Where personal faith becomes a decision to lead as students are equipped to be agents of justice, reconciliation, and compassion. #wakediv
Admitting its first students in 1999, the Wake Forest University School of Divinity is a dynamic and ecumenical theological institution that prepares men and women to be religious leaders in a changing world. The School currently offers the Master of Divinity degree and several joint degrees in law, bioethics, counseling, education, and sustainability, and a dual degree pathway in business, offered in partnership with other schools of the University. Through imaginative courses and diverse programs of community engagement, students are equipped to be agents of justice, reconciliation, and compassion in Christian churches and other ministries.
As you have read about Wake Forest University and its School of Divinity, you may have noticed several common themes emerging — teacher-student engagement, small classes, faculty who are teacher-scholars, education of the whole person, and Pro Humanitate, For Humanity, the Wake Forest motto. These Wake Forest educational and institutional values create an environment that is ideal for theological education, because theological education is at its best when it is education of the whole person and when students are guided in their professional development by faculty inside and outside the classroom. Pro Humanitate captures the heart of theological education, because the School of Divinity’s goal is to educate students who will be leaders for justice, reconciliation, and compassion in church and community, who will make a difference for humanity, for the world.
The School of Divinity, like all of Wake Forest University, combines the academic resources of a national university with the teaching focus of a small college to create a unique learning environment. Some classes will draw you into the classics of Christian traditions; some will take you out into the community to experience social ministry in action; some classes will invite you to think about how to define who our neighbor is in a multi-faith world.
Professional formation outside the classroom, in placement sites of ministry and service, is also a key part of theological education. As a moderate sized city, Winston-Salem has all the diversity of placement and internship opportunities that a large city can provide, but on a human, more approachable scale. Urban, rural, and suburban ministries, social service agencies, hospitals, prisons, schools, community gardens, and food banks — all within a 20 minute drive from campus. Neighboring Greensboro also adds a rich urban area to the mix. It is hard to imagine a form of ministry and religious leadership that you could not explore here.
