(I suppose I resemble the image on the left over that on the right. Hehe.)
These essays have been a long time coming. So, after all that work, I think I will post them here. So, here you have it - my application essays for admittance into Fuller Seminary. What happens from here, only God knows. :)
A. Reflect on your past Christian experience, including the most significant spiritual event/influence in your life, the role of Christ in your religious experience, the effect your faith has on your worldview, your involvement in Christian service, your perceived gifts/calling for ministry, and your reason(s) for attending your church.
My Christian experience might be best described as an epic journey – an organic adventure filled with important landmarks and passages along the way. I was raised in a Christian family and accepted Christ as my savior at an early age. My parents’ divorce shattered the world as I knew it and I subsequently spent much of my childhood living in fear of God’s wrath. Yet, by God’s mercy, I came into a gradual understanding of what salvation really meant – that it could not be lost or revoked. The peace and grace offered unconditionally by a forgiving God changed my life. Since then, He has led me through rich times of sweet discovery, of painful refining, of clear direction, and of discipline in learning to discern His calling.
Christ is central to my life and I see my worldview through the lens of my faith. I believe in absolutes concerning God and how He would like for us to live, though I am also completely willing to allow for mystery and to acknowledge that there are some things that are completely beyond my understanding. My worldview is also heavily influenced by Micah 6:8 where we are told to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before the Lord [our] God.” I believe that we are called to seek righteousness and to champion for justice where there is none. Yet, in light of the fact that God’s ways are not our own and that we have been spared the wrath that we deserve, we should act in a way that provides mercy for those whom we might otherwise be quick to judge.
My view of the grace given me has led me to Christian service. Starting in high school, I went on short-term mission trips ranging from building houses in Mexico, to leading VBS in Canada, to evangelizing door-to-door for the purpose of church planting in India. I served on the servant leadership team in the college group at the church I attend. After graduating college, I stayed in the college group as a Growth Group leader for two years and as a volunteer staff member for one. Last year, I was privileged to go on a compassion trip to a Muslim country in North Africa for the purpose of loving the lost like Christ would.
I believe that my gifts and callings for ministry have to do with the arts, the (irresistible call of the) beauty of God, a love for teaching, and an interest in a more holistic worship experience (for the benefit of the body to the glory of Christ).
Church is more than a building or an organization – it is family. I might not always like it, but I do love it. Attending a service stretches me beyond my preferences of style and the focus that I have on myself. It also gives me the reminder that I need of the Gospel – how quickly I forget!
B. Reflect on how attending Fuller Theological Seminary would complement your present Christian experience and/or help you to achieve your future professional and vocational goals.
Shortly after graduating college, I decided to leave my current church because I felt frustrated at the lack of service avenues for people with various artistic gifts. However, through “church hunting” I realized that the church I attended was a wonderful community, albeit flawed. I realized that the solution to “fixing” my frustrations with the church was not to leave it, but to work to make it better (which has also provided a good lesson regarding relationships).
I desire to help grow the church into a more holistic worship setting – helping others to create a space where those with various gifts can serve and benefit those in the worship service by offering them an experience of God’s beauty and truth on a multi-sensory aesthetic level. Past this general idea, I am not sure how to begin. When I posed this question to a college professor, he directed me towards attending Fuller. The encouragement of my college pastor and results from personal research have given me further affirmation in trying to discern God’s calling on my life – leading me towards attending grad school for His glory and my growth.
I am excited about the ecumenical environment that Fuller offers and I hope to learn about Christian traditions that are different from my own. Through the fusion of what I learn to what I already know, I hope to help create “out of the box” worship experiences that still maintain the integrity of the tradition that I come from. I want to pursue a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Worship Arts Theology because I want to know more about the practical execution of arts in the context of ministry and because I am irresistibly drawn to the beauty of God. I am excited about the Brehm center for arts and hope it will spark ideas that are beyond my current understanding and imagination. I am looking to be stretched, challenged, encouraged, and inspired within the context of and purpose for pointing to Christ (the ultimate beauty).
My vocational goals include working in the ministry to more holistically incorporate the arts in worship. I would also like to teach at a college level about the theology of beauty. A Masters of Divinity from Fuller would give me both the practical knowledge needed for hands-on working in the church and set me up academically to pursue a Ph.D. in order to teach college courses. I believe that the theology of beauty needs to be taught because we are losing sight of it in our modern culture. My concern is that if we lose sight of Beauty then Goodness and Truth may soon share the same fate as society deems them “unnecessary.” I want to help direct Christians to champion for the cause of Beauty so that they are led closer to the heart of God – giving life and protecting us from falling into moralism (the corruption of what is good) or legalism (the corruption of what is true).
