In January, Garrett Seminary launched the Garrett Collective, an all-new ecosystem designed to make seminary-quality education accessible and affordable to communities throughout the United States and across the globe.
“The Garrett Collective extends the academic excellence and spiritual formation of Garrett Seminary beyond the classroom, offering learners around the world access to theological resources in multiple languages and formats” says Garrett President Javier Viera. “The Collective gathers wisdom from across the church and academy, forging new relationships and missional partnerships.” This initiative is just the latest way that Garrett is connecting people to life-giving programs. “We’ve already expanded access and affordability to Garrett’s formal degrees,” says President Viera. “Now we’re offering a completely new, flexible, globally-accessible way for people to expand their ministries, deepen their faith, and meet the real needs of communities and leaders.”
A browse across the platform, built by software developer and poet Dr. José Delpino, reveals a wide array of materials organized in an attractive and intuitive interface. Streaming service users will readily identify the neat rows of icons, nestled onto thematic shelves, each paired to a darling illustration that indicates what lies within. Prayers are a cheerful robin-egg blue, offering options like “A Blessing for the Body” or “A Prayer for Discerning the Spirit.”
Liturgies are yellow, sharing ready-made materials for Advent, Dia de los Muertos, Pride, or everyday services. Deeper options are marked in purple; webinars and cohorts that will help users delve into a subject like “Financial Leadership for Congregations,” or “Tenderness and Refuge: Ministry with and for Young Adults.” Each is just a click away, and can be saved to your own personal library so whatever you use most is easily at hand.
This growing collection will bridge fundamental gaps in access. There are millions of Christians who live far away from traditional seminaries, and some will never be able to afford the cost of seminary education. Others aren’t interested in pursuing a master’s degree. The Garrett Collective moves into that breach, so everyone from rural pastors in India to laity in Appalachia or Christian social workers in Chicago can delve deeper into theological education.
Moreover, users can download resources to their device for off-line use—an invaluable benefit for regions where internet access is often intermittent and/or unreliable, or for users who are on the move. The resources and mini-courses are also a helpful gift to traditionally ordained pastors who seek continuing education. In most churches, ministers have copious demands on their time and need institutional support. Ready-to-use liturgies, Bible studies, and prayers can lighten that burden, and the ability to asynchronously participate in mini-courses lets pastors weave study where it fits their schedule.
But the Collective’s purpose is also tied to who creates theological resources. “Seminary professors or formally ordained ministers aren’t the only people who have crucial insights and skills to offer the world,” says the Reverend Dr. Jennifer Harvey, Garrett’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The Collective absolutely features content created by those formally-recognized teachers, but it’s also a home for lessons people across the church can provide, drawn from their faith and lived experiences.” Artists, activists, elders, subject-matter experts, and more also form its “faculty,” creating a vibrant, multi-disciplinary learning hub. Currently, there are resources available in both Spanish and English, but the Collective plans to quickly expand the number of languages.
This gap in the creation of theological resources meets a particularly stark need across international contexts. “When we visit our overseas partners and describe the Collective, leaders are thrilled by the potential its grassroots format creates to help them both collect and disseminate local knowledge,” Dr. Harvey explains. “Whether we’re talking about religion and public health initiatives in Zimbabwe or indigenous language reclamation projects in Chile, there’s so much we can learn from global colleagues. And we’re delighted that the Collective can make their work both easier and more far-reaching.”
Contextually-sourced course material is paired with education by Garrett faculty, who are transforming some of their traditional classroom offerings into Collective mini-courses, eventually letting participants stack them for seminary credit. “I’m excited about partnering with Garrett professors,” says rev. dr. abby mohaupt, who serves as the Collective’s director. “This spring, we’re releasing three mini-courses on ethical engagement with technology for ministry. These courses are taught by Dr. Rolf Nolasco and by Dr. Kate Ott. We’re also releasing a course on antiracism for white Christians by Dr. Harvey—which will meet the Episcopal Church’s standards for antiracism training—and one on Sexual Ethics and Boundaries with Dr. Ott, which exceeds most denominations’ requirements for boundary training.”
Understanding that different people will seek different resources from the Garrett Collective, the platform offers a variety of materials. Some content, like videos, short interviews, music playlists, and liturgy are totally free. More comprehensive offerings—like mini-courses and cohorts—cost money, but are priced on a needs-based sliding scale. “The cohorts are a longer-term way for people to gather and build community online, spending time together moving through content,” dr. mohaupt says. “One course that we piloted this spring is on trauma-informed ministry taught by Dr. Lallene Rector, Professor of Religion and Psychology and Garrett President Emerita. What we found, in light of the sold-out class, was that people are hungry to learn practical skills to be trauma-informed and keep showing up to learn together. ”
Building a platform of this scale and magnitude is a formidable task, so Garrett is blessed to co-create the necessary infrastructure with a host of institutional partners. Leaders from Garrett’s Centers (like Center for the Church and the Black Experience, Centro Raices Latinas, the Job Institute for Spiritual Formation, and the Center for Asian and Asian-American Ministries) have contributed material, as have groups across and beyond the Church like the Association for Hispanic Theological Education, Hindus for Human Rights, and many conferences around the United Methodist Church. “The Garrett Collective reflects a deliberate commitment to collaboration rather than competition,” says President Viera, “allowing institutions and scholars to share expertise, expand reach, and strengthen the overall quality of theological education being offered to a broader public.” The goal, over time, is for more and more partners to join the effort, building an even greater wealth of shared resources. To ensure sound academic and theological integrity, all additions will be approved by a committee of Garrett faculty and staff, who will also suggest new instructors with whom we can partner, drawn from Garrett’s wide-reaching network.
The Collective’s true impact will be measured by the ways it ripples outward and shapes community life. Leaders are already employing the resources to strengthen their ministries: This fall, Rev. Jeff Lehn used a Collective community organizing class to help both his own congregation and wider community discern how they could respond in this political moment in the United States. After a day-long training, five congregations partnered on a joint effort that led their town to expand civic safeguards that protect migrant neighbors. An expanded version of that community organizing class will be available on the Collective as a cohort starting March 15, so more congregations can find ways to transform God’s love into concrete, transformative action.
“The Collective will live in every person whose prayer life is refreshed, breathing through churches who worship with its liturgies,” President Viera reflects. “It will bear new life in every learner who joins the digital community and discovers they do not have to do this work alone.” How will you use the Collective for the flourishing of the church? That’s an answer only you can determine, but the table is set. Go to GarrettCollective.com and feast.
