Staci Imes knew she wanted to study at a seminary with a strong commitment to social justice.  She knew she wanted a program focused on training ministers, rather than scholars.  And while she’s committed to her denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she relishes the idea of studying with people from different traditions. But which seminary was for her?

Nevell Owens remembers when he first felt called to pursue a doctorate in theology. He was working as a criminal prosecutor when he looked into the eyes of a 13-year-old boy accused of murder. He saw that they were empty, and he wanted to know: Where was God in the life of this boy?

“I knew the boy’s mother was active in church,” Owens says. “I wanted to know, why isn’t the minister here? Why aren’t members of the church here?”