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Archived: 2026-04-23 16:55
Home - Claremont School of Theology
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Equipping Leaders for Compassion, Justice, and Belonging
For such a time as this
The CST Experience
Mary Pearce is using her CST education to bring healing and wholeness... ...
Read more
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir developed one of the first organizations of its ...
Read more
Rev. Brenda Bos was elected as the first openly lesbian bishop in ...
Read more
United Methodist pastor Rev. John Griffin-Atil is the founding executive director of ...
Read more
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert empowers churches to imagine a world beyond ...
Read more
U.S. Air Force Captain Mir M. Ali ministered 24/7 to evacuees during ...
Read more
Nina Fernando envisions an America where people of all backgrounds are treated ...
Read more
Dr. Mazvita Machinga founded the only registered psychotherapist center in Mutare, Zimbabwe. ...
Read more
Dr. Woonjoo Baek led his church through conflict and turmoil back to ...
Read more
Mary Pearce
MA ‘12
Women's Spiritual Counselor, Hospice Chaplain, and Licensed Minister
CST helped her embrace her callings as womanist, liberationist, interreligious, and spiritually forming
Embodies dynamic contextual leadership
Did You Know?
Mary Pearce is using her CST education to bring healing and wholeness...
"CST shaped my calling by giving me the knowledge to decide what type of spiritual leader I want to be – womanist, liberationist, interreligious and spiritually forming."
At CST, Pearce learned that "these leadership types, individually or collectively, can foster congruence or incongruence" and how to "assess when it's essential to use these leadership types or lose them."
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir
MA ‘14, PhD ‘21
Developed an inner city community center
Supports people experiencing homelessness
Founded a K-8 microschool
Did You Know?
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir developed one of the first organizations of its kind in the US.
Islah LA is a South Los Angeles community center that offers a food pantry, transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, and a program that supports, educates, and instills renewed confidence in formerly incarcerated individuals.
Jihad serves as the Director of Islah LA and as the Director and Arabic Instructor at Islah Academy, a K-8 microschool he also founded. Islah Academy implements a restorative justice teaching methodology designed specifically as a tool to break the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
Rev. Brenda Bos
MDiv ‘11
First openly lesbian bishop in ELCA
CST faculty helped her find her voice
Values CST’s interreligious commitment
Did You Know?
Rev. Brenda Bos was elected as the first openly lesbian bishop in the ELCA.
Elected as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2021, Rev. Bos sees CST’s world-class faculty as crucial to her spiritual formation, and vocational discernment. She credits them with helping her live into God’s unique call on her life, strengthening her spiritual life, and helping her find her distinctive voice.
She is “forever grateful” for the way CST’s interreligious and ecumenical commitment sharpened her Lutheran articulation and gave her “greater sensitivity to the faith journeys of others.”
Rev. John Griffin-Atil
MDiv ‘90
Broadway Sing-Along Sundays rejuvenated declining West Hollywood congregation
Founding executive director of Imperial Beach Neighborhood Center
Developing low-income housing & community engagement center including a LGBTQ+ youth drop-in program
Did You Know?
United Methodist pastor Rev. John Griffin-Atil is the founding executive director of Imperial Beach Neighborhood Center.
Rev. Griffin-Atil organized "Broadway Sing-Along Sundays" to rejuvenate a declining West Hollywood congregation in an area adverse to religious participation, and is now developing low-income housing and a community engagement center including a LGBTQ+ youth drop-in program, dormitory, and a two-year fellowship program.
He is also a lay Zen Buddhist, a long-term AIDS survivor, and was recently nominated as the first openly LGBTQ member of The United Methodist Cal-Pac Conference Board of Ordained Ministry.
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert
PhD '21
Founded Abolitionist Sanctuary
Reshaping ideas of policing and justice
CST was the incubator
Did You Know?
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert empowers churches to imagine a world beyond policing, prisons, and punishment.
Dr. Robert founded Abolitionist Sanctuary, a faith-based coalition united against the moral crisis of mass incarceration and the criminalization of impoverished Black motherhood.
While earning a PhD in Religion with a focus on ethics and public policy, CST served an incubator for her ideas. She is grateful for the strong emphasis that CST places on connecting theory with praxis to make a transformative social impact.
USAF Capt. Mir M. Ali
MDiv ‘15
Joined the Air Force in 1999
One of first CST grads specializing in Interfaith Chaplaincy
Guided by Qur’an to serve refugees
Did You Know?
U.S. Air Force Captain Mir M. Ali ministered 24/7 to evacuees during the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal.
Almost overnight, Mir – the only Muslim Armed Forces chaplain serving with Operation Allies Refuge at Ramstein Air Base and throughout Europe – went from tending to the spiritual needs of a small USAF community to providing hope to thousands of Afghan refugees living in tents.
Mir feels connected to refugees culturally, ethnically, and by faith, and noticed their deep gratitude for ministerial support and his ability to communicate in a language that is familiar to them (Urdu/Hindi).
Nina Fernando
MA ‘13
Exec. Director of Shoulder to Shoulder campaign
Works to end anti-Muslim hatred and violence
Always recommends CST
Did You Know?
Nina Fernando envisions an America where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect and dignity. As Executive Director of the non-profit Shoulder to Shoulder, she helps equip faith leaders to be strategic partners in countering discrimination and violence against Muslims. She has also served as a Faith-rooted Organizer at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a LankaCorps Fellow in Sri Lanka, and a OneBeat Fellow.
Nina says her MA program at CST offered the opportunity for exploration around critical thinking. “I loved my experience, and if I know of anyone who is in a place where they might consider a school of theology, I always point to Claremont.”
Dr. Mazvita Machinga
MTS '05, PhD '12
Volunteers clinical services in Mutare
Teaches and provides services at Africa University
Grateful for CST’s integrative approach
Did You Know?
Dr. Mazvita Machinga founded the only registered psychotherapist center in Mutare, Zimbabwe. In addition to volunteering her clinical services at Pastoral Care and Counseling Services (PCCS), she also teaches and serves as the University Counselor at Africa University.
“I’m proud to be a practical theologian, pastoral psychotherapist, and mental health specialist…At CST, my training in psychotherapy and counseling taught me how to integrate psychological, theological, ethical, and spiritual frames of reference when offering counseling.”
Mazvita hopes to one day secure financial assistance to build a Pastoral Care and Wellness Center.
Dr. Woonjoo Baek
MDiv '95, DMin '97
Revitalized his struggling church
Serves as board chair at Seoul Theological University
Draws upon his deep faith
Did You Know?
Dr. Woonjoo Baek led his church through conflict and turmoil back to health.
When he was appointed to Evangelical Holiness Church in South Korea, it had just lost 500 members. Through the uncertainty, Dr. Baek pressed on and today he works from sunup to sundown at the church of 3000+ members.
Dr. Baek, who also serves as chair of the board of Seoul Theological University, has never regretted his decision to respond to his call to ministry. Now a husband, father, and grandfather, he still believes that seeking and following God’s guidance is the only way.
Claremont School of Theology and Bayan Announce New Academic Partnership
Claremont School of Theology (CST) is pleased to announce a renewed academic partnership with Bayan, a California non-profit religious corporation that operates an educational program known as “Bayan Islamic Graduate School.” This collaboration supports the development and delivery of programs in Islamic Studies under CST’s academic authority and accreditation and marks a significant and hopeful step forward in interreligious theological education.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
In an Age of Disconnection: Turning Toward One Another
At a time when institutions across the country are grappling with fragmentation, polarization, and loneliness––particularly in hybrid and global contexts—CST is witnessing something quietly transformative among our students.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
Ann and Charles Quilter Commit $1 Million Lead Gift to Launch CST’s Bridge to the Future Campaign
Claremont School of Theology (CST) has received a $1 million lead gift from Ann and Charles Quilter of Laguna Beach, California, helping anchor the early stage of the $20 million Bridge to the Future Campaign. This announcement follows another recent $1 million lead gift, making this moment especially significant as momentum continues to build in the campaign’s earliest stage.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
CST Announces $1 Million Leadership Gift to Launch Bridge to the Future Campaign
Claremont School of Theology (CST) today announced a $1 million leadership gift from Kyungsig Samuel Lee, PhD, and Yonghwa Kim Lee, MBA, marking a defining moment in the launch of the Bridge to the Future Campaign—a ten-year effort designed to secure the future of leaders the world cannot afford to lose.
The Lees’ gift establishes The Kyungsig Samuel & Yonghwa Kim Lee Endowed Chair of Practical Theology in Global Contexts, strengthening CST’s global impact while honoring its historic and enduring role in shaping Christianity in Korea.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
What we stand for ...
Compassion
We believe that leaders should have a capacity to be moved by, and act to alleviate, suffering in the world.
Justice
We believe in the just and equitable treatment, inclusion, and representation of the incredible diversity reflected in today’s world.
Belonging
We believe that our biological hardwiring thrives when in deep relationship with others.
The CST Experience
CST by the Numbers ...
of CST students are BIPOC
0
%
in scholarships awarded each year
$
0
mil
different faith traditions
0
+
Our Faculty ...
Hear from those who will journey alongside you
CST is a place where theory and practice coalesce in ways that effectively respond to the critical needs of the world. To work for CST means to work for a place where the commitment for interreligious dialogue is strongly accompanied by the love for social justice.
Lailatul Fitriyah
Associate Professor of Interreligious Education
CST is committed to nurturing and inspiring students to think deeply about the world as it is, question anything that causes suffering, and create the world as it should be--a world full of justice, compassion, peace, and belonging.
Nicholas Grier
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care & Counseling
My artwork is central to my scholarship and activism. I like to investigate the ways artists create poetic spaces that allow viewers to come together, to reclaim agency and restore a sense of purpose.
Yohana A. Junker
Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation and ArtVice President for Institutional Research and Planning
An African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.’ This is CST. We are with our students, always, as they transform academically and practically, making our communities and world better.
Namjoong Kim
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Ministry, Liturgy, and HomileticsAssociate Dean of Doctoral Programs & International Relations for Korea
CST is a learning community of welcome. It's not only that we invite people to feel at home here, but we are really trying to learn and embody the different things that the different people in the different bodies that they live need in order to actually know they are welcome here and that they belong here.
B. Yuki Schwartz
Associate Dean for Academics and Assessment
Associate Professor of Constructive Theologies, Spirituality & Decolonial Studies
CST is a place where theory and practice coalesce in ways that effectively respond to the critical needs of the world. To work for CST means to work for a place where the commitment for interreligious dialogue is strongly accompanied by the love for social justice.
Lailatul Fitriyah
Associate Professor of Interreligious Education
CST is committed to nurturing and inspiring students to think deeply about the world as it is, question anything that causes suffering, and create the world as it should be--a world full of justice, compassion, peace, and belonging.
Nicholas Grier
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care & Counseling
My artwork is central to my scholarship and activism. I like to investigate the ways artists create poetic spaces that allow viewers to come together, to reclaim agency and restore a sense of purpose.
Yohana A. Junker
Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation and ArtVice President for Institutional Research and Planning
An African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.’ This is CST. We are with our students, always, as they transform academically and practically, making our communities and world better.
Namjoong Kim
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Ministry, Liturgy, and HomileticsAssociate Dean of Doctoral Programs & International Relations for Korea
CST is a learning community of welcome. It's not only that we invite people to feel at home here, but we are really trying to learn and embody the different things that the different people in the different bodies that they live need in order to actually know they are welcome here and that they belong here.
B. Yuki Schwartz
Associate Dean for Academics and Assessment
Associate Professor of Constructive Theologies, Spirituality & Decolonial Studies
Meet the Faculty
Ready to answer the call? Whether for ordination or chaplaincy preparation, the 72-credit MDiv is a foundational theological degree that will equip you to both lead and serve.
Learn More
Become equipped to meet real-world needs by diving deeply into past traditions, present dialogue, and a continuing quest for understanding and wisdom. This 48-credit degree combines academic depth with vocational exploration, preparing you for further graduate study, religious leadership, or personal enrichment.
Learn More
Respond to the world’s critical needs by cultivating dialogue and forging paths of reconciliation. This 48-credit degree prepares students to transform the world through the area of focus of your choice, tailored to your context. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?
Learn More
You’ve started the trek. Now let us help you carry the load. Study with a diverse group of peers and mentors and apply your coursework to your own ministry context.
Learn More
Take the next step by becoming a thought leader, contributing to both the academic community and society at large. Are you up to the challenge?
Learn More
Expand your knowledge and add your own voice to the ever-growing library of religious imagination.
Learn More
Designed for Korean counselors or religious professionals who seek to practice spiritually integrated psychotherapy, the 36-credit DPC will propel you, personally and professionally, into an elevated stratum of research, clinical practice, and leadership.
Learn More
Designed especially for early- and mid-career professionals who are called to bring spiritual practice into their work and leadership, this fully online 36-credit degree is for all who believe we have the power to transform our leadership models and our world when we pay attention, seek to be astonished, and tell about it.
Learn More
A 37-credit vocational degree that prepares students for leadership in a variety of ministry contexts. This degree is designed for those seeking ordination as a UMC Deacon, those seeking ordination in a Christian denomination that does not require the MDiv degree, or for laity or nonprofessionals in any religious tradition who seek to serve their communities in a variety of ways.
Learn More
Ready to answer the call? Whether for ordination or chaplaincy preparation, the 72-credit MDiv is a foundational theological degree that will equip you to both lead and serve.
Learn More
Become equipped to meet real-world needs by diving deeply into past traditions, present dialogue, and a continuing quest for understanding and wisdom. This 48-credit degree combines academic depth with vocational exploration, preparing you for further graduate study, religious leadership, or personal enrichment.
Learn More
Respond to the world’s critical needs by cultivating dialogue and forging paths of reconciliation. This 48-credit degree prepares students to transform the world through the area of focus of your choice, tailored to your context. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?
Learn More
You’ve started the trek. Now let us help you carry the load. Study with a diverse group of peers and mentors and apply your coursework to your own ministry context.
Learn More
Take the next step by becoming a thought leader, contributing to both the academic community and society at large. Are you up to the challenge?
Learn More
Expand your knowledge and add your own voice to the ever-growing library of religious imagination.
Learn More
Designed for Korean counselors or religious professionals who seek to practice spiritually integrated psychotherapy, the 36-credit DPC will propel you, personally and professionally, into an elevated stratum of research, clinical practice, and leadership.
Learn More
Designed especially for early- and mid-career professionals who are called to bring spiritual practice into their work and leadership, this fully online 36-credit degree is for all who believe we have the power to transform our leadership models and our world when we pay attention, seek to be astonished, and tell about it.
Learn More
A 37-credit vocational degree that prepares students for leadership in a variety of ministry contexts. This degree is designed for those seeking ordination as a UMC Deacon, those seeking ordination in a Christian denomination that does not require the MDiv degree, or for laity or nonprofessionals in any religious tradition who seek to serve their communities in a variety of ways.
Learn More
Join the CST community ...
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Skip to content
Equipping Leaders for Compassion, Justice, and Belonging
For such a time as this
The CST Experience
Mary Pearce is using her CST education to bring healing and wholeness... ...
Read more
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir developed one of the first organizations of its ...
Read more
Rev. Brenda Bos was elected as the first openly lesbian bishop in ...
Read more
United Methodist pastor Rev. John Griffin-Atil is the founding executive director of ...
Read more
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert empowers churches to imagine a world beyond ...
Read more
U.S. Air Force Captain Mir M. Ali ministered 24/7 to evacuees during ...
Read more
Nina Fernando envisions an America where people of all backgrounds are treated ...
Read more
Dr. Mazvita Machinga founded the only registered psychotherapist center in Mutare, Zimbabwe. ...
Read more
Dr. Woonjoo Baek led his church through conflict and turmoil back to ...
Read more
Mary Pearce
MA ‘12
Women's Spiritual Counselor, Hospice Chaplain, and Licensed Minister
CST helped her embrace her callings as womanist, liberationist, interreligious, and spiritually forming
Embodies dynamic contextual leadership
Did You Know?
Mary Pearce is using her CST education to bring healing and wholeness...
"CST shaped my calling by giving me the knowledge to decide what type of spiritual leader I want to be – womanist, liberationist, interreligious and spiritually forming."
At CST, Pearce learned that "these leadership types, individually or collectively, can foster congruence or incongruence" and how to "assess when it's essential to use these leadership types or lose them."
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir
MA ‘14, PhD ‘21
Developed an inner city community center
Supports people experiencing homelessness
Founded a K-8 microschool
Did You Know?
Imam Dr. Jihad Saafir developed one of the first organizations of its kind in the US.
Islah LA is a South Los Angeles community center that offers a food pantry, transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, and a program that supports, educates, and instills renewed confidence in formerly incarcerated individuals.
Jihad serves as the Director of Islah LA and as the Director and Arabic Instructor at Islah Academy, a K-8 microschool he also founded. Islah Academy implements a restorative justice teaching methodology designed specifically as a tool to break the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
Rev. Brenda Bos
MDiv ‘11
First openly lesbian bishop in ELCA
CST faculty helped her find her voice
Values CST’s interreligious commitment
Did You Know?
Rev. Brenda Bos was elected as the first openly lesbian bishop in the ELCA.
Elected as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2021, Rev. Bos sees CST’s world-class faculty as crucial to her spiritual formation, and vocational discernment. She credits them with helping her live into God’s unique call on her life, strengthening her spiritual life, and helping her find her distinctive voice.
She is “forever grateful” for the way CST’s interreligious and ecumenical commitment sharpened her Lutheran articulation and gave her “greater sensitivity to the faith journeys of others.”
Rev. John Griffin-Atil
MDiv ‘90
Broadway Sing-Along Sundays rejuvenated declining West Hollywood congregation
Founding executive director of Imperial Beach Neighborhood Center
Developing low-income housing & community engagement center including a LGBTQ+ youth drop-in program
Did You Know?
United Methodist pastor Rev. John Griffin-Atil is the founding executive director of Imperial Beach Neighborhood Center.
Rev. Griffin-Atil organized "Broadway Sing-Along Sundays" to rejuvenate a declining West Hollywood congregation in an area adverse to religious participation, and is now developing low-income housing and a community engagement center including a LGBTQ+ youth drop-in program, dormitory, and a two-year fellowship program.
He is also a lay Zen Buddhist, a long-term AIDS survivor, and was recently nominated as the first openly LGBTQ member of The United Methodist Cal-Pac Conference Board of Ordained Ministry.
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert
PhD '21
Founded Abolitionist Sanctuary
Reshaping ideas of policing and justice
CST was the incubator
Did You Know?
Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert empowers churches to imagine a world beyond policing, prisons, and punishment.
Dr. Robert founded Abolitionist Sanctuary, a faith-based coalition united against the moral crisis of mass incarceration and the criminalization of impoverished Black motherhood.
While earning a PhD in Religion with a focus on ethics and public policy, CST served an incubator for her ideas. She is grateful for the strong emphasis that CST places on connecting theory with praxis to make a transformative social impact.
USAF Capt. Mir M. Ali
MDiv ‘15
Joined the Air Force in 1999
One of first CST grads specializing in Interfaith Chaplaincy
Guided by Qur’an to serve refugees
Did You Know?
U.S. Air Force Captain Mir M. Ali ministered 24/7 to evacuees during the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal.
Almost overnight, Mir – the only Muslim Armed Forces chaplain serving with Operation Allies Refuge at Ramstein Air Base and throughout Europe – went from tending to the spiritual needs of a small USAF community to providing hope to thousands of Afghan refugees living in tents.
Mir feels connected to refugees culturally, ethnically, and by faith, and noticed their deep gratitude for ministerial support and his ability to communicate in a language that is familiar to them (Urdu/Hindi).
Nina Fernando
MA ‘13
Exec. Director of Shoulder to Shoulder campaign
Works to end anti-Muslim hatred and violence
Always recommends CST
Did You Know?
Nina Fernando envisions an America where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect and dignity. As Executive Director of the non-profit Shoulder to Shoulder, she helps equip faith leaders to be strategic partners in countering discrimination and violence against Muslims. She has also served as a Faith-rooted Organizer at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a LankaCorps Fellow in Sri Lanka, and a OneBeat Fellow.
Nina says her MA program at CST offered the opportunity for exploration around critical thinking. “I loved my experience, and if I know of anyone who is in a place where they might consider a school of theology, I always point to Claremont.”
Dr. Mazvita Machinga
MTS '05, PhD '12
Volunteers clinical services in Mutare
Teaches and provides services at Africa University
Grateful for CST’s integrative approach
Did You Know?
Dr. Mazvita Machinga founded the only registered psychotherapist center in Mutare, Zimbabwe. In addition to volunteering her clinical services at Pastoral Care and Counseling Services (PCCS), she also teaches and serves as the University Counselor at Africa University.
“I’m proud to be a practical theologian, pastoral psychotherapist, and mental health specialist…At CST, my training in psychotherapy and counseling taught me how to integrate psychological, theological, ethical, and spiritual frames of reference when offering counseling.”
Mazvita hopes to one day secure financial assistance to build a Pastoral Care and Wellness Center.
Dr. Woonjoo Baek
MDiv '95, DMin '97
Revitalized his struggling church
Serves as board chair at Seoul Theological University
Draws upon his deep faith
Did You Know?
Dr. Woonjoo Baek led his church through conflict and turmoil back to health.
When he was appointed to Evangelical Holiness Church in South Korea, it had just lost 500 members. Through the uncertainty, Dr. Baek pressed on and today he works from sunup to sundown at the church of 3000+ members.
Dr. Baek, who also serves as chair of the board of Seoul Theological University, has never regretted his decision to respond to his call to ministry. Now a husband, father, and grandfather, he still believes that seeking and following God’s guidance is the only way.
Claremont School of Theology and Bayan Announce New Academic Partnership
Claremont School of Theology (CST) is pleased to announce a renewed academic partnership with Bayan, a California non-profit religious corporation that operates an educational program known as “Bayan Islamic Graduate School.” This collaboration supports the development and delivery of programs in Islamic Studies under CST’s academic authority and accreditation and marks a significant and hopeful step forward in interreligious theological education.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
In an Age of Disconnection: Turning Toward One Another
At a time when institutions across the country are grappling with fragmentation, polarization, and loneliness––particularly in hybrid and global contexts—CST is witnessing something quietly transformative among our students.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
Ann and Charles Quilter Commit $1 Million Lead Gift to Launch CST’s Bridge to the Future Campaign
Claremont School of Theology (CST) has received a $1 million lead gift from Ann and Charles Quilter of Laguna Beach, California, helping anchor the early stage of the $20 million Bridge to the Future Campaign. This announcement follows another recent $1 million lead gift, making this moment especially significant as momentum continues to build in the campaign’s earliest stage.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
CST Announces $1 Million Leadership Gift to Launch Bridge to the Future Campaign
Claremont School of Theology (CST) today announced a $1 million leadership gift from Kyungsig Samuel Lee, PhD, and Yonghwa Kim Lee, MBA, marking a defining moment in the launch of the Bridge to the Future Campaign—a ten-year effort designed to secure the future of leaders the world cannot afford to lose.
The Lees’ gift establishes The Kyungsig Samuel & Yonghwa Kim Lee Endowed Chair of Practical Theology in Global Contexts, strengthening CST’s global impact while honoring its historic and enduring role in shaping Christianity in Korea.
[READ MORE BY CLICKING THE HEADLINE]
What we stand for ...
Compassion
We believe that leaders should have a capacity to be moved by, and act to alleviate, suffering in the world.
Justice
We believe in the just and equitable treatment, inclusion, and representation of the incredible diversity reflected in today’s world.
Belonging
We believe that our biological hardwiring thrives when in deep relationship with others.
The CST Experience
CST by the Numbers ...
of CST students are BIPOC
0
%
in scholarships awarded each year
$
0
mil
different faith traditions
0
+
Our Faculty ...
Hear from those who will journey alongside you
CST is a place where theory and practice coalesce in ways that effectively respond to the critical needs of the world. To work for CST means to work for a place where the commitment for interreligious dialogue is strongly accompanied by the love for social justice.
Lailatul Fitriyah
Associate Professor of Interreligious Education
CST is committed to nurturing and inspiring students to think deeply about the world as it is, question anything that causes suffering, and create the world as it should be--a world full of justice, compassion, peace, and belonging.
Nicholas Grier
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care & Counseling
My artwork is central to my scholarship and activism. I like to investigate the ways artists create poetic spaces that allow viewers to come together, to reclaim agency and restore a sense of purpose.
Yohana A. Junker
Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation and ArtVice President for Institutional Research and Planning
An African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.’ This is CST. We are with our students, always, as they transform academically and practically, making our communities and world better.
Namjoong Kim
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Ministry, Liturgy, and HomileticsAssociate Dean of Doctoral Programs & International Relations for Korea
CST is a learning community of welcome. It's not only that we invite people to feel at home here, but we are really trying to learn and embody the different things that the different people in the different bodies that they live need in order to actually know they are welcome here and that they belong here.
B. Yuki Schwartz
Associate Dean for Academics and Assessment
Associate Professor of Constructive Theologies, Spirituality & Decolonial Studies
CST is a place where theory and practice coalesce in ways that effectively respond to the critical needs of the world. To work for CST means to work for a place where the commitment for interreligious dialogue is strongly accompanied by the love for social justice.
Lailatul Fitriyah
Associate Professor of Interreligious Education
CST is committed to nurturing and inspiring students to think deeply about the world as it is, question anything that causes suffering, and create the world as it should be--a world full of justice, compassion, peace, and belonging.
Nicholas Grier
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care & Counseling
My artwork is central to my scholarship and activism. I like to investigate the ways artists create poetic spaces that allow viewers to come together, to reclaim agency and restore a sense of purpose.
Yohana A. Junker
Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation and ArtVice President for Institutional Research and Planning
An African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.’ This is CST. We are with our students, always, as they transform academically and practically, making our communities and world better.
Namjoong Kim
Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Ministry, Liturgy, and HomileticsAssociate Dean of Doctoral Programs & International Relations for Korea
CST is a learning community of welcome. It's not only that we invite people to feel at home here, but we are really trying to learn and embody the different things that the different people in the different bodies that they live need in order to actually know they are welcome here and that they belong here.
B. Yuki Schwartz
Associate Dean for Academics and Assessment
Associate Professor of Constructive Theologies, Spirituality & Decolonial Studies
Meet the Faculty
Ready to answer the call? Whether for ordination or chaplaincy preparation, the 72-credit MDiv is a foundational theological degree that will equip you to both lead and serve.
Learn More
Become equipped to meet real-world needs by diving deeply into past traditions, present dialogue, and a continuing quest for understanding and wisdom. This 48-credit degree combines academic depth with vocational exploration, preparing you for further graduate study, religious leadership, or personal enrichment.
Learn More
Respond to the world’s critical needs by cultivating dialogue and forging paths of reconciliation. This 48-credit degree prepares students to transform the world through the area of focus of your choice, tailored to your context. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?
Learn More
You’ve started the trek. Now let us help you carry the load. Study with a diverse group of peers and mentors and apply your coursework to your own ministry context.
Learn More
Take the next step by becoming a thought leader, contributing to both the academic community and society at large. Are you up to the challenge?
Learn More
Expand your knowledge and add your own voice to the ever-growing library of religious imagination.
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Designed for Korean counselors or religious professionals who seek to practice spiritually integrated psychotherapy, the 36-credit DPC will propel you, personally and professionally, into an elevated stratum of research, clinical practice, and leadership.
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Designed especially for early- and mid-career professionals who are called to bring spiritual practice into their work and leadership, this fully online 36-credit degree is for all who believe we have the power to transform our leadership models and our world when we pay attention, seek to be astonished, and tell about it.
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A 37-credit vocational degree that prepares students for leadership in a variety of ministry contexts. This degree is designed for those seeking ordination as a UMC Deacon, those seeking ordination in a Christian denomination that does not require the MDiv degree, or for laity or nonprofessionals in any religious tradition who seek to serve their communities in a variety of ways.
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Ready to answer the call? Whether for ordination or chaplaincy preparation, the 72-credit MDiv is a foundational theological degree that will equip you to both lead and serve.
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Become equipped to meet real-world needs by diving deeply into past traditions, present dialogue, and a continuing quest for understanding and wisdom. This 48-credit degree combines academic depth with vocational exploration, preparing you for further graduate study, religious leadership, or personal enrichment.
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Respond to the world’s critical needs by cultivating dialogue and forging paths of reconciliation. This 48-credit degree prepares students to transform the world through the area of focus of your choice, tailored to your context. Are you ready to get your hands dirty?
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You’ve started the trek. Now let us help you carry the load. Study with a diverse group of peers and mentors and apply your coursework to your own ministry context.
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Take the next step by becoming a thought leader, contributing to both the academic community and society at large. Are you up to the challenge?
Learn More
Expand your knowledge and add your own voice to the ever-growing library of religious imagination.
Learn More
Designed for Korean counselors or religious professionals who seek to practice spiritually integrated psychotherapy, the 36-credit DPC will propel you, personally and professionally, into an elevated stratum of research, clinical practice, and leadership.
Learn More
Designed especially for early- and mid-career professionals who are called to bring spiritual practice into their work and leadership, this fully online 36-credit degree is for all who believe we have the power to transform our leadership models and our world when we pay attention, seek to be astonished, and tell about it.
Learn More
A 37-credit vocational degree that prepares students for leadership in a variety of ministry contexts. This degree is designed for those seeking ordination as a UMC Deacon, those seeking ordination in a Christian denomination that does not require the MDiv degree, or for laity or nonprofessionals in any religious tradition who seek to serve their communities in a variety of ways.
Learn More
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Take the next steps in becoming a transformer and healer
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DISCOVER YOUR CALL. What stirs inside of you? What needs do you see in the society around you? How will you transform the world?
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CHOOSE YOUR PROGRAM. You have your mission. Now it’s time to prepare. Let us equip you for the task. Need help choosing? Just let us know!
SEE OUR DEGREES
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COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION. It’s time to take the next step. Easiness is not guaranteed, but growth is. Are you ready?
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