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My friend J.C. and I took a trip to Portland on Monday to visit George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Now, I knew from looking at the website that GFES is no ordinary seminary. But I wasn't quite expecting what I found.

I found a place that is truly multi-denominational, where it is an everyday occurrence for a Lutheran, a Presbyterian, a Pentecostal, a Methodist, and someone who claims no denomination at all to agree to learn and dialogue together while preparing for ministry to people both in the pews and on the margins. I found a place where academics and practical ministry collide, where all students are challenged to examine what they believe, center on Jesus, and truly follow Him. I found a place that emphasizes both spiritual formation and biblical knowledge. A place where the older learns from the younger and the younger values the older and vice versa. A place where the professors engage in discussions with the students rather than just lecturing all the time, a place where the pastor challenges the skeptic and the skeptic encourages the pastor. I found a place where people work to learn with their minds, and learn to love from their hearts. I found a place where the dean is a church planter, and the faculty have some pastoral ministry experience. A place where both the traditional and the progressive come face to face and don't condemn each other, but realize that both are needed and valuable. A place that fully supports the movement of the emerging church in its quest to relate to an increasingly postmodern world, yet critiques the very theology that is its basis. I found a place that provides flexible schedules and course options to serve the individual student, yet ensures that no student will be isolated or unknown, rather connected with the whole body of the school in some way.

In short, I found a place that matches my vision for the church, will challenge me to continue learning and applying God's word and love for people, and encourage me to walk fully in who God has called me to be.

I found a place that I hope to start attending in some capacity in the fall.