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8 • GCU MAGAZ I NE
Said Annalee Ramirez, another GCU Christian
Studies grad who has moved up to the M.Div., “I feel
it will help us better serve the different cultures in our
neighborhood.”
That’s not a sentiment often heard at seminaries
where the focus tends to be more inward. But this is a
new kind of intentional experience.
“In a seminary environment, it’s really easy to
turn it into a Christian bubble, and we don’t really
want a Christian bubble here,” said Anna Faith
Smith, assistant dean of the College of Theology. “We
want a place where Christians can grow, but in an
environment that’s challenging and yet encouraging.”
The Seminary, like the University, is
interdenominational, thus providing a path for
students whose churches don’t have an established
seminary program. It teaches the same doctrinal
principles and Biblical truths as GCU.
In short, it is everything the University champions —
same sense of community, same warm feeling, same spirit
of servant leadership, same affordability. Even better,
many of the instructors already have real-world knowledge
that truly is real.
“Students are in for a treat,” said one of those
instructors, Dr. Justin McLendon. “They won’t just have
instructors who will fill their heads with knowledge,
they’ll be taught by people who are ministers already. We
don’t want students to have big theological brains and
hard hearts.”
All in this together
Talk to anyone about the seminary life, and the one theme
that comes up over and over is the unity and togetherness.
No matter how different they may be, seminarians have
We want a
place where
Christians
can grow,
but in an
environment
that’s
challenging
and yet
encouraging."
Anna Faith Smith (left), assistant
dean of the College of Theology,
and the COT dean, Dr. Jason Hiles