Garrett Seminary
One of the thirteen United Methodist schools of theology.
Garrett sits on Northwestern's campus in Evanston, north of Chicago, and it has the best ¶324.4 coverage of any school looked at so far — eight of the nine areas are required of every M.Div. student. The ninth is United Methodist studies, and Garrett is unusually direct about it: its own curriculum guide says all the courses required for United Methodist ordination are in the program except the two denominational ones, which you take as general electives. That is a school telling you exactly where the hole is, which is more than most do.
The Discipline's requirements, at this school.
¶324.4 asks for nine areas of basic graduate theological study, three semester hours each, with a minimum of six hours in United Methodist studies. Not pass/fail. ¶335.3(d) asks for them again at full connection, so they cannot be put off.
University Senate standing
Approved — a United Methodist school
One of the 13 United Methodist schools of theology.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Do online classes count?
Yes — a fully online M.Div. here meets the requirement
GBHEM: all United Methodist schools of theology are approved to provide a fully online M.Div. that meets the educational requirements for UM ordination. Garrett itself offers the MDiv as residential, hybrid, or fully online.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Old Testament
BIBHB 500 Introduction to Hebrew Bible, one of six Foundational Requirements (18 credits total).
New Testament
BIBNT 500 Introduction to New Testament, a Foundational Requirement.
Theology
THEO 500 Introduction to Theology, a Foundational Requirement.
Church history
Both HIST 501 History of Christian Thought/Practice I and HIST 502 II are Foundational Requirements — the full year, not a choice of one.
Mission of the church in the world
THEO 540 Global Christianity in an Interfaith World is a Foundational Requirement, and Garrett's own Academic Bulletin explicitly categorizes THEO-540 under "Mission of the Church (one of the following)" in its Basic Graduate Theological Studies and Advanced Course of Study tables — Garrett's own ¶324.4 label for the course, not our inference. See the Academic Bulletin, p.34.
Evangelism
CL 510 Theology of Evangelism or CL 611 Empowering Congregations for Evangelism — a required Distribution Requirement row (both options are evangelism courses; the OR is between equivalents, not a choice of subject).
Worship / liturgy
LTRGY 510 United Methodist Worship or LTRGY 511 Worship in Ecumenical Perspective — a required Distribution Requirement row, distinct from the preaching row below.
Preaching
LTRGY 500 Preaching and Proclamation or LTRGY 502 Preaching in African American Context — a required Distribution Requirement row.
United Methodist studies (doctrine, polity, history)
Garrett's own MDiv Curriculum Guide says it plainly: "All courses required for United Methodist ordination are included in the MDiv program, except for DENOM 603 (UM Studies: Wesley and the 19th Century) and DENOM 604 (UM Studies: 20th Century to the Present). These can be taken as general electives." ¶324.4's 6-hour UM-studies floor is the one area Garrett's required core does not carry — it has to be chosen from the 15–24 hours of general electives.
As of August 2025 · source ↗
Garrett covers eight of the nine ¶324.4 areas in its required MDiv core — the best result found on this site so far, and it covers Mission of the Church, Evangelism, Preaching, and Worship as named, distinct required courses rather than as options inside a broader distribution choice.
The one gap is United Methodist studies itself: DENOM 603 and DENOM 604, the two courses that carry Wesley-and-19th-century and 20th-century-to-present UM history, doctrine, and polity, are named by Garrett's own curriculum guide as courses students must take from general elective space, not the required core. For a United Methodist seminary this is a narrow but real gap — six specific hours you have to plan for rather than receive automatically.
Register for DENOM 603 and DENOM 604 as two of your 15–24 general elective hours — Garrett names them by course number, so there is nothing to guess about which electives satisfy this.
If you are pursuing deacon's orders or the Advanced Course of Study rather than the full MDiv, Garrett's stackable "Foundations of Methodist Ministry" certificate bundles DENOM 603, DENOM 604, UM worship, and evangelism/preaching into a single 15-hour sequence built for exactly this purpose.
Confirm with your conference's Board of Ordained Ministry registrar that DENOM 603/604 taken as general electives satisfy their file the same way a required core course would — the credit is identical, but boards vary in what they ask to see.
Confirm all of this with your conference’s Board of Ordained Ministry registrar before you enroll. They decide which courses satisfy which requirement — not the catalogue, and not us.
The faculty, by what they work on.
38 faculty, grouped by field rather than alphabetically — because the useful question is not who is here, it is who is here who works on the thing you care about.
Pastoral care & counseling
AHyun Lee
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Psychotherapy
B.Theo., The Methodist Theological University, Seoul, Korea
Arelis Benítez
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Psychology, and Latiné Studies
M.A., Loma Linda University School of Religion
Recent work (1)
- Reexistence and Return: Migration, Queer Identity, and Healing in Latiné Communities
Jaeyeon Lucy Chung
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Care
Ph.D., Emory University
Recent work (1)
- Korean Women, Self-Esteem, and Practical Theology: Transformative Care
Lallene J. Rector
Professor of Psychology of Religion and Pastoral Psychotherapy and President Emerita
M.T.S., Ph.D., Boston University
Michael Washington
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Chaplaincy Studies
M.Div., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Rolf Nolasco
Rueben P. Job Professor of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Theology
Th.D., Boston University
Recent work (1)
- God's Beloved Queer: Identity, Spirituality, and Practice
New Testament
Angela N. Parker
Associate Professor of New Testament and Womanist Thought
B.A., Shaw University
Recent work (3)
- If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I? Black Lives Matter & Biblical Authority
- Faith Un-Lynched: "Jesus-Faith as Paul's Both/And Out Of Christian Nationalism"
- Bodies, Violence, and Emotions: A Womanist Reading of the Gospel of Mark
Dong Hyeon Jeong
Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation
Ph.D., Drew University Graduate Division of Religion
Osvaldo Vena
Faculty Emeritus, New Testament Interpretation
Th.D., ISEDET (Instituto Superior de Estudios Teológicos), Buenos Aires
Recent work (5)
- Latinx Perspectives on the New Testament
- Postcards from Egypt: Reimagining Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
- Jesus, Disciple of the Kingdom: Mark's Christology for a Community in Crisis
- Evangelio de Marcos: Comentario para Exegesis y Traducción
- Apocalipsis (Revelation)
Yeo Khiok-Khng (K. K.)
Emeritus Professor of New Testament
Ph.D., Northwestern University (in cooperation with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary)
Recent work (1)
- The Spirit Hovers: Journeying through Chaos with Prayers
Ethics & public theology
Brent P. Waters
Faculty Emeritus, Christian Social Ethics
D.Phil., University of Oxford
Recent work (4)
- Common Callings and Ordinary Virtues: Christian Ethics for Everyday Life
- Just Capitalism: A Christian Ethic of Globalization
- Christian Moral Theology in the Emerging Technoculture: From Posthuman Back to Human
- This Mortal Flesh: Incarnation and Bioethics
Jen Harvey
Professor of Christian Ethics
PhD, Union Theological Seminary
Recent work (1)
- Anti-Racism as Daily Practice: Refuse Shame, Change White Communities, and Help Create a Just World
Kate Ott
Jerre and Mary Joy Stead Professor of Christian Social Ethics
B.A., University of Wisconsin at Madison
Recent work (1)
- Sex, Tech & Faith: Ethics for a Digital Age
Timothy R. Eberhart
Robert and Marilyn Degler McClean Associate Professor of Ecological Theology and Practice
M.Div., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Recent work (1)
- Rooted and Grounded in Love: Holy Communion for the Whole Creation
Systematic theology
Brian Bantum
Neal F. and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Theology
PhD, Duke University
Luis R. Rivera
Senior Scholar of Theology
Th.M., Th.D., Harvard Divinity School
Recent work (5)
- The Encyclopedia of Hispanic American Religious Cultures
- Jesus in the Hispanic Community: Images of Christ from Theology to Popular Religion
- Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary
- Character Ethics and the Bible
- Shaping Beloved Community
Nancy E. Bedford
Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology
D.Th., Karl-Ludwigs-Universitat Tubingen
Recent work (1)
- Who Was Jesus and What Does It Mean to Follow Him?
Wonhee Anne Joh
Harry R. Kendall Professor of Christian Theology and Postcolonial Studies
Ph.D., Drew University
Recent work (1)
- Critical Theology Against US Militarism in Asia: Decolonization and Deimperalization
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
Cheryl B. Anderson
Professor Emerita of Old Testament
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
G. Brooke Lester
Associate Professor of Hebrew Scriptures and Director of Digital Learning
Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary
Julie A. Duncan
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Ph.D., Harvard University
Recent work (1)
- Ecclesiastes (Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries)
Kenneth Ngwa
Donald J. Casper Professor of Hebrew Bible and African Biblical Hermeneutics
Maîtrise en Théologie, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Cameroon
Church history
Anna M. Johnson
Associate Professor of Reformation Church History
M.Div., Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary
Recent work (1)
- Beyond Indulgences: Luther's Reform of Late Medieval Piety, 1518-1520
Charles H. Cosgrove
Emeritus Professor of Early Christian Literature
Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary
Recent work (4)
- Music at Social Meals in Greek and Roman Antiquity: From the Archaic Period to the Age of Augustus
- Fortune and Faith: A Dual Biography of Mayor Augustus Garrett and Seminary Founder Eliza Clark Garrett
- An Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786
- Appealing to Scripture in Moral Debate: Five Hermeneutical Rules
James L. Papandrea
Professor of Church History and Historical Theology
Ph.D., Northwestern University (in conjunction with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary)
Recent work (1)
- Reading the Early Church Fathers
Christian education & formation
Débora B. A. Junker
Associate Professor of Critical Pedagogies
Ph.D., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Mai-Anh Le Tran
Associate Professor of Religious Education and Practical Theology
PhD, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Recent work (1)
- Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope
Virginia A. Lee
Associate Professor of Christian Education
Ed.D., Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Preaching
Andrew Wymer
Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship
Ph.D., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Recent work (2)
- Worship and Power: Liturgical Authority in Free Church Traditions
- Unmasking White Preaching: Racial Hegemony, Resistance and Possibilities in Homiletics
Gennifer B. Brooks
Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Preaching
Ph.D., Drew University
Recent work (1)
- Good News Preaching
Liturgy & worship
Andrew Wymer
Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship
Ph.D., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Recent work (2)
- Worship and Power: Liturgical Authority in Free Church Traditions
- Unmasking White Preaching: Racial Hegemony, Resistance and Possibilities in Homiletics
E. Byron (Ron) Anderson
Associate Dean of Institutional and Educational Assessment, Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Worship
Ph.D., Emory University
Recent work (1)
- Common Worship: Tradition, Formation, Mission
Mission & social justice
Emma Arely Escobar
Assistant Professor of Faith-Based Organizing
D.Min. Wesley Theological Seminary
Timothy R. Eberhart
Robert and Marilyn Degler McClean Associate Professor of Ecological Theology and Practice
M.Div., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Recent work (1)
- Rooted and Grounded in Love: Holy Communion for the Whole Creation
World Christianity
Esther E. Acolatse
Harry S. Kendall Professor of Practical Theology and World Christianity
B.A., University of Ghana
Recent work (2)
- Powers, Principalities, and the Spirit: Biblical Realism in Africa and the West
- For Freedom or Bondage: A Critique of African Pastoral Practices
Hendrik R. Pieterse
Emeritus Professor of Global Christianity and Intercultural Theology
D.Phil., University of Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)
Practical theology
Esther E. Acolatse
Harry S. Kendall Professor of Practical Theology and World Christianity
B.A., University of Ghana
Recent work (2)
- Powers, Principalities, and the Spirit: Biblical Realism in Africa and the West
- For Freedom or Bondage: A Critique of African Pastoral Practices
Mai-Anh Le Tran
Associate Professor of Religious Education and Practical Theology
PhD, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Recent work (1)
- Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope
Spiritual formation
Frederick W. Schmidt
Senior Scholar
Ph.D., University of Oxford
Recent work (3)
- The Dave Test: A Raw Look at Real Faith in Hard Times
- Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Luke
- What God Wants for Your Life
Rolf Nolasco
Rueben P. Job Professor of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Theology
Th.D., Boston University
Recent work (1)
- God's Beloved Queer: Identity, Spirituality, and Practice
Congregational leadership
Javier A. Viera
President and Professor of Education and Leadership
Ph.D., Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico
Reginald Blount
Murray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership and Culture
Ph.D., Northwestern University (in cooperation with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary)
Recent work (1)
- Let Your Light Shine: Mobilizing for Justice with Children and Youth
Womanist & feminist theology
Angela N. Parker
Associate Professor of New Testament and Womanist Thought
B.A., Shaw University
Recent work (3)
- If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I? Black Lives Matter & Biblical Authority
- Faith Un-Lynched: "Jesus-Faith as Paul's Both/And Out Of Christian Nationalism"
- Bodies, Violence, and Emotions: A Womanist Reading of the Gospel of Mark
Wesleyan & Methodist studies
Barry E. Bryant
Associate Professor of United Methodist and Wesleyan Studies
Ph.D., King’s College, London
Chaplaincy
Michael Washington
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Chaplaincy Studies
M.Div., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Garrett publishes individual profile pages for its faculty (unusual among the schools harvested so far — Perkins publishes none). This roster covers the 30 people in Garrett's own "Faculty" directory category plus the 8 in "Emeriti Faculty and Senior Scholars." Garrett's site also lists an "Affiliate and Adjunct Faculty" category, currently empty, so no adjuncts are omitted by that exclusion — there simply aren't any listed there right now. A second pass (2026-08) re-read the REST content of every person still missing degrees or publications: two people's degrees had been missed by a too-strict "Education" heading match (fixed here — one used a plain <p>Education</p>, one had a stray <br> inside the heading), and three more state their degrees only in prose rather than a list (hand-transcribed). Nine people had real, nameable publications sitting in prose bios that the first pass's carousel-only publication sweep missed. The remaining faculty without a publications entry were checked individually and their bios genuinely name no specific title — largely junior or practice-focused hires whose Garrett bio is a short personal statement rather than a bibliography, not a parsing gap.
Titles and fields are the school’s own; the grouping is ours. Where Garrett Seminarypublishes a page for someone, it’s linked above as “Profile.” Professors answer email from prospective students more often than you would guess. Publication lists come from the school’s own annual listing ↗, are a selection rather than a full CV, and are only shown for people currently on the directory.
The degrees.
Master of Divinity
76 hrs76 credit hours: 18 in Foundational Requirements, 33 in Distribution Requirements, 15–24 general electives, and a 10-credit Integrative sequence (two semesters of Field Education plus the Senior Colloquy capstone). Offered residential, hybrid, or fully online.
Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling
Two tracks: Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, and Clinical (toward licensure).
Master of Arts in Theology and Ministry
Doctor of Ministry
Three named tracks: Leadership for Social Transformation, Strategic Leadership in Black Congregations, and Spiritual Direction.
Doctor of Philosophy
Six areas: Biblical Studies; Christian Education and Congregational Studies; History of Christianity and Historical Theology; Liturgical Studies; Theological and Ethical Studies; Pastoral Theology, Personality and Culture. Run jointly with Northwestern University.
Stackable certificates toward Basic Graduate Theological Studies / Advanced Course of Study
"Basic Christian Tradition" and "Foundations of Methodist Ministry" — 15 hours each — together meet most of ¶324.4's Basic Graduate Theological Studies requirement and the Advanced Course of Study, outside a degree program.
Money, plainly.
Tuition
$963 per credit hour (master's programs)
Stated for academic year 2026–27. A three-hour course is $2,889. D.Min. is $868/credit and Ph.D. is $448/credit.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Who gets aid
Every degree-seeking student who studies at least part-time
Garrett states this plainly and repeatedly: no separate scholarship application exists. Applying for admission is applying for aid.
As of August 2026 · source ↗
Typical award
Master's students: 50–100%+ of tuition; 65–100% for Early Action (apply by Dec. 31, 2026 for Fall 2027); Ph.D.: 100% of tuition plus fellowships/stipends; D.Min.: 25–50% of tuition
These are ranges Garrett states for degree-seeking students generally, not a UMC-candidate-specific award — unlike Candler's certified-candidate 100%-tuition scholarship, Garrett's guaranteed-scholarship policy applies regardless of denomination or ordination track.
As of August 2026 · source ↗
- Technology fee (5+ credit hours) — $328 per term
- Technology fee (1–4 credit hours) — $164 per term
- Student fee (5+ credit hours) — $149 per term
- Student fee (1–4 credit hours) — $75 per term
- Matriculation fee (not for auditors) — $80
- Initial NU netID connection fee — $55
Garrett's "every degree-seeking student gets a scholarship" framing is real and unusually broad — broader than a UMC-specific deal, since it applies to every denomination and every master's student. But "50–100%" is still a wide range, and the floor (50%) is what a late applicant should expect; the Early Action deadline (Dec. 31 for the following fall) is what moves the floor up to 65%. Ask financial aid what a typical MDiv award actually lands at, not just the advertised range.
Place, and what else is within reach.
Northwestern University
Garrett is an autonomous seminary located at the center of Northwestern's Evanston campus. Students get library access, cross-registration in a number of courses and disciplines, and access to NU's athletic and arts facilities.
Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS)
Twelve Chicago-area seminaries across a range of denominational traditions, with combined full-time faculty near 300 — Garrett's own catalog calls it the largest concentration of theological scholars in an ecumenical relationship in the US. Cross-registration among all twelve, shared lectures and events, and lending privileges at every member library.
Garrett hosts the United Methodist Course of Study School for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry — the five-year Basic Course of Study for licensed local pastors, run online with both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, plus the Advanced Course of Study for local pastors pursuing ordination as elder. Offered in English and, as the Escuela del Curso de Estudio, in Spanish.
Who this fits, and what to weigh.
- People who want the ordination coursework built into the degree rather than assembled from electives.
- People who would use a major research university next door, and a large city around it.
- People for whom an automatic scholarship, without a separate competition, changes whether seminary is possible at all.
- DENOM 603 and 604 are named and then excluded from the M.Div. Nothing schedules them for you.
- The automatic scholarship runs from 50% upward. The 50% floor, not the headline ceiling, is what a late applicant should plan around; the Early Action deadline moves the range.
- Tuition is $963 per credit against a 76-credit degree. Do that multiplication before reading any scholarship percentage.
- Eight of the nine ¶324.4 areas are required, including evangelism, worship, and preaching — each of which other schools leave to chance.
- What Garrett calls 'Distribution Requirements' are not a pick-some menu; every row is individually mandatory. The label is misleading in the school's favour.
- Every degree-seeking student who studies at least part-time receives a scholarship automatically, with no separate application.
- The school now brands itself Garrett Seminary; Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary remains the legal name, and both still appear across its own site.
Send one email this week.
Not an application — an email. Pick the professor above whose field is closest to what you cannot stop thinking about, and ask them what they are working on. Then ask admissions to sit in on one class. Both are free, and both tell you more than a brochure will.
Everything on this page was checked against the school’s own published material on August 7, 2026. Costs and curricula change every year — the source link beside each fact is the one that stays current.