Aware Magazine | Fall 2023

“Our work cannot amount to a series of slogans, and must instead deeply contribute to the healing of relationships, communities, and the planet we have been entrusted to steward.” (page three)

AWARE FALL 2023

MAGAZINE

GARRETT-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 1

AWARE GARRETT-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

MAGAZINE | FALL 2023 Presidential Perspective

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A Conversation with Board Chair Darryl Franklin

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With Gratitude for Our Board of Trustees

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Shaping Leaders to Serve the World

08

Strategic Global Partnerships

10

Seeding Peace

12

This Fall in Photos at Garrett-Evangelical

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Garrett-Evangelical’s 2023 Distinguished Alums

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Rev. Dr. Javier Viera

President of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

University campuses around the nation are convulsing as a result of numerous intractable local, national, and global challenges. While I’m proud that Garrett-Evangelical has been an oasis of civil discourse and respectful dialogue to date, even in our sincerely held differences, we are engulfed by a university and national climate that is quite different. Despite all of higher education’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging efforts, campuses are rife with intolerance and rigidity of thought tearing at the very fabric of the ideal community of open inquiry, genuine dialogue, and deep learning that we claim to value above all else.

While higher education captures many of the headlines for the current turmoil that defines our differences, it is an understatement to say that as a whole society we lack the intellectual rigor, moral capacity, and personal fortitude to engage those with whom we disagree. Demonizing and “othering” are now the typical approach.

Thoughtful, respectful, and sustained mutual inquiry and an earnest attempt to understand “the other” seem idealistic and naïve expectations in a culture of vilification and moral purity.

I, however, contend that this is exactly what is needed from Christian leaders in the world. It is this sort of wise, theologically grounded, humble, inquisitive, intellectually capacious, compassionate leadership that we seek to cultivate at Garrett.

In cultural moments like this, there is a temptation for religious leaders to either remain quiet and removed from the great public debates of our time, or instead to be out front leading the marches and the shouts of mass groups of people. Certainly, both of those approaches are called for at the right times. Wise leaders know when either approach is called for and most effective. Yet, these two aren’t the only approaches available.

In an age when algorithms decide for us what news we consume, which voices we hear, and what faces and experiences we see, Christian leaders have a moral obligation to reach beyond these means and instead enter the vulnerable space of sustained inquiry and genuine questioning in order to better understand the deeply and genuinely held differences that exist in the communities we lead. This is the great gift that a graduate school of theology provides the world and the church at delicate moments— the space and capacity to think deeply, to interrogate assumptions, dispel myths, question freely, reflect critically, and to remind the world and ourselves that a community fashioned in the image of Christ is one that places collective well-being and restorative justice above self-interest and ideology.

At Garrett, we’re unapologetic about the purpose and focus of our work: For the thriving of the Church and the healing of the world. This call has never been more relevant than in this moment of great division and future uncertainty. This call also takes place in a pluralistic context in which our way of thinking and being is not seen as the answer or the only way forward; rather, what it means is that we boldly offer the cumulative wisdom our tradition contains to a world that can benefit from it and desperately needs it. That can only happen when we Christians act, think, and live in ways that embody the generosity, compassion, humility, and self-sacrifice Jesus modeled for us rather than engaging in ideological battles that undermine the integrity of our witness. This way of being and living is rigorous, demanding, and life-giving, and it is the path to a world characterized by true diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice. Our work cannot amount to a series of slogans, and must instead deeply contribute to the healing of relationships, communities, and the planet we have been entrusted to steward. I pray that those formed at Garrett will be the sort of leaders that share that call and commit their lives to those ends.

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 3

“Give me some seeds so that we can plant more, and we can take care of everybody.”

“Give me some seeds so that we can plant more, and we can take care of everybody,” says Reverend Dr. Darryl Franklin (MDiv ’06). He becomes animated as he talks about the future of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary. “How do we better engage? How can we help others do more?” he asks.

A veritable sea of diplomas crowds the wall behind him, where he also hangs five diplomas earned by his two children—testimonies to the “goodness of God’s blessings, his family’s discipline and hard work, as well as a ‘few dollars’ of investment.” With a thriving business practice and author of several books, he bears the demeanor of someone with nothing to prove. And yet, what one immediately notices as he talks is deep humility coupled with brilliance. With quiet intensity, he wields a palpable charisma—able to emphasize a point without any change in volume. He chooses each word carefully with infectious passion, drawing one closer, inviting the listener to journey beside him. And he’s never more compelling than when he describes how institutional change can help deliver the gospel’s promises.

BUILDING ON THE CORNERSTONE A CONVERSATION WITH GARRETT-EVANGELICAL’S NEW BOARD CHAIR DARRYL FRANKLIN

by Benjamin Perry

It’s a fitting quality for the new chair of GarrettEvangelical’s Board of Trustees. An historic appointment, Franklin is both the first non-United Church Methodist (as an ordained elder in the AME) and first person of color to serve as chair. He brings a wealth of experience from the private sector, from financial planning to marketing and change management. This appointment embodies the heart of the seminary’s new strategic plan—to expand the breadth and scope of its mission while continuing to prepare the next generation of ministers, as it has done so well throughout its history.

Indeed, part of what Franklin brings to this call is a deep appreciation for the story of Garrett-Evangelical and its tremendous impact on Christianity in the United States and around the world. “I think about all the places that the seminary reaches, from the horn of Africa to Asia, South America and swaths of Europe . . . and the impact that Garrett-Evangelical has had on African Americans and our theology that I don’t think we get credit for,” he says.

This respect for Garrett-Evangelical’s relationship with the Black Church dates back to his own days as a student, when Dr. Henry Young (professor of systematic theology from 1980–2003) showed him a personal note

from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., addressed to the seminary. “Dr. Young marched with Dr. King,” Franklin remembers. “He shared with me a letter that King wrote to Garrett-Evangelical, turning down an offer to join the faculty because he was busy fighting for rights and organizing in Montgomery.” While it might seem obvious, now, that a seminary would try to recruit King, it’s crucial to remember that in the 1950s, he was a widely reviled figure throughout much of white society. And yet, not only did Garrett-Evangelical have the integrity to offer him a teaching position, but also King had enough respect for the school to personally reply.

Franklin points out that this willingness to follow the gospel even when it’s disruptive is a core part of the institution’s DNA. “Garrett-Evangelical was one of the first seminaries to encourage women to apply,” he says.

“It was one of the first to offer classes to Black people because no one else was doing it.” And while Union Theological Seminary in New York City is often called the birthplace of Black Liberation Theology, Franklin is quick to note that the discipline’s father—Reverend Dr. James H. Cone—earned his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees right here.

While Franklin has great reverence for the seminary’s past, what truly ignites his passion is discussing its future, “I see no reason why GarrettEvangelical shouldn’t be considered in the same breath as Harvard or Yale Divinity School,” he says. “We do a great job of preparing students to take leadership roles and augmenting those who are already in leadership.”

What the school needs, he argues, is to doubledown on its long commitment to a vision as bold as the challenges that the church and culture face. “How do you make the good news of the gospel go at a faster or more effective pace?” he asks.

“I run my business as if I’m influencing generations that I’ll never get to see, but I know I’m doing it for the goodness of God’s glory.”

Part of the answer, he suggests, is preparing church leaders to face practical challenges. “Oftentimes, we have a preacher who’s very good at preaching and gets a lot of whoops and hollers,” he notes, “but the church is in trouble because it hasn’t done a great job on stewardship or planning for the future.”

When it comes to the efficacy of social change, Franklin says that an ounce of diligence and determination can outweigh a pound of passion.

That’s one lesson he took from his doctoral work, researching the link between religious belief and organization development. “I’ll never forget one of the people I interviewed,” he says. “He told me: ‘You know, Darryl, it typically took five or six generations to build the great cathedrals. So, you had brick masons putting together a building for which they would never see the result.” Franklin took this advice to heart: He left a high-profile job on Wall Street after his bosses kept pressuring him to sell questionable services to customers for quick gain. He opened his own firm instead to help people lay foundations on which their children can build. “I run my business as if I’m influencing generations that I’ll never get to see, but I know I’m doing it for the goodness of God’s glory,” he says.

It’s this kind of balance he seeks to bring to Garrett-Evangelical’s Board of Trustees. He believes the call of trustees is to tenaciously support driving the mission forward in the present while never losing sight of all the future students who will fulfill God’s calling for the thriving of the church and the healing of the world. It is to them, and all future generations, that this seminary is beholden.

Franklin also knows that the best way to ensure Garrett-Evangelical honors the link between its present and future is remembering the gospel’s claim on all those who have participated in its mission: goodness, integrity, and a love that centers the lives of people the builders rejected—making them the cornerstone of the seminary’s future. This is best summarized as “Jesus loves me, this I know,” says Franklin, a sentiment he had ingrained early on at his childhood church in Sunday School. More than anything, it’s this sense of belonging and being loved that radiates outward through his voice, the beauty of someone who knows deep in his bones that he is working toward God’s reign.

“Look for the ways to help others who are hurting,” he says when asked where GarrettEvangelical might think afresh about its mission.

“Jesus never tried to convert anybody when they were hungry; you have to feed them first,” he says. “We must be of that mindset, too, that we too must feed folks. Otherwise, the good news just falls on deaf ears and an empty stomach.”

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 5

GARRETT-EVANGELICAL GIVES THANKS TO GOD FOR ITS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

THEIR WISDOM, GRACE, GENEROSITY, & COMMITMENT ARE UNPARALLELED!

Lori A. Ball

Amy Valdez Barker

John Baker Chair, Academic Affairs Committee

Robert Burkhart Sr. Chair, Committee on Trusteeship

James Clark III

Michelle Cobb Chair, DEIJ Committee

Susan Colten Secretary

Roger Cummings

Courtney Freeman Fowler

Ted Grossnickle Chair, Development Committee

Dan Van Haften

Laurie Haller

Charley Hames, Jr.

Lee Hoekstra

Marianne Inman

Sara Isbell

James Lumberg Treasurer Chair, Finance Committee

Fabiola Grandon-Mayer

Maria Alejandra Salazar

Dan Schwerin

Thomas Scott

Tiffani Shaw Chair, Enrollment, Marketing, & Innovation Committee

Jerre Stead Chairman Emeritus

Jeff Stuerman

John White

Geneace Williams

David Wilson

Andrea Wright Chair, Student Life Committee

O. Douglas Worthington Chair, Audit Committee

Julia Wyatt

Andrew Vorbrich

J. Keith Zimmerman

Philip R. Cousin Sr. Bonnie Draeger Marjorie Engelman James W. Hook Christina Hyde Charles Jordan

Ms. Kyle MacKenzie Nowel Harriet McCabe J. Michael McBride Robert D. Merrilees Donald Ott Sharon Zimmerman Rader

John Sampson Howard E. Steele Marilyn Talbert Ted Yi

Thomas Babbler John Baker Clifford Bath Jr. James Blue Donald Boyce Sam Byeongyoung

LIFE TRUSTEES

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 7

SHAPING LEADERS TO SERVE THE WORLD

For a global church to flourish, it needs leaders attentive to the particularities of ministry in contexts beyond its own. One of Garrett-Evangelical’s defining features—and a focal point of its future direction—is its commitment to a student body drawn from across the United States and countries around the world. While many seminaries aspire to this kind of global diversity, in Evanston it’s already a lived reality: The 2023–2024 enrollment is approximately twenty percent international students, representing more than twenty different countries. That intentionality is also reflected in student leadership: international students comprise nearly half the student council.

those layers and dimensions helps us to then engage in robust conversations and robust relationships.

We sat down with the new co-chairs [South Carolina-native Drew Unrue (DU) and Lambert Habonimana (LH) from Burundi, East Africa] to talk about how learning and living amongst a diverse student body builds community and leadership capacities for a future of ministry.

DU: I completely agree: Community meal is special because it gives us a space together that isn’t goal oriented, just allowing us to be present for all the different emotional embodied experiences—from joy to grief—that people carry with them.

What’s the most important value for leaders who want to build community?

LH: For me, it’s presence. You have to show up for people, know what’s going on in their lives—be aware of what’s going on in different communities, different nationalities, because you never know what’s happening until you are mindful, wanting to know what’s happening in folks’ home countries.

DU: A willingness to be with others and a humble posture and listening ear for what is needed. Leaders need humility and a drive that actually wants to move forward, seeking collective answers to make a new path.

Are there challenges to living and learning in such a diverse student body?

DU: Absolutely. Difficulties arise when people have very real, deeply held beliefs that are immensely important to them, who are then in conversation with other communities. For example, an international student from Zimbabwe gave a talk, presenting a recently published article on queerness in postcolonial Zimbabwe. The conversation, which was a productive one, illuminated some of the geopolitical, cultural, and theological differences that people bring with them. But when we come together, it changes everything to frame that this not as a fight or an argument but a productive conversation—facilitating just discernment and action.

LH: The key to building bridges is knowing that we come from different contexts—politically, theologically, and socially—and understanding how this shapes who we are as students and people. Being aware of all

What are some of the practices that help build those kinds of robust relationships?

LH: I cherish the time I spend eating with people at the community meal each Wednesday. We have time to laugh together, to share a meal—which is not something that always happens in the middle of all the busyness. I also treasure classes when we say a prayer together for one of our colleagues who’s going through a difficult time. Those moments are beautiful— despite all the differences and all the brokenness, we see the united body of Christ.

What are the joys of living in this kind of international community?

LH: It’s a joy to experience the beauty of that diversity—to be in community with people from the other side of the world and really learn what’s happening there, what’s important to their lives. And knowing that I can speak some Korean with new Korean friends—that’s a joy for me.

DU: There’s an unconscious psychological belief that what is unfamiliar will be uncomfortable. And the joy of being in a community like Garrett-Evangelical— having conversations and being with people in such divergent ways—is that it explicitly problematizes the idea that something unfamiliar is automatically something uncomfortable. That’s not something that happens everywhere. And to move toward Christlikeness, that’s something we need.

How does the Garrett-Evangelical community train people to be better leaders?

DU: It cultivates a real sense of intentionality: to embrace community starts with engaging persons as individuals rather than as a group. It shapes an intentional posture in daily life to spend another ten or fifteen minutes of truly getting to know someone—to invite and investigate what their life has been like and how that informs their experience LH: The diversity also moves us toward wholesome knowledge. My colleague, who comes from a different culture, might see something on one side of a coin when I see it from the other. We both understand something, but we arrive at true understanding together. That’s how we grow. That’s how I grow and mature in leadership.

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 9

Garrett-Evangelical is always looking to imagine, explore, and create ways in which the seminary can be more fully embedded as a partner with the church and the world in serving our mission. We are deeply grateful for the collaborative relationships we share with so many others, some of whom we wanted to highlight below in order to give you a glimpse of the global work currently underway.

HENNEPIN AVENUE UMC

Minneapolis, Minnsota

FAITH IN PLACE Chicago, Illinois

CHILDREN’S

DEFENSE FUND Washington, D.C.

SEMINARIO

PHILLIPS

METODISTA

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

DE CHILE Santiago, Chile

Atlanta, Georgia

FACULDADE DE

TEOLOGIA / ASSOCIATION FOR HISPANIC

THEOLOGICAL

EDUCATION Orlando, Florida

UNIVERSIDADE

METODISTA

DE SAO PAULO Sao Paulo, Brazil

partnership map

METHODIST

THEOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY Seoul, Korea

STELLENBOSCH

UNIVERSITY Stellenbosch, South Africa

AFRICA UNIVERSITY Mutare, Zimbabwe

METHODIST

THEOLOGICAL

INSTITUTE Yangon, Myanmar

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 11

seeding peace

Why Rich Peacock (MDiv ’73) helps fund the next generation

Rich Peacock learned to pursue peacemaking at Evangelical Theological Seminary (the merger with Garrett took place in 1974). “In those days, protesting against the Vietnam War was at the top of the extracurricular list,” he remembers fondly. “There was the freedom to organize protests, the freedom to make the gospel count in the streets, as well as in classroom discussions.” In short, what he learned was activism rooted deep in the gospel call to mend a broken world.

“If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat,” Peacock says, quoting Romans 12. “The idea that compassion can be used in peacemaking is important.”

After graduating from seminary, Peacock employed those lessons across multiple decades in ministry to work for nonviolence—a mission he now continues in retirement. Over the course of that career, he witnessed firsthand how fierce love can change the world—like when he helped organize an interfaith coalition for the Iran nuclear treaty. “We were able to pull together Christians, Jews, and Muslims to advocate with our senators,” he says. “We found people across the spectrum, and I can still remember being in the conference room in downtown Detroit, helping everyone share their rationale about why we needed to get into the deal.”

Peacock is clear, however, that the power to do this kind of work begins with the fundamentals of parish ministry—preaching, building community consensus, and pastoral care. That’s why he’s also passionate about donating to the Peacock Broyles Endowed Scholarship Fund, as well as the Annual

Fund, to help train the next generation of leaders who will follow him into the world to work for peace. In moments of such overwhelming suffering, he finds hope in the seminary’s present direction and hopes for the future. (The Endowed Scholarship honors both Peacock’s ministry and that of his brother, Larry (’76), and sister-in-law, Anne Broyles (’79), both of whom earned their MDivs from G-ETS and served as UMC pastors.)

“I’m impressed by the diversity of the faculty,” he says, “people from all over the world—that kind of global emphasis is really important.” And he’s powerfully moved by how that diversity is also mirrored in the student body. “It’s so important that we learn from each other,” he says. “We come from different contexts and have to interpret the faith in communities with different values. To be able to get a perspective on everyone’s ministry and mission sharpens our own perspectives.” In other words, he says, you cannot pursue global peace without everyone at the table.

More than anything, Peacock wants students to have the same kind of life-changing experience he did—one that stretches long past two or three years of schooling. “When we graduated, some of us organized a summer discussion group,” he says. “Unbelievably, that group has been going for more than fifty years, studying progressive theology and economics.

They’ve traveled to Cuba and other countries to learn more deeply. They have an economic covenant on how to spend their money. That’s evidence of the power at Garrett-Evangelical.”

Prof. Reggie Blount addresses the crowd at CBE’s 50th Anniversary Gala

Prof. Brooke Lester teaches a sample class during Homecoming

Rev. Karli Pidgeon, this year’s Homecoming guest preacher

The community gathering together for the Homecoming worship service

Alums, faculty, staff, and students joined together in the Homecoming choir

Rev. Dr. Daisy Machado delivers the keynote at this fall’s AETH-Garrett conference

Recently installed Academic Dean Rev. Dr. Jen Harvey delivering this year’s Convocation Address

Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier receiving prayer as she moves on from her role as AETH’s executive director

President Javier Viera interviewed Justo and Catherine González during this fall’s AETH-Garrett conference AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 13

Taylor (MDiv ‘87) & Manuel Villalobos CONGRATULATIONS TO Irene Mendoza (PhD ‘10) have remarkable ministries

GARRETT-EVANGELICAL’S impacting the lives of so many through the 2023 DISTINGUISHED ALUMS liberating power of God’s gospel.

“My heart is filled with joy, and my faith is renewed in the reality that God sees us and rewards faithfulness,” says Reverend Dr. Irene Taylor, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary’s 2023 Distinguished Alumna, as she reflects on the legacy of her seminary education after more than thirty years in ministry.

The life and work of Taylor are indeed characterized by faithfulness. Through her multiple appointments as an elder of The United Methodist Church and her involvement with diverse types of ministries, she has cultivated a holistic ministry of spiritual formation for the empowerment and transformation of God’s people.

Her commitment to the church began at an early age. She moved from Texas to Crowley, Louisiana, where she lived with her great uncle and aunt for eight years. Taylor’s aunt led her to find faith in Jesus.

After her aunt’s passing, she returned to Texas, and through all these transitions, the church became her home regardless of where she found herself living.

“My earliest or most impactful memory of the church was it was the one place where I felt affirmed and most alive,” she says. “Despite my age, my gifts were affirmed, and I could let them shine.” Because of this, one of the central aspects of Taylor’s ministry has been equipping youth, particularly young women.

Reflecting upon her joys in ministry, Taylor says serving as a pastor in the local church has always been her greatest joy. “I am a pastor at heart,” she says.

“The ministry of the church energizes me, because the local church’s ministry is the living bread of a community.”

“Pastoring on the local church level makes the gospel come alive,” she adds. “It is meeting people where they are and guiding them to see and embrace the gift of God that dwells within them, both individually and collectively.”

Through her many years in ministry, she has served as pastor, chaplain, along with other administrative capacities in several theological institutions. Her first appointment as a United Methodist pastor was in Riverdale, Illinois, from 1997 to 2011. She describes those years as “the most challenging yet the most fruitful—not in numbers but in planting seeds of hope, transformation, and empowerment in our youth, their parents, and the community.”

After completing her master of divinity at GarrettEvangelical in 1987, Taylor received her doctorate in ministry in spiritual formation in 2005 from United Theological Seminary. Her thesis focused on emerging adults and was titled, Christian Spirituality: A Resource for Equipping, Enabling, and Empowering African American Youth.

In 2018, in honor of Taylor’s thirty years since graduating from seminary, the Irene Taylor Scholarship Fund was established at Garrett-Evangelical. Taylor regards her seminary education as foundational for her commitment to justice and love, particularly in the face of challenges.

“I am grateful for the gifts, sound theological preparation, and spiritual formation I received from this great institution and the local church’s ministry,” she says.

“In word and in pastoral ministry, she has demonstrated how a seminary education can contribute to transformative leadership for the thriving of the Church and the healing of the world,” says Reverend Dr. Karen Mosby, Garrett-Evangelical’s dean of student life and chaplain, who nominated Taylor for this award.

Although she is now retired, Taylor affirms she still feels the call to serve God through the ministry of the church. She is hopeful about its future and encourages the next generation of leaders to hold on to the calling to be a beacon of light amid much darkness.

contributions to Vena’s own work. He also highlights Villalobos’ proficiency as a writer who has published five books in the last decade, including Cristianos de La Segunda Generación (2013), Abject Bodies in the Gospel of Mark (2012, also published in Spanish in 2015), When Men Were Not Men (2014), Masculinidad y Otredad en Crisis en las Epístolas Pastorales (2020), and Bodies Without Organs in the Gospel of Mark (2022, also published in Spanish in 2023).

What is the liberating news of the gospel to those who experience otherness? The 2023 GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary Distinguished Alumnus, Father Manuel Villalobos Mendozam (PhD ’10), has dedicated his ministry and scholarship to this question.

Villalobos describes himself as a Mexicano del otro lado (“Mexican from the other side”), a term charged with multiple meanings including his sexual identity and history of migration. Being a person del otro lado informs not only Villalobos’ selfunderstanding, but also his scholarship and ministry as a Roman Catholic priest.

While being a priest affords Villalobos the privilege of ecclesial power and education, he transforms this power into a tool for resistance in his work for the inclusion of those who have also been systematically excluded. “For me, power really comes from below, from the humble people who attend my Bible groups and find in the Bible a source of hope,” he says. “My power resides not in the knowledge that I possess about the Bible, but rather in the creativity to relate the biblical text to their lives, stories, and tragedies.”

Villalobos’ hermeneutic del otro lado is inspired by the Latin American biblical interpretation method of Vida-Texto-Vida (Life-Text-Life). This method begins with the experience of the community to then appropriate and recontextualize the biblical text, find new experiences of God’s liberation, and return to everyday life to work for the transformation and liberation of society. His dissertation, Abject Bodies in the Gospel of Mark, uses this methodology to study “the (un)doing of gender, the notion of masculinity, the vulnerability, abjectness, and precariousness of the body, the power of gazing upon other male bodies, and the subversion and transgression of boundaries” in the Gospel of Mark.

Dr. Osvaldo D. Vena (professor emeritus of New Testament), who served as his PhD supervisor, describes Villalobos as a “creative and courageous scholar,” whose research has made important

Villalobos is also the founder of the Instituto Bíblico Claretiano de las Américas (IBICLA), based in the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

IBICLA seeks to empower minority groups who have been marginalized through abusive readings of scripture. Vena highlights that one of the qualities he most appreciates of Villalobos is “his concern for the education of the laity.” Villalobos’ work with IBICLA, his teaching engagements in Mexico and the United States, and his YouTube channel Escuela Bíblica Claretiana all demonstrate his commitment to promoting liberation through the study of scriptures for and from the margins.

Villalobos says his hope for the church is “to be faithful and rooted in Jesus’ gospel in order to announce the Good News to all (no exceptions!) regardless of their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, legal status, or economic condition.” He finds joy in what the inclusion of all people reveals about the power of the Word of God and how, “despite all the evils that we as church or institution have supported throughout the ages, people still believe in God.” Villalobos’ message to the Garrett-Evangelical community upon receiving this award is “to let God be God!” He urges students “to study not just to get a good grade, but to serve God’s children and to take advantage of all the tools Garrett-Evangelical provides in order to recognize God’s presence not just in the Bible, but also in the experience of the people.”

Villalobos received a bachelor of arts from Universidad Pontificia de México and a master of divinity and master of arts from Catholic Theological Union. In 2010, he earned a doctor of philosophy in Bible and culture from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Today, Villalobos is an adjunct professor of New Testament interpretation at Chicago Theological Seminary and a faculty member at IBICLA.

AWARE MAGAZINE FALL ʼ23 | PAGE 15

GARRETT-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 2121 Sheridan Road Evanston, Illinois 60201

For the Thriving of the Church and the Healing of the World Amid the conflict and division in our world, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is a beacon of learning for courageous leaders called to make a difference.

Join us in this vital mission with a gift of any amount!

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