Together we are becoming a seminary for the future!
A Message from the President
Dear Fuller community,
With a fresh sense of gratitude for all God is doing in, through, and for us, I am pleased to present Fuller Seminary’s annual Year in Review report for academic year 2023–2024, “A Seminary for the Future.”
Here you will find not only an overview of momentous events and achievements worth celebrating; you’ll also see how Fuller’s schools, departments, campuses, and centers are preparing for our digital-forward future. We are in an extended season of necessary transformation, and I could not be prouder of our talented, up-for-the-challenge faculty, staff, students, trustees, and donors.
To honor the institution’s storied legacy and sustain our promise to equip people who share Christ’s hope and healing in the church and the world, Fuller’s stakeholders are answering the call for significant and strategic change. We are leaning in with our vibrant variety, virtuous cycles, and operational excellence to make the Fuller experience of high-quality Christian higher education more accessible and affordable nationally and globally.
Together we are becoming a seminary for the future! As you explore the pages that follow, I hope you’ll be both inspired by all we have accomplished and moved to join us as we take each next, faithful step in trust and obedience.
With joyful anticipation,
Rev. David Emmanuel Goatley, PhD
Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair Professor of Theology and Ministry
Fuller’s Digital-Forward Future
An Operational Plan for Online
Excellence
To advance our mission and meet the evolving needs of the global church, Fuller is launching an ambitious project. The Operational Excellence initiative will expand accessibility, positioning Fuller at the forefront of theological education to reach a growing global audience. This project will build on Fuller’s commitment to a digital-forward strategy, enhancing its impact by focusing on the following key initiatives:
Implementing best-in-class recruitment and retention to drive new student enrollment and enhance student support
Reversing recent enrollment declines and enhancing student success,
leading to a committed and engaged alumni network
Reinforcing Fuller’s financial sustainability while expanding its academic reputation to a broader audience
These strategic actions will set the course for Fuller’s future, ensuring a path not only to long-term stability and growth, but vitality as well. Through these efforts, Fuller seeks to nearly double its student population, from 2,700 to close to 5,000, in three years— which will enable us to uphold our legacy, achieve our growth targets, and sustain our impact. The four core initiatives for success include strengthening Fuller’s:
1. Marketing and enrollment strategy
2. Market friendliness and scalability of academic degrees
3. Student success and retention
4. Leadership and staff roles
Several of these initiatives depend on implementing new and updated digital and software technology. While Fuller’s existing systems are strong, there is potential for greater synergy to support enrollment and data-driven decision-making. Fuller is actively identifying improvements to the institution’s technological infrastructure to better serve the community.
As Fuller strives for sustainability, prioritizing our financial health is crucial—primarily driven by enrollment numbers. By applying a mission and sustainability priority framework, Fuller will focus on initiatives that enhance recruitment, retention, and operational efficiency.
Fuller’s international leadership will continue to grow and thrive.
A Strategy to Right-Size Our Footprint in Pasadena
With the increase in remote learning accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of Fuller’s thousands of students from all corners of the world now engage with the seminary online. This shift allows students across the globe to pursue many Fuller degrees without relocating to one of our campuses in Pasadena, Phoenix, or Houston. In response to the exponential growth of Fuller’s online campus, we have embarked on a process with our hometown, the City of Pasadena, California, to reduce our local footprint to better align with our global future—even as our commitment to Pasadena and our local partnerships remains strong.
The changes contemplated in the Amended Master Plan include:
A smaller Pasadena campus footprint that expands Fuller’s global impact and prioritizes sustainability
Strategic transition over the next decade of more than a dozen non-core properties through sales, leases, or partnerships
New campus boundaries that retain our historic buildings along North Oakland Avenue, the green walkable mall of the campus, the psychology building, and Chang Commons, the heart of our on-campus student living community
While our physical footprint may change in the coming years, Fuller’s global impact will continue to grow. This plan is not just about physical space; it’s about hope and healing, creating an environment where
faith, scholarship, and service converge in dynamic, innovative ways.
A Fresh Look to Extend Our Impact
In early 2022, Fuller embarked on an ambitious journey to better understand our institution’s current realities and future opportunities within a changing social, cultural, educational, and ecumenical landscape. In close partnership with Signal Brand Innovation, a strategic brand consultancy, Fuller’s leadership team sought to discern the intrinsic character of our community and our unique role in Christ’s kingdom, while also charting a strategy for engaging leaders and learners from around the world who hunger for a formational experience that only Fuller can offer.
One significant outcome of this journey is an all-new brand strategy for Fuller Seminary, carefully designed to support our institution’s transition to a digital-forward seminary experience and meet critical enrollment goals. Developed through a rigorous co-creation process—incorporating input from Fuller’s leadership, extensive market research, and audience testing—this updated brand strategy will introduce exciting changes to how people understand and engage with Fuller, including a refreshed visual identity and refined brand messaging across the institution.
We look forward to unveiling this new brand to the Fuller community in early 2025 and showcasing how it will support Fuller’s work of equipping leaders who share Christ’s hope and healing in the church and the world.
All-new brand strategy for Fuller Seminary
We expect the positive contributions of one part of Fuller’s ecology to impact all the other parts.
The Virtuous Cycle of Fuller’s Learning Ecology
In our life and work together, Fuller Seminary is embracing the principle of the virtuous cycle. Rather than yielding to segmentation and fragmentation, which assume the scarcity of resources and accept the illusion of self-sufficiency, we live in confidence that as we are faithful, the Lord will provide. Consistent with the counter-cultural movement of God’s Spirit, we will follow Christ Jesus in self-giving generosity and radical hospitality.
Trusting the principle of the virtuous cycle means we expect the positive contributions of one part of Fuller’s ecology to impact all the other parts of our environment. As one example, graduate programs and non-degree training mutually benefit each other by translating academic research into resources that equip the church, and by offering feedback from practitioners to scholars. Likewise, the School of Mission and Theology and the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy enjoy a reciprocal relationship by integrating theology, missiology, and psychology to form well-rounded students across the seminary. Similarly, Fuller’s online and on-campus class modalities enrich each other as they share teaching technologies and adapt to the learning needs of all kinds of students.
Virtuous cycles deepen knowledge, expand impact, and increase capacity and sustainability. We invite you to explore Fuller’s schools, centers, institutes, and initiatives—and the connections between them that keep us moving toward our shared future.
1,079
3
24,000
3 ONE INSTITUTION with ONE FORMATIONAL ECOLOGY
Spiritual Academic Intercultural Vocational Emotional
*CENTERS
2
School of Mission and Theology, School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy
16
Academic Centers and Institutes, Ethnic Centers, and Leadership Formation Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives*
4
2
Students: Degreed programs
Learners: Non-degreed resources
Conferred and Awarded
One Seminary, One Future
511
Total degrees
392 Master’s degrees
119 Doctoral/advanced degrees
21 Certificates
As we continue to become a seminary for the future, we see the need to build our faculty, increase our global reach, and create degrees that help to meet the needs of the church and world.
Through the 2023–24 academic year, in an effort to increase our ability to serve students at our three physical campuses and online, we expanded programs and added faculty. Fuller Chief Academic Officer Alexis D. Abernethy said deepening the partnership between our two schools is critical to Fuller’s future so that all students “have opportunities to engage in theologically, missiologically, and psychologically-informed ministry, regardless of their degree program.” To that end, two faculty received two-school appointments.
In addition, to extend our global reach and prepare students to respond to spiritual challenges across the world, we added the Korean PhD in Intercultural Theology and the Master of Arts in Chaplaincy.
Finally, Fuller is moving faithfully forward in its search for a dean for the School of Mission and Theology. According to Dr. Abernethy, “We have been blessed under the leadership of two interim deans—Sebastian Kim and now Ryan Bolger—who have played pivotal roles in strengthening the faculty collegium and leading us digitally forward.”
Fuller’s Vibrant Variety
2,624
TOTAL STUDENTS ENROLLED
“I still see God working in and through the lives of the students who come here. I see God working in and through the faculty and staff. And when I look up long enough from all the busyness and take a breath, I feel honored to be part of it all.”
Cameron Lee, PhD, professor of Marriage and Family Studies in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, whose time at Fuller spans more than 40 years
The School of Mission and Theology houses four academic centers/institutes:
Center for Advanced Theological Studies, which promotes advanced levels of scholarship, research, and reflection to prepare women and men for leadership in the global church
Center for Missiological Research, which supports research and equips scholars to address seminal missiological issues
Global Research Institute (operated by the Center for Missiological Research), which offers a scholarship and sabbatical to non-Western Christian scholars to conduct research and write curriculum for their context
Richard John Mouw Institute of Faith and Public Life, which advances theological research and collaboration around public issues facing the church
The School of Mission and Theology
We offer students from around the globe a formational education for effective leadership in vocations in ministry, missions, the marketplace, and beyond. A rigorous curriculum that integrates biblical learning, theological training, missiological perspectives, and interdisciplinary wisdom from Fuller’s School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy equips graduates of the School of Mission and Theology to make a lasting impact in their unique context and calling. Under the leadership of interim dean Sebastian Kim in 2023–24, we:
Added three new faculty members
Presented the annual Missiology Lectures in October: “Evangelism in a Post-Christendom Era” with participants from around the world
Co-hosted “Barbie and the Bible,” a symposium on pop culture, gender, and theology, with presenters from Fuller, University of Dayton, University of Copenhagen, Claremont Graduate University, and Hebrew Union College Los Angeles
Hosted a special current events lecture by Dr. Kimmo Kääriäinen, head of the foreign affairs department of the Church Council for the Lutheran Church in Finland: “The War in Ukraine and the Russian Orthodox Church”
Continued the Communal Reading of Scripture initiative, led by the facultystudent team of Tommy Givens and Barnabas Lin each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the academic year
A Presence of Hope in Hospice and Hospitals
Rafee Jajou
(current Master of Arts in Chaplaincy student)
“I’m not meant to stand in a pulpit. I’m meant to sit right beside people and give them hope.” A member of the inaugural class of Fuller’s MA in Chaplaincy program, Rafee Jajou was called to chaplaincy after a start as a congregational pastor. His work places him in a variety of contexts. For hospice care, Rafee might journey with patients and their families for monthslong seasons—building relationships and establishing routines of coping and comfort.
Chaplaincy at the hospital is faster-paced, with multiple variables at play. The diversity of medical conditions, ages, ethnicities, cultures, religions, and languages among patients makes for rapidly shifting contexts of care. In all of it, however, Rafee has the same calling: to help people find hope in their hopelessness.
Chaplains offer a ministry of presence.
“I listen to what matters to them. Listening is a key practice of chaplaincy. We’re listening for where the pain is. We’re listening for where the joy is. We’re listening for where the fear is. Those are spiritual things. And in the act of listening, we’re saying ‘I’m showing up because you matter,’ and that alone can be healing. In listening, we’re demonstrating Jesus.”
“I chose Fuller because I wanted the integration of spirituality and psychology. I presented a poster in the summer of 2023 at the American Psychological Association (APA) meeting in Washington, DC, where I shared my findings of spiritually integrative interventions on trauma. I found that the [Veterans Administration] had done several studies pairing mental health professionals with chaplains and clergy, and I wanted to see how we could extend this type of work beyond the veteran/soldier population into civilian populations, like Christian college students. A fun treat was the fact that my parents, both US citizens born in the Philippines (like myself) came with me to APA. My dad, a Navy career man and Vietnam and Desert Storm vet, inspired me to change careers to support people healing from trauma. This August, I was able to return to APA to share the results of a group therapy pilot study with spiritually integrative and directive interventions for university students at a faith-based university counseling center. I plan to continue building upon the work of this study at universities.
After graduation, I plan to do whatever God calls me to do. Whether it is teaching, opening up a practice, continuing research—I am open! I am grateful for the financial support I’ve received during my time at Fuller, which has allowed me to focus on research and less so on working random part-time jobs to survive.”
Integration Is Transformational
Emma Rose Klinger (current Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology and Master of Divinity student)
The School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy
As an early pioneer and ongoing innovator in the integration of psychology and Christian theology, we equip students to serve with professionalism, grace, and truth in an environment of clinical excellence, research innovation, and academic distinction. This year marked a significant transition in leadership, as Cynthia Eriksson completed her first year as dean. To prioritize cross-department collaborations, Joey Fung was appointed associate dean, a role that will have a significant influence on curriculum, student formation, and teaching excellence. Also in the 2023–24 academic year, we:
Conferred a total of 155 master’s and doctoral degrees
Opened the Fuller Arizona Mental Health Services Carol and David Eaton Clinic on the Phoenix campus
Hosted the 2024 Integration Symposium, “Integration of Psychology and Theology for Ministry and Mission in an Age of Narcissism and Trauma.”
More than 1,400 English-, Korean-, and Spanish-speakers registered for the symposium.
Celebrated the publication of 46 journal articles, 14 book chapters, and 3 books by our faculty
Partnered with Fuller’s Asian American Center to launch the AAC Well-being Collaboratory, under the direction of Jessica ChenFeng of the Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy program
The School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy houses the Travis Research Institute, which conducts social, behavioral, and educational research. The institute maintains an infrastructure that encourages large-scale collaborative research and facilitates obtaining funding for a variety of projects.
Fuller Psychological and Family Services in Pasadena saw 119 clients in more than 14,000 therapy sessions and 68 assessments.
Approximately 400 sessions were pro-bono with indigent individuals referred through community partnerships. FPFS is recognized as a provider of highly effective clinical services compared to peer clinics.
Ethnic Centers
Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry
Christ calls us to follow him with all of who we are: healed, transformed, and whole members of God’s kingdom. But the Asian American part of ourselves often gets left out. And it’s difficult to even know what “Asian American” means. At Fuller’s Asian American Center, we equip and resource students to know and connect all of who they are to Christ for holistic discipleship and empowered ministry. Through the 2023–24 academic year, we:
Established three new initiatives covering Asian American mental health, pastoral formation, and Christian history
With eight church partners, hosted the first Asian American well-being
Centro Latino
conference for more than a hundred pastors and therapists
Organized a public book release event for a New Testament commentary co-authored by Fuller faculty, with over 120 people in attendance
For half a century, Centro Latino has responded to the concrete realities of the global Latino Christian community with generative theological reflection and practical tools for effective leadership. With a focus on mission, we offer a diversity of high-quality educational programs with deep roots in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. In 2023–24, we:
Recruited and enrolled 28 new students from across the Americas in the second cohort of our Spanish DMin program, under the leadership of renowned theologian Samuel Pagan
Received two intersecting grants to study preaching and discipleship/ formation in Latino contexts, building on
original research conducted during the previous four years
Organized a gathering of Latina/o pastors successfully ministering with Gen Z, covered and publicized by Christianity Today
Planned Centro Latino’s 50th anniversary events for Fall 2024,
Centro Latino (continued)
including a special bilingual edition of FULLER magazine that celebrates 50 years of pioneering theological education
Awarded 49 professional certificates from our first ever Latina Leadership cohort and enrolled 75 learners in the second; we have 90 learners in our Mental Health cohort and 35 in the Migration Ministry cohort. These
Chinese Studies Center
programs grow Fuller’s reputation in the Latino/a community, serve critical ministry needs, and open the door to academic programs.
Strengthened our network marketing strategy and denominational partnerships to sustain and grow enrollment in Spanish-language master’s programs
We gather Chinese Christians from different cultural contexts to pursue academic excellence, to cultivate ministry skills, and to grow in Christian fellowship that brings healing and reconciliation, and we offer the Chinese church’s gifts to the worldwide body of Christ. Launched just three years ago and building on Fuller’s longtime China Initiative, the Chinese Studies Center is already making a global impact. In 2023–24, we:
Began production on an ongoing Chinese-language video project, Old Testament Book by Book, and released season 1, “The Pentateuch,” which has garnered more than 3,000 views to date; the project is funded in part by a generous donor
Launched Macarios: Fuller Distinguished Chinese Alums podcast, a series
featuring graduates who are now in major ministry leadership roles
Led Fuller’s first Chinese-English bilingual chapel service on January 24, 2024
Hosted Fuller’s second-annual Lunar New Year celebration, which exceeded on-campus capacity
“The Korean Studies Center seeks to nurture leaders for Korean churches and mission organizations, facilitate in-depth research on theology and mission, and encourage the interaction of Korean churches in global contexts.”
Sebastian Kim, academic dean, Korean Studies Center
Ethnic Centers
(continued)
Korean Studies Center
We resource the formation of Christian leaders by providing degree programs in Korean for the ministry and mission of Korean churches in Korea, in the US, and in other parts of the world. The KSC now offers three Korean-language programs: KDMin, KDGL, and KPhD. In 2023–2024, we:
Recruited, resourced, and retained 456 active students (working in 29 countries) in Korean programs in online, residential, and hybrid modes, and facilitated community engagement across all programs
Developed curricula and recruited church leaders, missionaries, and NGO leaders as students in the new KPhD degree, which successfully launched in Fall 2023
Hosted monthly seminars and symposia with strong attendance from students, alumni, and friends of the center. Papers presented at the first symposium, “The Identity and Mission of the Korean American Church,” were published by Fortress Press. Papers from the second symposium, “The Future of Spiritual Formation in the Korean Context,” will be published in 2025.
William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies
Provided speakers and display booths at the Korean World Mission Council for Christ, the largest diaspora Korean Christian gathering, in Los Angeles in July 2024
Participated in the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul and arranged a Fuller gathering there with more than 100 alumni, students, and faculty in attendance—a demonstration of Fuller’s contributions to the evangelical movement and world mission
We are building a body of Black leaders who believe in the power of the church, the community, and the culture. In order to accomplish this vision, the Pannell Center embraces a mission to proactively build and empower Black Christian leaders by centering kingdom work, cultural enrichment, and academic rigor. Through academic year 2023–24, we:
Extended the Emerging Black Scholars program to welcome 17 students, our largest cohort yet
Partnered with external organizations such as Congregations Organized for Prophetic
Engagement (COPE) and Homeless Outreach
Program Integrated Care System (HOPICS) to offer research-based training
Hosted special events including book discussions, a mental-health forum, a
preaching conference, a screening of Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom, an afternoon of worship with gospel recording artist Geoffrey Golden, and informational pop-ups throughout California
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Bill Pannell
(1929–2024)
“Surely one of the things Jesus wanted the disciple to do, in going into all the world,” said William E. Pannell, “was to look a broken, hurting, bleeding, disintegrating world in the eye, as it were, and to say, in the name of God, you are loved.”
In 1971, Bill Pannell became Fuller’s first African American trustee. And in 1974, he joined the Fuller faculty, teaching for 40 years—a tenure that saw him serve as the Arthur DeKruyter/Christ Church Oak Brook Professor of Preaching as well as dean of the chapel. Bill directed the Black Pastor’s Program, which grew over the decades into the William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies, renamed after him in 2015.
An author, a gifted preacher, and a professor of homiletics, he nurtured generations of Fuller students and ministered to the wider church, modeling tireless courage, love for the unloving other, and a dogged, Christlike presence—with reconciliation as his goal and calling. Even into his 90s, he never tired of speaking truth to power, saying the same thing he’d been saying for years: Change is overdue— and that it comes through relationships with God and with each other.
As the Fuller community grieves Bill Pannell’s passing on October 11, 2024, after a long life faithfully lived, we ask for God’s grace to honor his legacy in our commitment to reconciliation.
More than 400 learners, students, and faculty were welcomed to Brehm Film and Brehm Visual Arts events.
Leadership Formation Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives
Fuller’s centers, institutes, and initiatives provide practical Christian leadership formation and training far beyond the traditional seminary experience. During the past year, more than a quarter of a million people engaged with Fuller through email subscriptions, attending our events, purchasing books or resources, downloading digital content, and connecting with FULLER Equip. In addition, 277 current students indicated they were connected as learners before they came to Fuller to pursue a degree. Here are additional highlights from the Leadership Formation Division:
Brehm
Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts
We equip artists and ministry leaders for a changing culture, whether in the classroom, the studio, or the pulpit, offering events, resources, and cohorts, as well as master’s degree programs. In the 2023–24 academic year, we:
Launched a lively, new, user-friendly website and brand presence and have seen a 27% increase in digital engagement. To aid in this effort, we hired a marketing and project manager and an office and events specialist.
Created a webpage for the $1.25-million Lilly Endowment grant project, “Imagining Worship with Kids,” which will support distribution of arts-based resources to promote children’s inclusion in congregational life
Hosted more than 50 new artist/church pairs from three countries in our Brehm
Residency cohort, with (to date) nine learner-to-student conversions (learners who enrolled as Fuller students after being connected to Brehm)
Redesigned and relaunched the Master of Divinity Worship Leadership program
Released three new FULLER Equip courses in worship and the arts, two books by Brehm faculty, one season of the Fearmakers podcast through Brehm Film in collaboration with Christianity Today, and a new album from our “Imagining Worship with Kids” project
Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts (continued)
Secured a research grant for Brehm Preaching’s Artful Leadership project, which seeks to measure the impact of arts participation in pastoral leadership development
Center for Spiritual Formation
Working side by side to form community, deepen identity, and for the sake of others, the Center for Spiritual Formation supports and strengthens Christian leaders for the good of the world. In 2023–24, we:
Started and facilitated two 18-person online cohorts in pursuit of the Certificate in Spiritual Formation
Expanded Fuller Formation Groups with hybrid models of learning and retreats for international organizations, with team members in the US, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These models allow for entire organizations to receive spiritual formation resources, participate
in transformational spaces, and grow team culture.
Hosted four online Retreats of Silence with 65 total participants
Partnered with Justice Ventures International to bridge the gaps between their staff in the US and South Asia, which has led to a healthier, more united staff across cultures and miles
When Jarret Keith was 19 years old, he was incarcerated and sentenced to life in prison. He’d grown up in a neighborhood full of drugs, gangs, and poverty and fell into the pathways of crime prevalent in his community. In prison, he says, “God showed me he was the key to hope and redemption and freedom.” There, he attended worship services, read the Bible, prayed, mended relationships, and began attending school. Eventually, policy reforms gave Jarret the opportunity to be released based on his exemplary testimony and demonstrated rehabilitation.
When he came to Fuller, he started a student group called Transform Criminal Justice to educate students and the church about how they could act on behalf of the incarcerated. And during the pandemic, he began weekly Zoom calls to minister to people coming home from prison, which soon evolved into simple, house-church-like gatherings. Unwittingly, Jarret had birthed Testimony Ministries, which provides reentry discipleship to those who have been incarcerated and partners with local churches to mobilize faith, create restorative opportunities, and advocate for gospelcentered justice. Now he has returned to Fuller for a doctorate, where he’s creating a FULLER Equip course that provides transferable credits toward a degree program for incarcerated students.
Transforming Criminal Justice in Jesus’ Name
Jarret Keith (MAT ’21)
Leadership Formation Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives (continued)
Church Planting Initiative
We holistically form global church planters and networks to start diverse, gospel-centered, church-planting churches. The initiative partners with networks, denominations, churches, and individuals to train planters through academic courses, professional certificates, online training, and learning cohorts. During the past academic year, we:
Continued to serve as the convener of the Multiethnic Church Planting Council, a collaboration of church planting leaders committed to raising up the next generation of planters of color
FULLER Equip
Directed content for the upcoming Multiethnic Church Planting pre-conference and breakout track at the Exponential 2025 Conference, the largest church planting conference in the world
Trained church planters and church planting coaches from around the world (including in Australia, Grenada, Canada, and more) through the Church Planting Certificate program offered through FULLER Equip
Fuller Seminary’s digital learning platform, FULLER Equip, gives leaders practical answers and resources for their toughest faith and formation questions. In 2023–24, we:
Offered 401 total courses and 27 professional certificates, accessed by individual learners and our dozens of partner organizations, which include Biblica, Young Life, BioLogos, Youth with a Mission, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, World Vision International, Christians for Biblical Equality, and Operation Mobilization, among others
Released a number of new course topics, including pastoral counseling, transforming conflict, how to lead a small group, introduction to youth ministry, the business of ministry, faith and science, navigating grief, and many more
Launched a one-day, in-person regional training conference, “Ministry Leadership
in a Messy World,” in the Chicago area; we plan to host up to six regional events per year, offering Fuller research, expertise, and insights in an accessible training format for current and prospective students, alumni, learners, donors, seminary partners, and friends of Fuller.
“I’ve heard good teaching before. But I’ve never experienced it based on a foundation of such thorough research. The combination is quite powerful.”
— Attendee at the first “Ministry Leadership in a Messy World” Conference
Leadership Formation Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives (continued)
Fuller Youth Institute
FYI has one core mission: to equip diverse leaders and parents so faithful young people can change our world. During the 2023–24 school year, we:
Connected with 26,000 ministry leaders through FYI training and speaking events on topics ranging from the new Faith Beyond Youth Group content to teenage mental health; youth leaders gathered all over the country to attend FYI’s five regional Growing Young Workshops
Created a new online Certificate in Youth Discipleship so leaders can get the ministry training they need at the pace they need it
Equipped more than 260,000 church leaders, youth leaders, and parents to nurture Christ-centered character in more than 2.35 million young people worldwide
Launched the TENx10 Collaboration in October 2023, which aims to make faith matter more to 10 million young people over the next 10 years. In 2023–24, TENx10:
Kicked off with a summit that gathered more than 300 leaders of national organizations,
denominations and churches, a new website, and a full resource suite for youth ministry leaders; approximately 3,000 leaders have used these resources in the past year to improve their ministry in local communities.
Created resources and hosted working groups to focus on cultural contextualization, including training for multicultural urban and rural ministry leaders, a Spanish-language resource suite, and the Faith Foundations youth curriculum series
Reached more than 100,000 people, including 50,000+ individuals at gatherings and conferences, 20,000+ through the monthly email list, approximately 3,000 leaders engaged in training and improvement, and about 500 leaders engaged in active change in their ministry
Max De Pree Center for Leadership
During the past year, the De Pree Center engaged in the deep work of vision casting, strategy development, and brand cohesion. Executive Director Michaela O’Donnell developed a fiveyear strategy deck that identifies the opportunity, response, and strategy for the center to meet pressing needs of Christian leaders. During the 2023–24 academic year, we:
Launched a new website (DePree.org), which provides brand clarity and cohesion, creates pathways for De Pree’s audience, and improves the organization of resources and products.
Led our 85th cohort; more than 600 people have engaged in deep, researchbacked, formational experiences, including 66 Road Ahead cohorts, 13 Third Third Flourishing cohorts, and 6 Go the Distance cohorts. These cohorts have helped De Pree build trust in the market, serve more (and more diverse) marketplace folks, develop a solid network of trained facilitators, and solidify our approach to pedagogy and formation.
Presented the findings of the center’s Flourishing Leaders research, which are being used to develop a free downloadable assessment to help leaders reflect on a difficult leadership
experience, and in O’Donnell’s new podcast, The Hidden Work of Leadership
Oversaw the Church Leadership Institute, which plays a key role in equipping pastors and other Christian leaders, and which, during the 2023–24 academic year:
Launched the Business of Ministry Certificate, which provides essential knowledge and business skills needed to run a healthy and effective church or ministry
Published the Practicing Change Series by the institute’s director, Tod Bolsinger, offering leaders of churches, teams, and nonprofits fresh vision for adaptive leadership in today’s world
Trained 27 congregations through our Adaptive Church Leadership Cohorts.
20,682 total learners from
181 countries in the past year, a nearly 19% growth rate FULLER Equip engaged
Leadership Formation Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives (continued)
Thrive Center for Human Development
Fuller’s Thrive Center aims to help each of us experience a full and vibrant life. During the past year, the center rebranded and developed a new website and podcast to advance the concept of spiritual health for thriving. With the support of a contracted marketing team, we experienced significant growth in audience for our theologically and scientifically backed framework and content to help people understand the assets of faith and spirituality that support human well-being, mental health, and thriving. Also in the 2023–24 academic year, we:
Developed and launched TheThriveCenter.org around Thrive’s Spiritual Health Framework
Delivered weekly newsletter content and grew our email list from 725 to 4,438— a 512% increase
Launched the With & For podcast in January 2024, reaching 35,628
downloads and gaining 4,164 podcast followers to date
Received 18,151 views on ResearchGate for the publications of Thrive’s executive director, Pamela Ebstyne King, advancing Thrive’s concepts of virtue development, transcendent gratitude, and spiritual formation
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Interim President
Dasha Thomas, Chief Development Officer
Out of Many, One
Serving Christian Leaders and Communities Around the Globe
Among Fuller’s student body, there are:
Countries represented
US states represented
Denominations represented
Beginning with its founding in 1947, Fuller’s leaders have always envisioned this community as a seminary that prepares its graduates for service to the entire world. That vision is more true today than ever before, as Fuller’s global reach now extends to 135 countries through 24,000 graduates and more than 20,000 other people who have attended Fuller. Whether through missionary endeavors, a variety of ministries, or supporting the mental health needs of people around the world, Fuller graduates are embodying the love of Christ through their lives and work.
Today, our students receive practical and biblical formation in a way that works for them: through Fuller’s three physical campuses, via online courses, or with a hybrid of these. Fuller’s digital-forward learning modality and innovative teaching approaches have produced impressive results and will benefit communities into the future. For example:
On Fuller’s Pasadena campus, we improved processes and procedures for an engaging student experience, while also upgrading some of our premier facilities. This includes new audiovisual equipment and other technical specs to enhance the online component of classes and events. The David Allan Hubbard Library allocated additional space for students and faculty, including new group study rooms and doctoral student study carrels.
In Phoenix, the Fuller Arizona Mental Health Services Carol and David Eaton Clinic opened this year and will provide new opportunities for integrative training and offer lower-cost services for children, families, and individuals in the area. We also extended our connections
to more than 50 approved clinical sites, and Fuller students are in high demand for internships and practicum hours.
At Fuller Texas in Houston, we established a Houston-specific degreed pathway for pastors (MDiv) and ministry leaders (MATM) in a hybrid format, and relocated a key faculty member in the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy to Houston to help establish psychology offerings here and throughout the South. We also hosted numerous events on campus, drawing in more than 300 people for film screenings, speaker events, graduation and more, and increased our outreach and offerings to meet the needs of the African American community.
Where Learning Happens
ENROLLMENT BY MODALITY
“I pastor a Presbyterian church full time and assist with a pastor training school in The Gambia. Scholarship support has been a blessing, allowing me to take classes while still supporting my two sons, one in college and the other soon to start.”
—Tim Pollock, Master of Divinity (MDiv) student
Shortly after they graduated from Fuller, Mike and Viola Wu were called to plant a church in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mike says, “Greater Kuala Lumpur has eight and a half million people, and on the best of Sundays, half a million people are in church. So, on the best of Sundays, eight million people, for whatever reason, can’t even be bothered. . . . We felt the Spirit leading us to do something.”
In a country where only nine percent of the population is Christian, the Wus felt it important to create a space that would be open to the unchurched and the dechurched. The husband-and-wife team are pastors of The Journey. They say, “People jokingly call us the ‘No Sunday, No Sermon Church.’” It’s a community with curiosity at its heart—where wrestling with Scripture with a genuine openness to tough questions is a cornerstone value. Instead of hosting a Sunday service, The Journey meets in groups throughout the week, over home-cooked meals or online, where they dive into the Scriptures with one another. It is a church for those at any point on their walk of faith, where people can safely engage with their questions about faith. Viola says, “We’re all on a spiritual pilgrimage, whether we’re Christian or not.”
Planting a Contextual Church in Southeast Asia
Mike and Viola Wu
(MAT ’19) (MAT ’19)
Fuller’s Global Reach
Alumni Around the World
As we reflect on the accomplishments of this past year, we celebrate the growing vibrancy, deepened connections, and global reach of our alumni community. Fuller’s Alumni Leadership Council remains deeply committed to representing the seminary’s global alumni community and strengthening the institution’s communication efforts to foster meaningful connections and support among all Fuller alumni. We look forward to building on these successes as we continue to support one another and advance our mission across the globe. Together, we are making a lasting impact—one graduate, one community, one global connection at a time. During academic year 2023–2024, we:
Celebrated nearly 400 new graduates who attended commencements at our Pasadena, Arizona, and Texas campuses. Each graduate was warmly welcomed into the Fuller alumni family by members of the Alumni Leadership Council or campus staff.
Reached 24,000 in total number of living graduates, with these and more than 20,000 others who have taken a course at Fuller spread across 135 countries continuing to serve and lead in various capacities of kingdom work.
Witnessed a 12% increase in alumni participation on the Fuller Alumni Network, our online platform designed to keep alumni connected.
Connected with 14 alumni regional contacts who have played an essential role in building and nurturing Fuller communities within their regions. Their efforts have been instrumental in fostering connections that have strengthened our global reach.
Saw a surge in alumni activity, with 39 alumni events hosted around the world. These gatherings provided opportunities for alumni to reconnect, network, and encourage one another in their diverse fields of ministry, business, academia, and beyond.
Now extends to
135 countries through 24,000 graduates +
>20,000 others who have taken classes
$6.5M
Scholarships/fellowships awarded to 1,637 student recipients
The Impact of Donor Generosity
At Fuller, we are humbled every day by the caring and giving hearts of our donors. These generous philanthropists make a difference both at the seminary through their financial support and on a global scale through the thousands of graduates who go on to shine God’s light wherever the Spirit leads.
Our supporters connect with Fuller from around the world, and many are alumni, extending a hand up to those who have come after them. Each donor’s generosity—whether a gift of $5 or many thousands—supports scholarships, technology upgrades, building refurbishments, degree programs, faculty research, and providing for unforeseen emergencies. In short, these are the people who make Fuller’s work possible and ensure that faithful servants can continue to offer Christ’s hope and healing in the church and around the world.
We’re grateful for their partnership, and especially for their embodiment of what it means to give with a joyful heart, knowing that their investment in the seminary has the power to change lives.
“My gifts are motivated [in part] by my desire to see Fuller thrive and grow and become even more effective in this noisy and distracted world. It is uniquely positioned to address the complexities of ministry (theological drift, globalization, and mental health) with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
—Mary
Holder Naegeli, MDiv ’87, DMin ’11, and Fuller donor
62% of students received scholarships/fellowships
If you would like to join this caring donor community, scan the QR code or go to fuller.edu/giving/donate/ to make a gift.
Generosity by the Numbers
1,079
Total donors in +
51 US states and territories DONORS MONEY RAISED
$22M+ raised in FY24
8 countries
190 New donors
$5.72M contributed to scholarship endowments
“An alum recently sent a note about a new Pan-African conference on autism that she is organizing. I felt a sense of gratitude and awe: The Spirit works through our seminary to equip ‘Christ’s hands and feet’ across the globe.”
— Erin Dufault-Hunter, PhD, associate professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller
Financial Stewardship and Accountability
Fuller strives to be a financially sound, transparent, and accountable nonprofit organization. Financial results are impartially assessed and measured by funders, accrediting agencies, Fuller’s leadership and staff, and our Board of Trustees. Sharing our financial records is an important component of being an accountable organization.
For the past three fiscal years, Fuller has achieved either a surplus or break-even result on unrestricted operations. For fiscal year 2023, operating revenue and operating expenses were approximately $38.4 million, providing break-even results. For fiscal year 2024, operating revenue was approximately $35.4 million and operating expenses were approximately $35.9 million, resulting in a deficit of approximately $500,000.
Honoring a Sister, Creating a Legacy
Rev. Barbara Jean Haney Jenkins (Donor)
For the past 35 years, it has been my honor to memorialize my sister, Rev. Barbara Ann Wilson, and in the process help African American female students who prepare for Christian service at Fuller Seminary, through the scholarship that bears her name. Barbara Ann and I were both born into the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles and served as deaconesses there. It was during this time that Barbara Ann acknowledged her call to ministry in 1986. She was ordained that same year and enrolled at Fuller in 1987. At the time, there were very few women in ministry in Baptist churches. During her studies, it became clear there was a need for women to receive financial support as returning graduate students.
Sadly, Barbara Ann died on May 30, 1988, as the result of an asthma attack while on tour in Chicago with the Southern California Community Choir. She was 44. Our spiritual mother, Dr. Evelyn Carter Spencer of Oakland, California, suggested we create a scholarship to honor her, and the Barbara Ann Wilson Scholarship was established to support African American women in ministry. Since its inception, this scholarship has been awarded 14 times to 10 different women. This scholarship will live on through an endowment of real estate to fund it beyond my lifetime, ensuring that Barbara Ann’s life will be remembered far into the future.
After connecting with moms at a preschool for her children, Rachel Lingle realized that faith guided their lives—and she wanted to learn more. A former accountant with a hectic lifestyle who was now experiencing a decline in physical ability, she learned in the vulnerable moments of sharing with other moms how to slow down, focus on emotions, and hold space for someone so they could feel heard.
Rachel experienced an interesting inversion: As her physical ability continued to decline, her faith began to grow. She was surrounded by people who believed that God had a plan for her—and she believed it, too. She eventually applied to Fuller, graduating in 2017 from the Marriage and Family Therapy program at the Arizona campus, and went on to earn her doctorate in MFT/counseling in 2023. She now practices as a licensed therapist, and is director of the newly opened Fuller Arizona Mental Health Services, the Carol and David Eaton Clinic on the Phoenix campus.
Rachel did not always see herself ending up here—a licensed therapist with a seminary degree—but, she says, “When I look back over all of the experiences of my life, I can really see how they have pointed me to where I am now.”
Slowing Down
and
Finding Faith
Rachel Lingle
(DMFT ’23, director of Fuller Arizona Mental Health Services)
!
Thank You to Our Faculty and Staff
As we conclude this recap of the past year’s inspiring highlights, we want to offer special thanks to our dedicated faculty and staff who make this kingdom work possible. We are especially grateful for their responsiveness and creativity in pursuit of financial sustainability. Without their expertise, professionalism, generous spirit, and shared commitment to Fuller’s mission, none of what you’ve read would be possible. Of special note during the 2023–24 academic year:
Our faculty . . .
Received numerous accolades and were recognized for their work not only in the US but around the world
Spoke at dozens of conferences and special events and were frequently invited guests for their expertise
Our staff . . .
Improved the student experience through proficiency in Concur Solutions, which allows us to help residents with requests in a kind and timely manner, and DegreeWorks, which will allow students to view in real time their academic progress and speed turnaround time for clearing and posting completed degrees
Coordinated more than 121 events and meetings throughout the school year and,
Hosted symposia in both our schools, which drew hundreds of people to our various campuses and connected with a global audience of thousands online
in the process, facilitated a complete audio revamp of Travis Auditorium and new lighting options to Payton 101, both on the Pasadena campus
Sought ways to improve the look, feel, and overall experience for those joining online and enhanced the ways Fuller engages with global and digital prospective students
The Year Ahead
Events Scheduled for 2025
January 6–March 21
Winter Quarter
January 22–23
MLKJ Celebration, hosted by the William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies
February 21–22
Integration Symposium, presented by the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy
February 22
Dinner celebration to kick off the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy’s 60th anniversary
March 12
Fuller Giving Day
March 24–28
Spring Recess
March 31–June 13
Spring Quarter
April 1
Scholarship Luncheon
June 12
Baccalaureate
June 14
Commencement
June 23–September 5
Summer Quarter
September 29–December 12
Fall Quarter
October 15–17
Missiology Lectures, presented by the School of Mission and Theology and the Center for Missiological Research
December 2
Giving Tuesday, hosted by The Fuller Foundation
December 22–January 1
Christmas and New Year’s holiday recess
