Vanessa Perkinson ’23 began her ministry “adventure” at GU, where she connected with a close-knit community and learned about GU’s connection with Seattle Pacific University.
GU offers a pastoral leadership track for students to earn two degrees in five years starting in Greenville and continuing in Seattle. Students complete a bachelor of arts in theological studies or ministry in three and a half years at GU, then transfer to SPU to earn a master of arts in Christian leadership in just a year and a half.
“While moving from Greenville to Seattle was a big leap, moving from GU to SPU was not a big leap in a theological sense,” Vanessa says.
From Jerseyville to Greenville to Seattle
Vanessa, originally from Jerseyville, Illinois, says she started prayerfully researching and considering seminary as her next step after GU, even before moving to Greenville. Time spent in GU’s theology department and advice from theology professors like Ben Wayman, led Vanessa to consider seminary at SPU as a next step.
“I was really interested in Seattle Pacific, not only because the BA/MA track would decrease my financial burden, but also because the way of being at SPU seemed to fall in line with what was important to me.”
Vanessa says in addition to GU connecting her to SPU, her time in Greenville helped prepare her for that next step and set a standard of what to expect from an academic community.
“So much of the richness of academia comes from study within a community. Iron sharpens iron and I was certainly sharpened by the theology department at GU, and I wanted to attend a seminary that would do the same,” Vanessa says. “Academically and theologically, learning at SPU is a natural continuation and deepening of what I learned at Greenville. The quality of education in content and teaching as well as the theological leanings of Greenville and Seattle Pacific are in line with each other, so I did not feel disoriented when I began my classes at SPU. Greenville laid a solid foundation and being at SPU is building upon that foundation.”
GU Theology Professor Ben Wayman echoes that sentiment, saying that he sees the theological work of GU as both foundational for and complementary to the formation SPU offers. He adds that a long history of GU graduates enrolling and then graduating at SPU suggests this to be the case. Because of those graduates heading to Seattle, SPU and GU decided to make the connection an official partnership by establishing the 3/2 program track in July 2018.
Ministry – A worthwhile adventure
Wayman says anyone considering pursuing ministry at GU, should "get ready for the adventure."
“Following Jesus by leading God's people is the most exciting and fulfilling challenge you could ever embrace,” he says. “We equip our students for courageous, wise, hopeful, and faithful ministry, centered in God's love for us. Ministry, in the end, is all about becoming people who can receive God's love, which has the power to reshape the whole of us, our communities, and all creation.”
Advice for women pursuing ministry
Wayman adds that for any young women pursuing ministry, GU is the perfect place to be trained for ministry as the faculty and campus community exists to support, equip, and empower students to be all that God has called them to be.
“For too long, the church has sidelined women and we are committed to being a community that brings those at the margins to the center because we want to receive all the gifts and people God gives the church,” Wayman says.
Wayman adds that Vanessa and other young pastors like her bring great value to the church.
“Vanessa is one of the most gifted young pastors I've had the privilege to teach,” Wayman says. “She has an ability to draw others (including her professors!) closer to the heart of God through her honest, humble, and contagious love for God. Vanessa points others to Jesus, like good pastors do, but she does it by grabbing you by the arm and rushing you right into the arms of the living God.”
Vanessa adds her advice and encouragement for women in ministry, emphasizing that it is important to not go into the adventure of ministry alone, but to find a community.
“Find women who are doing what you hope to do one day and, as much as you can, seek out their mentorship,” Vanessa says. “Shadow them, learn from them, invest in them, and be invested in by them. I’m thinking of women in my own life like Celeste Cranston, Judy Cox, Ruth Huston, Lori Gaffner, and my high school youth pastor Sara Banks—all women who I have been able to look to as examples of what God is ready to do through women in pastoral ministry.”
he adventure continues
Vanessa is still finalizing her plans after earning her master’s at SPU but says she will continue her education in spiritual direction, wherever that may lead.
“I would ultimately like to do something in academia perhaps campus ministry or working as a professor. I wouldn’t say my goals have changed since starting at GU or SPU, but I feel my vocation being clarified during the period of discernment that graduate school gives me.”
She encourages GU students pursuing ministry to explore what SPU has to offer and prayerfully discern within their community of peers and mentors if SPU is the door God is opening for them on their adventure.
Click here for more information about GU’s theology department.
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