She began her career at the University of Iowa (UI) as controller and chief financial officer at the age of 27. Shaw oversees $2B in total assets and an annual budget of $35M. She also manages the University of Iowa’s Facilities Corporation and serves on multiple corporate and non-profit boards. Prior to coming to UI, Shaw was a public accountant with McGladrey & Pullen, LLP. She earned her bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Iowa and is a certified public accountant. Shaw is highly skilled in the areas of data management, human resources, fundraising, and corporate governance and is a frequent speaker on data analytics, endowment management, and leadership.
Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Rev. Dr. Charley Hames, Jr. graduated from the master of divinity program at Garrett-Evangelical in 2000. While at seminary, he served as senior pastor at New Hope Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Evanston, Illinois. Hames now serves as the senior pastor at Beebe Memorial Cathedral Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland, California. He also serves as chaplain of 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Inc., is former president of the National Action Network’s Oakland chapter, and is the immediate past chairman of the board of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce. Hames is a familiar voice on the Bay Area airwaves as KBLX’s (102.9 FM) “Voice of Inspiration.”
Rev. Andrea Wright is a 2016 graduate of the master of divinity program at Garrett-Evangelical and a current student in the doctor of ministry program (anticipated 2022). As a partner at Johnson Lambert, Wright manages the firm’s governmental audit practice and is highly experienced in financial statement audits involving a diverse group of nonprofit organizations and employee benefit plans. She also serves as associate minister at Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois. Her responsibilities include oversight of the feeding program, which serves 1,750 individuals in the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago. Wright has served on numerous boards over the last 15 years and is deeply committed to the work of non-profits, education, and Garrett-Evangelical.
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ACADEMIC DEAN’S REPORT REV. DR. MAI-ANH LE TRAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND ACADEMIC DEAN It’s only when the vague, drifting muddle of the way we usually think about ourselves is blown away by the Spirit that we see the underlying contours—the deep needs, the ingrained resistances, the aching hopes and loves. Rowan Williams, Candles in the Dark (2020)
In the spring of 2020, I reported to the Board of Trustees that the seminary has been “acted upon” by a myriad of forces internal and external, with the COVID-19 pandemic being the last straw that leveled many of our assumptions about self-determination and pushed our value system through a severe stress test. Indeed, as the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote in his meditations amid the pandemic, the “muddle” of our “business as usual” was blown away, revealing deep needs and gaping individual and communal wounds. At the same time, the sweeping gust of the Spirit also resurrected in us instincts for resistance, for perseverance, for “good enough” faithfulness in tasks big and small while in the thick of socio-cultural and epidemiological storms. We reminded each other what it means to ache for hope as one body, bound in Christ’s love. Since that fateful spring and throughout the 202021 academic year, the faculty and the seminary administration have had to make difficult valuesbased and data-driven decisions about how to care for the community, to persist with excellent and liberative theological education, and to remain responsible stewards of our resources. The following commitments and activities illustrate the faculty’s “disciplined improvisation” over this past year:
countless meetings, the faculty re-scaled and re-calibrated course offerings for remote teaching and learning. Through peer-to-peer support, gungho adaptiveness, a little bit of trial and error, and attentiveness to student feedback, our faculty engaged in more generative discussions than ever about curriculum, curricular imagination, pedagogy, instructional technology, and course design. 3. Prioritizing student learning: The faculty, staff, and administration recognized that our academic programming must reflect attentiveness to the “Coronavirus gap” that impedes student learning success. We discussed such issues as: how to support students who cannot afford textbooks and/or cannot access digital library resources; how to work with students’ limited access to necessary technological resources for successful learning (e.g., laptops, wifi); how to track visa regulations, financial aid and scholarship requirements, and denominational mandates; how to expand access to library resources; how to enhance policies for learning accommodations and increase research/writing support.
1. Taking seriously trauma-informed academic policies and pedagogic practices: We drew on the principles of trauma-informed teaching and learning in the wake of a pandemic and middisaster social reality, as we sought different ways to teach and support students through prolonged psychosocial stress. Theologically, we called this being receptive to God’s grace as we learned to extend grace to ourselves and to one another.
After one full year of remote teaching and learning, the planning for “return” and “re-orientation” to campus proved no less difficult and continuously unprecedented. Our preoccupation now is on Covid safety protocols, social distancing, vaccinations, accreditation regulations, and embodied learning that is regulated by a collapse of context and complexities of technology. We are growing restless not only because of the plasticity of this social moment, but also because we have been reminded that the “curriculum” is not what we “deliver,” but rather “who we are” in our beautiful unfinishedness.
2. Venturing on new course formats and modalities: In times of crisis, good teachers become “leading learners.” In record time and through
In all of this, we are learning how to “perceive” as a spiritual practice. For, behold, God is already doing “new things” in, through, and all around us. AWARE MAGAZINE | 5
RETIREMENT OF COSGROVE AND SCHMIDT Dr. Charles H. Cosgrove, professor of early Christian literature and director of the PhD program, retired on July 1, 2021. Upon his retirement he was officially named faculty emeritus, and having mastered the “triple threat” of the classical education—language, rhetoric, and music—he received the title, “a true renaissance man,” from his faculty colleagues. Cosgrove joined the faculty in 2011. Prior to coming to Garrett-Evangelical, he was professor of New Testament studies and Christian ethics at Northern Seminary, Lombard, Illinois, from 1984 to 2011. In addition, he taught in the Association of Chicago Theological Schools’ Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program for more than a decade. It was Cosgrove’s expertise in incarnational translation for preaching that initiated and empowered the first course in the ACTS DMin in Preaching program entitled, “Preaching as Interpretation.” Over the course of his career, Cosgrove has coauthored and edited more than 11 books and more than 40 essays in peer-reviewed academic journals, making indelible marks in the fields of New Testament and Early Christian Studies and contributing to numerous professional societies. In 2011, he produced the definitive study of the earliest Christian hymn to have been preserved with its original tune in ancient musical notation, and his current project—a book on music at social meals in Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian social meals—will be published next year by Cambridge University Press. His double biography of Augustus Garrett and Eliza Clark Garrett, Fortune and Faith in Old Chicago (2020), received an “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Illinois State Historical Society in 2021. For his dedication, collegiality, professionalism, and constant enthusiasm in the classroom, Cosgrove earned the admiration and respect of countless students. He was an advocate and mentor to numerous doctoral students as degree director from 2016 to 2021, in particular those of color. 6 | AWARE MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
Rev. Dr. Frederick Schmidt, Rueben P. Job Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation, retired on December 31, 2020, after more than seven years as a faculty member. In addition to his regular teaching duties, Schmidt was director of the Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation (Job Institute), director of the master of arts in spiritual formation and direction, and supervisor of the doctor of ministry in spiritual direction track. Upon his retirement, Schmidt was named a senior scholar. Schmidt was the first person to hold the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation — a first among Protestant seminaries in North America — when it was endowed in 2013. He oversaw the design and implementation of the master of arts in spiritual formation and direction program and the doctor of ministry in spiritual direction track, both of which also led to a certificate in spiritual direction. Prior to coming to Garrett-Evangelical, Schmidt served as the director of spiritual formation and Anglican studies, as well as associate professor of Christian spirituality at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He has also served as canon educator and director of programs in spirituality and religious education at Washington National Cathedral; as special assistant to the president and provost of La Salle University in Philadelphia; as a fellow of the American Council on Education; and as dean of St. George’s College, Jerusalem. His published work includes numerous articles appearing in The Heythrop Journal, The Scottish Journal of Theology, The Journal for Preachers, Feminist Theology, Time Magazine, and United Methodist Insight (among others). His books include Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Luke (Morehouse, 2009), What God Wants for Your Life (Harper One, 2005), and The Dave Test: A Raw Look at Real Faith in Hard Times (Abingdon Press, 2013). Schmidt’s column, “What God Wants for Your Life,” is published on the Patheos website.
REYES AND YARBOROUGH JOIN THE FACULTY After an extensive search conducted by faculty members, Rudolph P. Reyes II has joined the faculty as instructor of Christian ethics and Latinx studies, as of August 1, 2021. A doctor of philosophy candidate at the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Reyes specializes in social ethics, Latinx studies, and disability studies. Members of the search committee praised Reyes saying, “His research, teaching, and character set him apart as a most exceptional candidate for this position.” His academic work and scholarship were noted as “a promising, original, and groundbreaking consideration of Latinx neurodivergence as a matter of import for Christian ethics.” Reyes holds a bachelor of arts in religious studies from Arizona State University and a master of divinity from Harvard Divinity School. He is poised to complete his doctoral dissertation in the spring of 2022. Reyes will be named assistant professor of Christian ethics and Latinx studies upon completion of his dissertation. His dissertation is titled, “Divergence: Towards a Neurodivergent Latinx Liberative Social Ethic.” “I am grateful for the opportunity to join GarrettEvangelical’s faculty and contribute to the courageous scholarship of this institution,” said Reyes. “As a liberative ethicist, my pedagogy is grounded in the pursuit of justice and education inclusivity. Under President Viera’s leadership, Garrett-Evangelical’s bold witness is making a transformative impact in the church, the academy, and the world.” Reyes is the recipient of numerous doctoral and dissertation fellowships. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the Society for Disability Studies, and the Society of Christian Ethics. He has served on a steering committee for AAR, an organizing team for the Intersectional Neurodiversity Reading Group London (UK), and the dean’s task force at the University of Denver, Iliff School of Theology.
Rev. Dr. Chelsea Brooke Yarborough joined the faculty on June 15, 2021, as assistant professor of liturgical studies, Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, and Styberg Teaching Fellow. Having completed her doctoral program at Vanderbilt University in Spring 2020, Yarborough comes to the seminary as the 2021-2023 Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and the 2021-2022 Styberg Preaching Institute Teaching Fellow in Homiletics. Yarborough is an ordained minister, a poet, an enneagram enthusiast, and a lover of leadership development. Her research interests include expanding genre in both homiletics and liturgics. She is committed to interrogating normative and traditional ways of thinking about preaching, liturgy, and exploring black liturgical theology. Her interests in preaching push against spatial demarcation for the sacred in order to include a wider canon of worship and preaching expressions. “I am excited to join the faculty of GarrettEvangelical as I continue my journey as a practitioner, professor, and scholar,” Yarborough said. “I look forward to imagining new horizons alongside the faculty and students and being a part of such a dynamic community.” Yarborough received her doctor of philosophy in homiletics and liturgics with a minor in practical theology from the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation is titled, “That’ll Preach: Decentering the Pulpit through the Non-Pulpit Homiletical Practice of Black Women.” As a doctoral candidate, she received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships, including two doctoral fellowships from The Forum for Theological Exploration. She holds a master of divinity from Wake Forest University School of Divinity and a bachelor of arts in political science from Elon University.
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DEAN OF STUDENT LIFE REPORT REV. DR. KAREN MOSBY , DEAN OF STUDENT LIFE AND CHAPLAIN
The 2021-21 academic year will forever be marked by an asterisk, the asterisk of the COVID-19 epidemic that closed the physical doors of Garrett-Evangelical, along with the doors of other schools, businesses, and homes worldwide. Even though the buildings were closed, the work of fulfilling Garrett-Evangelical’s vision and mission continued. Teaching and learning proceeded against the backdrop of computer screens, chat rooms, and daily posts. Not surprisingly, some of the greatest lessons from last year emerged from our students. The Garrett-Evangelical students who began their seminary journey, resumed their studies, and completed degree programs last year embody extraordinary stories of resilience and hope in the face of unprecedented disruptions, unscheduled geographic relocations, and an unplanned shift to remote learning. Interspersed among the academic recalibrations were the harsh realities of losing loved ones, dealing with COVID-19 diagnoses, coping with mental health challenges, facing Zoom fatigue and more. Nevertheless, our students forged ahead to graduate from Garrett-Evangelical, enter Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programs, pastor churches, provide leadership for social justice movements, and successfully pass qualifying exams for doctoral programs. Indeed, they inspire us to recommit ourselves to do the work we are called to do at Garrett-Evangelical. One of the lessons from our students who persevered through last year especially positions us to walk alongside our students in the current academic year and in years to come. It has to do with grace and a seminary community in which everyone found themselves in need. Last year, I often heard students lament about their struggles to meet academic expectations. Some students were accustomed to only stellar performance in their classes. They wrestled against 8 | AWARE MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
themselves for needing to request an extension, having to withdraw from a course, or accepting a grade of “incomplete.” Their comments reflected a common tendency of people of faith to lean into a sense of unworthiness rather than into an embrace of showing grace to themselves. Similarly, students were awash in incredulity whenever faculty members eliminated an assignment, dropped the lowest grade, or granted an extension. It was as though many students relegated grace to a theological category that could never take on flesh in their individual lives. Student experiences like these remind us at Garrett-Evangelical of the ongoing importance of reclaiming grace as a theological, pedagogical, and operational principle that can inform what we do within this community, as it did during the last academic year. When our students tell stories of studying at Garrett-Evangelical through a pandemic, they can do so from the positionality of recipients of grace. Countless behind-the-scenes efforts of administrators, faculty, and staff contributed to decisions that benefitted students over the course of that year that could only be called grace. For example, student workers continued being paid even though no one was allowed inside our buildings to work. Students encountered grace in courses that were framed by trauma-informed pedagogy and when they interacted virtually or by phone with staff who underwent trauma-informed care training. It is irrefutable that we were all touched by the pandemics that besieged the 2020-21 academic year. It is also true that grace colored the last 18 months. When we have occasion to forget about grace, as we are prone to do, in the course of beginning again, resetting, and reopening our doors, we need only turn to our students and their stories to remind ourselves that a grace-filled community that survived a pandemic together can face the new realities and uncertainties that lie ahead of us and our wounded world.
race and ethnicity of students
students by state
26% Black
41% White
16% International
7% Hispanic/Latinx 1% Not Reported
6% Asian Current students call 34 states home.
3% Multiple
student body by denomination
58% United Methodist
2% United Church of Christ 2% Episcopalian 2% Presbyterian 3% Lutheran 5% Nondenominational 7% Baptist 8% Pan-Methodist
28 denominations are represented in total.
students by country Sixteen percent of our students represent 21 countries including: Brazil, Burundi, Canada, China, Columbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, Myanmar/Burma, Nicaragua, Palestine, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.
WHERE ARE THE CLASSES OF 2019-2021 NOW? 51% Congregational Leadership 12% Other (Library Services, Music Ministry, Non-profit, Nursing, etc.) 11% Children, Youth, & College Ministry 11% Chaplaincy or Counseling 8% Teaching in the Academy 7% Continued Education AWARE MAGAZINE | 9
ANNUAL FUND GIVING (2020-2021)
19% 39% 42%
19% | ANNUAL UNRESTRICTED ($451,038) 39% | UMC MINISTERIAL EDUCATION FUND UNRESTRICTED ($956,080) 42% | ANNUAL RESTRICTED ($1,028,775)
GIFT DESIGNATION (2020-2021)
9% 27%
27%
18%
19%
9% | ANNUAL UNRESTRICTED 18% | UMC MINISTERIAL EDUCATION FUND 19% | ANNUAL RESTRICTED 27% | ENDOWED UNRESTRICTED 27% | ENDOWMENT RESTRICTED
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2020-21 DEVELOPMENT REPORT What a difference a year makes! For the first time since March 2020, our hallways are bright, our faculty and staff offices are full, and our students are learning from our faculty and each other in our newly renovated classrooms. Your faithful and prayerful philanthropic, volunteer, and spiritual support was critical in the seminary’s journey through the second year of the pandemic. As you will see in the following pages, your response to the Stead Challenge increased our unrestricted annual fund, giving us the flexibility to adjust quickly to our remote environment and to prepare the campus for our students’ return. Your record response to Giving Day demonstrated the collective grace and power of our alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends. During a year in which seminarians faced even greater financial pressure than usual, your gifts allowed the seminary to give more than $2.5M in financial aid, awarding scholarships to every master’s and doctoral student. More alumni supported the seminary in 2020-21 than in the previous fiscal year—an especially remarkable achievement in light of the challenges and pressures you faced in your own lives and vocations. I am pleased we also recognize in this annual report our wonderful volunteers. Many of you supported our current and future students through field education placements, vocational networking and mentoring, and admissions. We are also blessed by those alumni who serve as class stewards and reunion volunteers, helping us keep our Garrett Biblical Institute, Garrett-Evangelical, and Evangelical Theological Seminary graduates connected to the seminary and to each other. Our trustees and life trustees, many of whom are alumni and all of whom are donors, devote significant time to ensuring Garrett-Evangelical achieves its mission. Though we have opened our campus and returned to in-person teaching and learning, our challenges in our new fiscal year are no less daunting than they were last year. If you made a gift or volunteered last year, I encourage you to renew your commitments to GarrettEvangelical. If you took some time away from the seminary, I hope you will consider reconnecting by making a gift or lending your time and expertise to our students. What a difference a year makes and what a difference you make! Again, on behalf of Garrett-Evangelical’s students, faculty, and staff, I thank you for blessing the seminary with your leadership, your generosity, and your spirit. Joseph R. Emmick Vice President of Development
2020-21 FINANCIAL REPORT The 2020-21 fiscal year was one of overcoming challenges and advancing our technology to improve the efficiency of Garrett-Evangelical’s operations. The pandemic required us to spend this year working remotely, and the finance and operations team worked to ensure that the faculty and staff had the financial, human, and technological means to carry out the distance learning needed to continue the advancement of our students. The Finance and Operations Team plays an integral role in fulfilling the mission of the seminary. We strive to ensure that every resource entrusted to us is used in the most efficient manner to provide our students with an affordable level of tuition and housing. Our commitment to generational stewardship drives us to continue to establish a sustainable business model that will strengthen our financial position today and ensure Garrett-Evangelical is healthy for future generations. Our financial position is exceptionally strong given that last fiscal year was entirely remote and the world was reeling from a pandemic. This was made possible through the generous support of you and the strong performance of the equity markets. I am pleased to share with you that our investment portfolio, as of June 30, 2021, exceeds $130 million, and our revenue significantly outpaced our expenses in fiscal year 2020-21, thanks to some very generous donations. Our financial strength comes from the breadth and depth of support of the entire GarrettEvangelical community. This strong financial position serves as our foundation as we execute our plan to achieve a sustainable business model by increasing our enrollment, improving our efficiency, and strengthening our unrestricted annual fund donations. Kevin Miller Vice President of Business Affairs and CFO
REVENUES (2020-2021)
EXPENSES (2020-2021)
ENDOWMENT AND INVESTMENT
FINANCIAL AID GENERAL OPERATIONS
37% 29%
16% AUXILIARY AND OTHER REVENUES
18% STUDENT TUITION AND FEES
GRANTS, GIFTS, AND BEQUESTS
18% 22%
AUXILIARY EXPENSES
9% 51%
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT AND INSTRUCTION AWARE MAGAZINE | ANNUAL REPORT | 11
THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is able to accomplish our mission of forming bold faith leaders, thanks to those who volunteer their time and talents for administration, supervision, mentoring, and fundraising. We lift up in celebration the names of alums and friends who served the seminary from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Thank you to all who give so generously to Garrett-Evangelical!
2020-2021 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Lori A. Ball
Robert E. Fuquay, Jr.
Thomas C. Scott
Barry E. Bryant
Ted R. Grossnickle
Jerre L. Stead
J. Robert Burkhart (ETS 1974, G-ETS 1979)
Laurie Haller
Daniel Van Haften
Michelle A. Cobb (G-ETS 1983, 1989)
Yvonne D. Hawkins (G-ETS 2001) Taelor Hickey (G-ETS 2021)
Andersen Reed Voinovich (G-ETS 2018)
Susan L. Colten (G-ETS 2011) Kalif Crutcher (G-ETS 2020, 2021) Roger H. Cummings D’ana Downing Darryl P. Franklin (G-ETS 2006)
Lee Hoekstra Sara L. Isbell (G-ETS 2003) Anna M. Johnson Matthew Klepper James W. Lumberg Robert K. Phillips Steven E. Poole (G-ETS 1986)
John F. White William F. White O. Douglas Worthington Theodore I. Yi Judy Zabel J. Keith Zimmerman (ETS 1974, G-ETS 1986)
2020-2021 CLASS STEWARDS Kenneth Boettcher (ETS 1965) Catherine Burris-Schnur (G-ETS 1994)
Kathryn A. Croskery-Jones (G-ETS 2002)
Wendee M. Nitz (G-ETS 2000)
Keith A. Kalish (G-ETS 2004)
Jenny M. Hallenbeck Orr (G-ETS 2003)
Patricia L. Catellier (G-ETS 2007)
Joseph S. Kenaston (G-ETS 1984)
Richard A. Peacock (ETS 1973)
Mary K. Dadisman (G-ETS 2008)
Jeffrey K. Kunkel (G-ETS 1980)
Steven E. Poole (G-ETS 1986)
John C. Darlington (G-ETS 1978)
David F. Laechel (G-ETS 1977)
Jean E. Dee (G-ETS 1993)
David E. Lick (G-ETS 2013)
Lynn L. Pries (ETS 1971, G-ETS 1986)
Philip D. Dorrell (G-ETS 1975)
Beverly Marshall-Goodell (G-ETS 2001)
Daniel M. Duncan (G-EST 1985) Daniel R. Gangler (ETS 1974) Paul A. Gutknecht (ETS 1969) Madelyn Johnson (G-ETS 2019) 12 | AWARE MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
Jennifer Zeigler Medley (G-ETS 2009) David C. Meyer (G-ETS 1976) James A. Mossman (G-ETS 1995)
Victoria A. Rebeck (G-ETS 1989) Armando J. Rodriguez (G-ETS 1998) David E. Simmons (GTS 1964) Brittney D. Stephan (G-ETS 2018)
VOCATIONAL MENTORS Dori L. Baker (G-ETS 1990)
Susan L. Colten (G-ETS 2011)
Annie Baker-Streevy (G-ETS 2015)
Claudia L. Dorsch (G-ETS 2018)
John Baker-Streevy (G-ETS 2014, 2015)
James D. Foster (G-ETS 2005)
Kelli R. Beard (G-ETS 2008) Andrew S. Brubacher-Kaethler (G-ETS 2013) Alva R. Caldwell (GTS 1969) Jane B. Cheema (G-ETS 2002) Wellington Chiomadzi (G-ETS 2019) Scort S. Christy (G-ETS 2017)
Patricia A. Efiom (G-ETS 2015) Cora E. Glass (G-ETS 2016)
Kathleen L. McMurray (G-ETS 2014) Grace Oh (G-ETS 2014) Jonah H. Overton (G-ETS 2016) Pamela L. Pirtle (G-ETS 2015)
Mark E. Horn
Chelsea C. Shrack (G-ETS 2017)
Barbara J. Javore (G-ETS 1999, 2011)
Warren G. Smith (G-ETS 2010) Brittney D. Stephan (G-ETS 2018)
Madelyn Johnson (G-ETS 2019)
Jeffrey L. Tribble, Sr. (G-ETS 1990, 2003)
Linda Lee Sunny L. Lopez (G-ETS 1987, 1997) Laura J. McMasters (G-ETS 2002)
John Matthew Weiler (G-ETS 2007, 2020) Henry D. Williams, Jr. (G-ETS 2011)
2020-2021 FIELD EDUCATION SITES A Just Harvest Barrington United Methodist Church Bethany United Church of Christ Gilead Bethany-Calvary United Methodist Church Chicago Open Church Chicago Temple Church of the Holy Comforter Clarkston United Methodist Church Lewiston First United Methodist Church Clay City First United Methodist Church Downers Grove United Methodist Church Edgewater Collective Youth Epiphany United Church of Christ Hope United Methodist Church Rosaline Green Imago Dei Community Church First United Methodist Church, Crystal Lake
First United Methodist Church, Evanston First United Methodist Church, Dixon First United Methodist Church, Park Ridge General Board of Church and Society Hinsdale United Methodist Church Inclusive Collective, University of Illinois Chicago Main Street United Methodist Church The Many, LaSalle Street Church Marquette Hope United Methodist Church Center for Conflict Resolution Morgan Park United Methodist Church Our Lord’s United Methodist Church Presbyterian Homes Puente a la Salud Comunitaria Quinn Chapel AME Church
Salem United Methodist Church Solidarity Building Initiative St. James the Less Sycamore United Methodist Church Grace United Methodist Church, Topeka Shishewana United Methodist Church Trinity United Methodist Church, Wilmette United Church of Rogers Park Grace United Methodist Church Big Shoulders Church United Methodist Publishing House University Christian Ministry, Northwestern University Urban CPE Urban Village Church Yorkville United Methodist Church YWCA Equity Institute
AWARE MAGAZINE | 13
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary 2121 Sheridan Road Evanston, Illinois 60201
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Monthly gifts provide Garrett-Evangelical:
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