North Park Seminary鈥檚 latest innovative program takes place in a non-traditional setting, with a group of students coming from vastly different circumstances.
The 40-person cohort鈥檚 classroom? Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison outside of Chicago.
Offered by the School of Restorative Arts (SRA), the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry (MACM) is the first of its kind offered to persons both incarcerated and free, all of whom work and study together weekly.
The program鈥檚 Director, Rev. Dr. Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom S鈥�95, hopes to dramatically transform the way the Church, and society as a whole, handle conflict, seeing it not as something to be avoided, but as an opportunity to grow.
鈥淲e live in a society that gives away its conflict and pays others to handle it, such as police or the legal system,鈥� Clifton-Soderstrom said. She argued that in doing so, we surrender something else: the opportunity to learn and grow as a healthy community.
Along with conventional ministerial training, students in the SRA program embark on a restorative arts track and take courses focused on non-violent conflict, while also learning how to address personal trauma.
This hybrid approach equips students to minister in communities affected by drug and alcohol abuse or in densely populated areas of economic distress. It also prepares students to work as school social workers, gang interventionists, or peer mentors or chaplains in a prison.
The applications are boundless, but all require an ability to navigate conflict in non-violent ways.
Using collaborative group projects and role playing, SRA students troubleshoot situations from their own lived experiences, practicing strategies to de-escalate conflict.
鈥淓very class is experiential 鈥� the environment reflects what we鈥檙e studying,鈥� said Clifton-Soderstrom. 鈥淲e鈥檙e forced to be creative and to work with all types of people 鈥� classmates, security officers, people at the front desk, wardens 鈥� they all have different jobs to do, which are important, so you have to learn to work with that.鈥�
It鈥檚 through this challenging work that the SRA cohort develops beyond an ordinary classroom into a model of community for students to follow in their future ministries.
鈥淐lass for me has become a place of safety and support, where judgement doesn鈥檛 exist,鈥� said SRA student Christopher D. Everett. 鈥淲hat North Park is doing in my life is not only equipping me for the greater call of building a faithful community, but they are effectively building faithful communities through me. I am not only being given the theological tools necessary, but also the love that has the power to restore and reconcile.鈥�
Vickie Reddy, one of two students from the free world enrolled in the program, says the setting directly impacts the cohort dynamics.
鈥淚鈥檝e never been part of a community like this, where the setting actually provides for a very unique atmosphere for learning and building relationships, with no cell phones or technology and seven hours straight together every Monday,鈥� Reddy said. 鈥淭hose of us from the outside are forced to show up and be present in a way that we have to in few other spaces in our society. The natural outcome is an incredible level of respect and mutuality that is very intentional. We call it our beloved community.鈥�
Beyond the student cohort, there are growing efforts to involve the greater North Park community. A writing partner program created by North Park alumna Emily Smith C鈥�18 and run by current undergrad Alin Hernandez pairs writing advisors from North Park鈥檚 Writing Center with incarcerated students.
Building on this program, Writing Center Director Melissa Pavlik teaches her 2100-level writing course to 14 incarcerated students, training them to be peer tutors. Community members Sandi (Danielson) Kersten C鈥�77 and Sally Engebretson volunteer regularly in study hall.
It is through these growing connections that the program shows its unique strength, an intersectional learning approach that benefits the individuals within and the world outside of Stateville. With pastoral training made available through the same Lilly Endowment grant that supports the SRA, four Evangelical Covenant Church pastors from across Chicago take part in the classes at Stateville, contributing to the collaborative learning environment while developing new awareness and skills to apply in their ministries.
Rev. Dr. Clifton-Soderstrom said the program is an excellent model for navigating conflict in ways that promote healing and growth: 鈥淭o enter into the process of learning, you have to be vulnerable, uncomfortable. It鈥檚 powerful and humanizing.鈥�