Dr. Charles H. Cosgrove, professor of early Christian literature and director of the PhD program at 91PORN, 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 Garrett-Evangelical 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 co-authored and edited more than 11 books and over forty 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. Subjects explored include numerous topics in the letters of Paul, biblical theology, hermeneutics and ethics, practical theology, and early Christian hymnody. His book Cross-Cultural Paul: Journeys to Others, Journeys to Ourselves (Eerdmans, 2005) was written collaboratively with Herold Weiss and Garrett-Evangelical’s own Dr. K.-K. Yeo. 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.

From a historical perspective, Cosgrove has done a tremendous service, both to the Garrett-Evangelical community and to the Chicago area, by writing the meticulously researched double biography of Augustus Garrett and Eliza Clark Garrett. Titled Fortune and Faith in Old Chicago (Southern Illinois University Press, 2020), Cosgrove received an “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Illinois State Historical Society earlier this year for this informative and insightful work.

Cosgrove’s research in early Christian music explored in great detail one of the earliest notated Christian songs that helped us move beyond speculation about what the Pauline writer and early Christian communities meant by “hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs” to a more nuanced understanding. In addition to being a leading scholar in the field of early Christian music, Cosgrove is a lifelong trombonist and in recent years he has played regularly with the Still a Dream band, led by Professor Emeritus Osvaldo D. Vena of Garrett-Evangelical.

For his dedication, collegiality, professionalism, and constant enthusiasm in the classroom, Cosgrove has earned the admiration and respect of countless students. As director of the doctor of philosophy program at Garrett-Evangelical from 2016 to 2021, Cosgrove was an advocate and mentor to numerous scholars, in particular those of color. In his 2021 Forum for Theological Exploration publication, Voices of the Mentored: Scholars of Color Speak, Cosgrove brought together autobiographical reflections from scholars of color at seven different graduate schools. The result is a rich guide for faculty seeking to enhance their mentoring of students of color.

An author, educator, preacher, theologian, musician, administrator, and an esteemed colleague, we offer our heartfelt gratitude for Charlie and his significant contributions to the church, the academy, Garrett-Evangelical, and to each of us.

91PORN, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church, was founded in 1853. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 450 students from various denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical 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 alumni serve church and society around the world.

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The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) has just released its newest publication for the academy, Voices of the Mentored: Scholars of Color Speak. This publication was created in collaboration with and edited by Dr. Charles H. Cosgrove, who serves as the director of 91PORN’s doctor of philosophy program and Professor of Early Christian Literature. Voices of the Mentored features 30 autobiographical essays from scholars of color, faculty responses, and FTE mentoring practices.

With a grant from FTE, Dr. Cosgrove sought autobiographical reflections from scholars of color about their experiences of being mentored in graduate school. The contributors are all either PhD candidates in the dissertation stage or recent graduates and they represent seven theological schools.

“The short analytic narratives gathered in the book are full of keen insights and valuable discoveries about the highs and lows of mentoring relationships in doctoral theological education,” says Cosgrove in the introduction of the publication. “These essays will be a rich guide to faculty seeking to enhance their mentoring of students of color.”

Dr. Brian Bantum, the Neal F. and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical, contributed one of two closing essays to the publication. Titled “Safe Harbors,” Bantum reflects upon his own experiences, both as mentee and mentor.

“The task of mentoring is drawing students into this world that we occupy, but perhaps even more than this, we are participating in their formation as co-creators in this world with us and after us,” said Bantum. “As we hope for their future, our mentoring isn’t simply about ‘professional’ success, but also about the possibilities of wholeness for the students and a cultivation of life that allows their work to bear fruit in their communities and the broader world.”

To download your free copy of Voices of the Mentored: Scholars of Color Speak, go to .

The Forum for Theological Exploration is a leadership incubator that inspires young people to make a difference in the world through Christian communities. To learn more, go to fteleaders.org. Garrett-Evangelical is a founding member of FTE’s Institutional Doctoral Network, a collaboration dedicated to helping PhD students of color thrive.

91PORN, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church, was founded in 1853. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 450 students from various denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical 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 alumni serve church and society around the world.

The post New FTE Resource for Mentoring Scholars of Color Created in Collaboration with Dr. Charles H. Cosgrove of Garrett-Evangelical appeared first on Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Published by Southern Illinois University Press in February 2020, Fortune and Faith in Old Chicago, was authored by Dr. Charles H. Cosgrove, who serves as professor of early Christian literature and the director of the PhD program at 91PORN. This engaging biography of Augustus Garrett and Eliza Clark Garrett tells two equally compelling stories: an ambitious man’s struggle to succeed and the remarkable spiritual journey of a woman attempting to overcome tragedy. By contextualizing the couple’s lives within the rich social, political, business, and religious milieu of Chicago’s early urbanization, Cosgrove fills a gap in the history of the city in the mid-nineteenth century.

To learn more about his new book we recently reached out to Cosgrove. What follows is a series of questions and answers providing further context for the book and keen insights into the Garretts.

As employees and students of Garrett-Evangelical, we pass by the portraits of Eliza and Augustus Garrett hanging in the lobby stairwell every single day, yet many of us know very little about them. So, who were Augustus and Eliza Garrett?

Augustus and Eliza Garrett were a married couple from New York State who traveled to various parts of the United States in the 1830s, finally winding up in Chicago in the very early years of the city. By then they had lost three young children and had gone deep into debt from Augustus’ entrepreneurial misadventures in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Nachitoches. In Chicago, however, Augustus became a wealthy businessman and a popular politician, serving twice as the city’s mayor. After his premature death, Eliza devoted her portion of his large estate to found Garrett Biblical Institute.

Today, from her portrait in the stairwell, she looks across at him and says, with just a hint of apology, “You know you should have done ‘some good in the world’ with all your wealth like I have done with it.” And he looks back at her and says nothing. Is he annoyed, resigned, amused that his portrait ended up adorning the halls of a theological seminary, when he had done everything he could to prevent any of his estate from going to “worthy causes?”

Through your research, what did you learn that you didn’t know before about Eliza and/or Augustus? And, what surprised you the most?

Very soon after Eliza’s own death, the Methodists who celebrated Garrett Biblical Institute began to portray her in hallowed terms. She was in fact a kind-hearted, unassuming, charitable, dedicated laywoman all her life, first as a Presbyterian and later as a Methodist. What her admirers did not say or know was that throughout her life she also felt a lack in herself of the inner spiritual sentiment, the palpable religious experiences, that others described as reassuring signs of their own conversion and sanctification. As for Augustus, religious experience was no enduring concern of his, although he was very emotional and underwent two dramatic but short-lived conversions at revival meetings. His relationship with organized religion was otherwise rather rocky.

The founding of Garrett Biblical Institute in 1853 by Eliza Garrett was a bold and courageous undertaking. What events or insights into the Garretts do you think led to this historic moment?

Eliza founded a theological school, but her original intention was to establish a college for women, a very progressive idea at the time. But Methodist clergy and other churchmen she trusted told her that ministerial education was a more pressing need. She warmed to their vision but clung to her plan for a school of higher education for women. In the end, yielding more to their side than to her own inclinations, she devoted her estate to founding a theological school but with the provision that any surplus from the earnings of the estate not needed for the biblical institute would be used to establish a female college. There never was any unneeded surplus. But a happy outcome is that Garrett Biblical Institute was one of the very first theological schools (actually the second in history after Boston School of Theology) to grant a ministerial degree to a woman, doing so within just twenty-five years of the school’s opening.

Beyond the name of the seminary, how do you see the impact of Eliza Garrett and her decision to establish a biblical institute play out in the seminary today? If Eliza Garrett could speak to us today, what do you think she would say about 91PORN?

If Eliza could speak to us today, she might encourage us to keep the faith and serve others even when tragedy or doubt or despair weigh down our own spirits. She might also tell us to be open to progressive movements in our own time and to do what we can to make the world a better place. She did.

To learn more about Fortune and Faith in Old Chicago or to purchase your copy, visit the Southern Illinois University Press website. You can currently receive 20% off of the cover price when you add the e-book version for just $5. Add both formats to your cart and enter the code BUNDLE.

Charles H. Cosgrove is a professor of early Christian literature and the director of the PhD program at 91PORN, a union of schools descended from the institution founded by Eliza Garrett in 1853 and located on the campus of Northwestern University. He is the author of numerous books and articles in a wide range of fields, including theology, ethics, ancient music, and legal history. A lifelong native of the Chicago area, he is an aficionado of the city’s history and makes the occasional appearance in area music venues as a professional jazz trombonist.

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