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“For Christians who just want to be faithful, there’s a profound sense of hopelessness and overwhelm because of what feels like the largeness of forms of Christianity that are really harmful.” Rev. Juliet Liu is candid when she speaks about the difficulties pastors face trying to nurture their congregations. As co-pastor at in the northwest Chicago suburbs, she says that she is constantly navigating both religious trauma her parishioners bring through the church doors and a broader culture that has too often made Christian faith synonymous with values that violate Jesus’ life and ministry. Spiritual direction is essential for navigating this gauntlet, so Rev. Liu decided to pursue a DMin at Garrett in a degree track devoted wholly to that pursuit.

The Spiritual Direction DMin track offers students a variety of skills—from discernment models to contemplative practices and trauma informed care—to help pastors and care providers meet people where they are and move them toward deeper faith and connection. “The re-envisioned track delves into the rich historical, theological, and contextual dimensions of global and decolonized spirituality—spirituality that is embodied, grounded in lived experience, and deeply oriented toward justice,” says Dr. Rolf Nolasco, Garrett’s Rueben P. Job Professor of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Theology, who directs the Spiritual Direction DMin path. “The program’s structure and content are intentionally designed to provide faith leaders with a broader and more nuanced understanding of diverse spiritual traditions, while addressing the urgent challenges of an ever-evolving global landscape in which they live, lead, and serve.” Rev. Liu has found this approach to be one she can readily employ. “Even when harm is embedded in the way people understand their faith and spirituality,” she explains, “We can become a different place so that healing from that harm can happen and we can build something better.”

While many of the students in the program are pastors like Rev. Liu, the degree also attracts chaplains, counselors and other care providers who seek a faith-based approach to nurturing clients’ wellbeing. Laura Jackson is one such student: After more than twenty years of serving in a variety of vocations, from campus chaplaincy to trauma therapy, she entered the program with the hope that it would help clarify the kinds of care to which she felt called and open new professional avenues to provide it. “I’ve held basically every kind of holy listening license,” she says. “But I’m not ordained, I don’t have a parish. I asked, ‘Do you think I should still apply to the program?  And Garrett was so encouraging about doing the doctorate as a lay person with a less traditional ministry.’” 

Initially, Jackson thought she would focus her DMin thesis about clergy burnout in the pandemic, and how to help pastors find balance. Once she was in the program, however, she started a project examining clergy spouses’ unique role, asking how to better care for their spirits—and found a potent need. “As a clergy spouse myself, I know the distinctive challenges they face. So I switched my topic and began a new one interviewing a dozen clergy spouses,” she says. “The through line between clergy burnout and clergy spouses is that when you work and live right alongside the church as a ministry professional, it can start to feel like your relationship to God and your relationship to the institutional church are the same thing.” She started , a non-profit organization that organizes local clergy spouse cohorts, creates online content, and offers workshops to learn new spiritual practices.

It’s not unusual for students’ lives to inform their research projects, the DMin degree program is designed to flexibly accommodate students’ unique passions and questions. For Rev. Liu, it’s led her to exploring how to decolonize Asian-Americans’ faith through group spiritual direction. The child of Vietnamese immigrants who converted to Christianity when they arrived in the U.S. as refugees, what started as a deeply personal question is now helping others find greater fulfillment. “I’m trying to learn the history in how Christianity reached parts of India before the Western Church was established, ways we can grow an authentically Asian Christianity,” she says. “But it’s also helping me make sense not only of my own personal faith journey but the movement of Christianity within my family.” These aren’t questions with simple answers, and the depth of the DMin curriculum has offered room for necessary nuance. “I see the really beautiful effects of Christian spirituality in my family, but also the difficult impacts,” she says. “I’m inspecting that for myself so I can help guide others.”

Regardless of the form that students’ projects take, one of the greatest blessings a DMin offers is a cohort with whom to explore this work. “I met lovely, fascinating classmates from around the country,” Jackson says. “When we had opportunities for mutual spiritual direction, things would happen that were real and very powerful. I’m continually learning the power of authentic connection.” Rev. Liu concurs with that assessment. “The learning we do, we do as classmates. But we’ve also really become friends,” she says. “Connecting as women pastors, especially as women of color, the nature of those relationships have been just as formative as the classroom learning for me.” Modeling the transformational potential of deep connection within the cohort helps students feel the impact spiritual direction can have in their care settings. “An ounce of authentic connection is worth a pound of information,” Jackson says.

At a time when people grapple with both an epidemic of loneliness and a cavalcade of traumatizing forces, that genuine connection can offer hope. “Spiritual direction at its heart is about creating and curating a sacred space where people feel seen, heard, and held as they are—sometimes for the first time in their lives,” says Dr. Nolasco. “It’s where healing begins and where courage to be is quietly reborn—because there is no other place God would rather be than in the concreteness of the quotidian life.” Surrounded by a bevy of siren calls to escape or numb our collective pain, it’s a brave calling to work through it. “I don’t think we can heal without reckoning with the woundedness and injury,” Rev. Liu says. “Spiritual direction offers holy witnessing and companionship where people can move forward because someone is holding that space beside you.”

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Featured Guest: Dr. Esther Acolatse, Professor of Pastoral Theology and World Christianity and Director of the Doctor of Ministry.

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An Interview with D. Scott Ostlund, Vice President for Enrollment Management

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Those acquainted with Dr. Gennifer Brooks know she is rarely at a loss for words. But when the Class of 2022 of the ACTS Doctor of Ministry in Preaching students told her at an end-of-the-year celebration that they established not one – but two – scholarships in her name, she was speechless.

“At first, I said nothing,” said Brooks, dean of the Association of Theological Schools (ACTS) Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program and Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Preaching at 91PORN. “I just stood there with my mouth open. I thought, ‘What are you talking about.’ It was mind blowing.”

“I could feel myself tearing up, so I went silent,” she continued. “To have two scholarships established in my name is breathtaking and unbelievable.”

Although Garrett-Evangelical was already a member of ACTS, a consortium of approximately 12 seminaries in the Chicago area, it did not participate in the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program until 2006. In the ACTS Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program, students from six of the seminaries come together each summer for three years to take classes. After they finish their classes, the students work with advisors at their own seminaries to finish their doctoral thesis.


When Brooks became dean of the program, she decided she wanted to recognize the third-year class. On their last night, they come together for a worship service and a program where Brooks awards them a Certificate of Candidacy.

According to Brooks, the third-year class usually gives a gift to the dean during the program. Because the last celebration was on Zoom due to the pandemic, the class sent her a package and told her not to open it until July 9. “I assumed that was my gift,” Brooks said.   

Little did Brooks know that her doctor of ministry students had a bigger idea.

“My classmates and I wanted to do something different – more significant – because we knew that Dean Brooks was retiring in 2023,” said DMin Student Jeryl Salmond, pastor of Ladson Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina and financial advisor at an international investment firm. “We wanted to do something that would honor her for all she has done,” he continued. “She has given her life so preachers can preach.”

The students decided they wanted to establish an endowed scholarship in Brooks’s name that would provide financial assistance to DMin students at Garrett-Evangelical once it is fully endowed, but they also wanted to do something to help current students.

Salmond called Joe Emmick, vice president for development at Garrett-Evangelical, and he helped the students establish two scholarships: the Dr. Gennifer Brooks Doctor of Ministry Annual Scholarship Fund that would help current DMin students and the Dr. Gennifer Brooks Doctor of Ministry Endowed Scholarship, that once fully endowed, would help DMin students in perpetuity.

Once the plan was in place, the students were ready for the end-of-the-year celebration. That night, Salmond told Brooks they had established two scholarships.

“To know that my name remains in the place where I have spent almost all of my professorial life is the greatest honor I could have in my career,” said Brooks. “It is wonderful to know I have left the kind of legacy that says I mattered to someone, I mattered to the school, I mattered to the program.”

Scholarships for doctor of ministry students are essential, Brooks said, because few seminaries provide scholarships for doctoral students and few churches have the money to help their pastors get advanced degrees.  

“Doctor of ministry students generally have to take out more loans, when they are still paying back loans from going to seminary,” Brooks said. “And there are some programs that don’t allow students to take loans, so those students can’t afford to come. To provide funding for them is to help the church have pastors who are better informed and more knowledgeable and able to lead congregations.”   

Salmond said he hopes that once alumni and current students hear about the scholarships, they will contribute to it. Brooks said she will also encourage folks to give. “Since I’m retiring in 2023, I’ll probably have a party,” she said. “I will tell people not to bring me anything. If they plan to buy anything – even if it is only worth $5 – I will ask them to send a contribution to Garrett-Evangelical for these scholarships.”

To contribute to the Dr. Gennifer Brooks Doctor of Ministry Annual Scholarship Fund and/or the Dr. Gennifer Brooks Doctor of Ministry Endowed Scholarship, visit /give/supporting-our-mission. Be sure to indicate that the gift is for the Dr. Gennifer Brooks Scholarships. You may also mail a check to 91PORN Development Office, 2121 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois, 60201.   

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 Year of Crises,” 2020 is arguably one of the most difficult years in modern American history. Many Americans navigated the tumultuous year facing several crises simultaneously. The crises of a global pandemic touched every aspect of the American ideal and way of life. Leaving no stone unturned, the unsuspecting health, economic and social American ideals quickly fell prey to an invisible, and indiscriminate foe, of COVID 19. The collapse of the seemingly untouchable American cornerstones became the subject themselves of further discontent, confusion, and division nationwide.

This nationwide trend repeated itself in community after community throughout the turbulent year, to include the historic Rappahannock region in mid-Virginia. Birth home to George Washington, who went on to serve as General George Washington and later culminated his service as the first American President. The Rappahannock region indeed has its place in history and if birthing and nurturing the first American President wasn’t enough to the region’s claim to fame, it is also the heart of Civil War pride for both Union and Confederate historians. The Rappahannock region is an incredibly unique area with a very distinctive history which included a unique response to the growing crises of 2020.

In addition to the COVID-19 Crisis, communities across the nation, to include the Rappahannock region, struggled with the unprecedented crises of racial and socio-economic division. A Crisis which rivaled that of the tumultuous Civil Rights era and ultimately birthed a cry for social justice on a scale and urgency unheard since that critical era. The result was a tsunami of social unrest that moved in waves across the nation from north to south and from east to west.

Joining the tsunami was yet another crisis steeped in political indifference and intolerance. This crisis highlighted rhetoric and behavior reminiscent of the temperament of pre-civil war America. The chasm so deep many yet wonder whether the Nation can breach the great divide and heal.

It was within this environment, one newly minted Community Organizer became fixated upon organizing the community of faith within the Rappahannock region of Virginia to work together to withstand the tumult of massive crises. Graduating with a Doctor of Ministry in Community Organizing from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in May 2020, by June 2020, Rev. Dr. Temaki Carr found herself, answering the call of a community and nation in the throws of racial and social unrest amidst a global pandemic.

Seeing the community of faith largely uninvolved and absent amidst the crises, the retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, now Rev. Dr. Carr sprang into action organizing several successful multicultural, multiracial, multidenominational, and multi-church community of faith prayer walks/marches in the heart of historic downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. At the height of the Crises and social unrest in the summer of 2020, Dr. Carr helped to found two very influential faith-based community minded action groups to help the Rappahannock region both address and aid racial reconciliation and social justice within the community.

The first group, named One Church Rappahannock, focused upon the pillars of Christ, unity, justice, and solidarity. The group focused upon gathering the diverse Body of Believers within the region through large scale virtual and outdoor worship and prayer initiatives. The initiatives provided an outlet for those disheartened and frustrated with social justice and racial reconciliation status quo. One Church Rappahannock provided an avenue for action for those disheartened by the inaction of the household of faith. Dr. Carr’s missions nonprofit, Loving the Nations, partnered with several prominent leaders and churches within the region, which included Rev. Dr. Raymond Bell of Mt. Hope Baptist Church, Pastor Jeffrey Smith of Strong Tower Church, Pastor Adam Blosser of Goshen Baptist Church of Spotsylvania, Pastor Ernest Custalow of Grace Church, and Pastor David Bradshaw of Awakening Community Church of Fredericksburg to serve as founding members of the One Church Rappahannock initiative.

The second influential group amidst the crises, became known as, Undivided Fredericksburg. The faith based racial reconciliation group of leaders, loosely based their name upon the bible study “Undivided” by the North American Mission Board. Undivided Fredericksburg seeks to address the racial division within the Church specifically through the tenants of faith and the building of personal relationships across cultural and racial divides. Dr. Carr along with founding members Pastor Tim Wilcox, of Choice Baptist Church, Pastor Eric Kelley of Watchman Ministries, Pastor Monica Gary Sr of New Wine Community Church, and Founder and CEO, Jed Robyn of Pilgrim Way Ministries, facilitate a larger group of (15-20) Faith Leaders weekly through racial reconciliation studies for the church. The group seeks to facilitate relationship and partnerships that culminate in initiatives aimed to positively engage and promote racial reconciliation within the Body of Christ.

The two influential faith-based groups address the issue of racial reconciliation and social justice somewhat differently but complement one another as they continue to work throughout the region. One Church Rappahannock has a broad reach and focus with the ability to draw large scale participation while Undivided Fredericksburg has a more intimate influence with a deeper and more personal focus. Both groups are successful within their sphere of influence and needed to provide the opportunity and outlet necessary to inspire change within the Fredericksburg, Rappahannock region.

Carr highlights the preparation from Garrett’s doctor of ministry program as the key impetus which propelled her forward as an organizer within her regional faith community. In particular she credits the hard challenges and tough love mentorship she received from her professors for sharpening her as she progressed through the program. “Community Organizing is hard work, definitely not for the faint of heart. Seeing the world as it is, challenging the status quo, and organizing others to contend for the world as it could be is more important now than ever,” says Carr.

Cohorts for the doctor of ministry in preaching and in strategic leadership for Black congregations are forming now and will begin this summer. To learn more about the doctor of ministry program, go to Garrett.edu/DMin.

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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