Seabury-Western Theological Seminary

Student Conveners: Kris Lindh-Payne and Kristin White

2122 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201

Tel: 800/275-8235

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About the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Beatitudes Society Chapter

Seabury-Western is a seminary of the Episcopal Church located in Evanston, IL (just north of Chicago, across the street from Northwestern University and Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, and within view of Lake Michigan). Our chapter is new and we are still trying to educate the Seabury community about our existence and mission. We are a group of people with varied backgrounds and experiences and differing passions around our commitment to social justice. Some of us have focused our energies on the war in Iraq, some of us are passionate about prison ministry, some of us are working in soup kitchens and with the homeless, some of us are working to organize national and international crisis relief, and some of us are still trying to figure out where are passions lie. Even though we have come to the Beatitudes Society with different experiences and passions, we share a commitment to social justice as it is expressed in the Christian story and especially in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is your regular meeting time?

We plan to meet every other week or so, but our meeting times vary. Meeting times are posted in advance in the Seabury-Western email bulletin and at the information kiosk at the seminary.

For more information on meeting times, contact co-conveners Bradley Pace at bradleypace@gmail.com or Kristin White at kristin.white@seabury.edu. Our meetings are open to the Seabury community and to anyone else who wants to learn about or work for social justice.

Events in the works

We are planning to have a speaker talk to us about preaching social justice in the parish setting
We are working to renew our relationship with St. Leonard’s House, a half-way house for men who have been recently released from prison
More coming!!!!

How does your chapter coordinate with other groups on Campus?

The Beatitudes Society chapter at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary is the umbrella organization for social justice and outreach. Co-convener Bradley Pace is the social justice/outreach chair for the Seabury student government.

What challenges does your chapter face?

Seabury is a small school (about 60 total students) whose students are very busy and pulled in many different directions (it is seminary after all!?!). At this point, involvement in the social justice organizations is limited to 5-10 people. Student groups at the seminary have also been primarily concerned with charity work/outreach over the years. Under the leadership of our Dean and faculty, and through the work of some committed students, there has been a shift in that thinking toward a commitment to systemic change. Our connection with the Beatitudes Society has really helped in articulating and making that shift.

What kind of social justice projects does your chapter participate in?

At this point, many of our projects focus on education. Since our seminary education is relatively short, the hope is that we can take what we learn here and apply it in our parishes. The hope is that we can turn our churches (and our Church) into a base for social justice. Too many churches focus solely on charity work/outreach without also working to affect social change. As Beatitudes Society Executive Director Anne Howard said when we met her last year, we need to work in the homeless shelters, but we really need to work to make homeless shelters unnecessary.

Representatives

Co-Convener: Bradley Pace, chair Beatitudes/Breck Society at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary
Co-Convener: Kristin White
Faculty Sponsor: Rev. Dr. Dan Prechtel
Hilda’s Place Representatives: Kris Lindh-Payne and Beth Taylor
Episcopal Relief and Development Representative: Chris Plantz