Introduction to New Admission Director

I’m now into my fourth month as Director of Admission at PLTS, and it has been a wonderful journey so far. I feel grateful to be serving this seminary that has played such an important role in my own formation. I was born and raised right here in Berkeley, and I remember going to church retreats on the old PLTS campus as a child. I completed my Certificate of Advanced Theological Studies at PLTS in 2017, after getting my M.Div. at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2014. In recent years I also have worked in immigration law and have been involved in immigrant and refugee rights advocacy, both here in the U.S. and in Latin America. Through PLTS and ELCA Global Mission, I did my internship in Santiago Chile, where I served a small urban Lutheran congregation, El Buen Samaritano, in the municipality of Peñalolén.
 
Throughout my education at PLTS, I was challenged, nurtured, and inspired. I was nurtured in my spiritual life and encouraged to explore God’s call and my own journey more deeply. I was encouraged to examine refugee and immigrant rights through a biblical/ theological lens. I was challenged to think critically about context and power and to envision new ways of being church. I was inspired by professors and peers with a contagious passion for serving God and God’s world that is so much in need.
 
I am honored to now be on staff at this seminary, as we live into our identity in this new chapter in the heart of downtown Berkeley. One of my favorite things about PLTS’s home at 2000 Center Street is that one of our main classroom’s windows looks straight out onto the steps of Berkeley City Hall. This classroom is aptly named, “Reformation.” While students discuss the Lutheran confessions, press conferences or protests may take place just across the street on those steps.
 
The physical space and location of the seminary itself is a constant call to explore how Lutheran theology is in conversation with the most pressing issues in our immediate community and in the wider world. What do our daring claims about God’s grace and God’s desire for the flourishing of all life really mean when the unhoused community living down the street from the seminary is uprooted and forced from their homes? In the face of racist policies that dehumanize and criminalize immigrants, how are we to speak out and stand up as Lutheran Christians? How does God call us to be body of Christ for our neighbors, right here, right now?
 
The PLTS community is engaging and wrestling with these questions. One of the fruits of this engagement is the new M.Div. curriculum that the faculty has designed in response to the changing dynamics in the church, theological education, and the world. The new curriculum is guided by commitment to strong spiritual formation, rigorous intellectual engagement, faithful social transformation, and the importance of intersectionality. Starting in Fall 2018, this innovative new curriculum will allow students to complete their M.Div. degree in just three years, including internship. With this bold experiment, PLTS remains on the cutting edge, forming faithful leaders to serve in a rapidly changing world.
 
The Holy Spirit is at work on the corner of Center and Milvia Street, come and see!