At the Pasadena campus, we have a prospective student event once a month ranging from a day visit to an evening visit.
You can find out more about our events by clicking here: www.fuller.edu/experience
For a glimpse of what it’s like to be at an event, check out these photos from our visits: Continue reading
Fuller Seminary’s Statement of Faith affirms that
“Scripture is an essential part and trustworthy record of divine self-disclosure. All the books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, are the written Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. They are to be interpreted according to their context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through them in living power.”
Fuller strongly affirms that historical and literary methods of studying Scripture can yield a robust evangelical biblical theology. We evangelical biblical scholars must proceed carefully, seeking to limit the extent to which our own cultural presuppositions influence our interpretation of the biblical texts.
Fuller professor emeritus Dr. Donald Hagner has helped Fuller students and the broader evangelical community to walk the path of faithful biblical scholarship for many decades. He recently published an introduction to the New Testament, called “The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction“, that deals with this very concept. Below are Professor Hagner’s ten tips for practicing biblical scholarship in the Fuller Seminary way – i.e., in a manner that is both “reasonably critical” and loyal to the “trustworthiness, the inspiration, the authority and the power of Scripture” (see also “What We Believe and Teach“).
PROPOSALS FOR AN EVANGELICAL CRITICISM Continue reading
LA has an unbelievable amount of entertaining (often free) activities to do. Seriously, the list is endless. Events, parades, food fairs, concerts, sports, you name it, it’s happening all over LA every weekend. So come with a sense of adventure and excitement (and a little bit of patience with the traffic).
In no particular order:
The Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum is an iconic building in Los Angeles that sits above the city with a perfect view to the ocean and to most all of the city. The art is exquisite, the galleries are unique, the views are unbeatable, and even the train ride up the hill is fun. The best part is: it’s free. You have to pay for parking ($15), but take a bunch of friends and stay the day. There’s food and all, so it’s worth a long afternoon. There are two locations: LA and Malibu. Both are unique, but the LA one is the main museum and worth the view alone.
Hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains
Coming from Denver, I was sad to leave some of the greatest hiking in the world. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by the hiking found just 10 minutes from the Fuller campus. Head north from the campus on any main street and you will hit any number of trails. One of my favorites in that area is a hike up Echo Mountain which leads to an area that used to house a hotel called “White City” that was only accessible by train. You can still see some of the hotel and its foundation, a well as some of the train tracks. It’s beyond me how they built up there, so it makes for an interesting hike.
Mary’s Market
Mary’s Market is the best kept secret in LA so don’t tell anyone (wait, how many people read this blog?). It is a small locally owned cafe up in the hills of Sierra Madre. It is right next to a creek in the midst of small little mountain homes – it makes you feel far away from crowded LA. When you walk in the door (a screen door, by the way. Who still has those at restaurants?), they ask if you want coffee and will pour you a cup in a random mug they can find. They make some of the best home made quiche in town, and everything is freshly made that day: cinnamon rolls, pop-overs, scones, you name it. On Sundays, they have live music in the morning, which is most often two older gentlemen playing classic rock songs on the acoustic guitar and mandolin. But seriously, don’t tell anyone.
Pasadena Art Night
Twice a year, all of the museums in Pasadena (there’s more than you think) open up their doors for free for the Pasadena Art Night. All night you can go from museum to museum for free – and they even have free shuttles to take you around to each one. This is a great way to explore different museums you may not have otherwise ventured into, or even see that favorite piece of yours you can’t always see. The link above is from the one this past March, but it’s every October and March, and it’s a must do when in Pasadena.
Finding Filmings in Pasadena
Pasadena is a classic town in Los Angeles with lots of history and great architecture, so that means we get a lot of attention from Hollywood. It seems like every day there is something filming in this town, and a great place to find out about them is the link above through the city of Pasadena. My wife and I check up on that page often so that we can drop in on a filming when they are close. The other day we saw a TV filming that actually blew up a truck in front of city hall. No joke. So you never know what (or who) you’ll bump into.
Have fun!
For a bonus entry, you should go to The Dresden, a legendary restaurant and lounge in Hollywood that features Marty and Elayne, jazz singers extraordinaire, that have been kicking it for generations. It was where the movie “Swingers” was filmed, so it has some old school character to it.
Today, our Admissions staff had the privilege of sitting with the Director of Field Education & Denominational Relations, Gwen Ingram. We asked Gwen to come discuss with us the options for becoming a chaplain through a degree from Fuller.
Fuller offers degrees that will equip you with the theological framework of being a chaplain, and then works with you to get your certification or requirements to be a chaplain through a Hospital, Hospice, or Prison, or through the Military.
The Field Education office at Fuller is not just committed to you earning experience and boosting your resume, but to three major facets: Integration, Reflection, Formation. Your practicum experience Continue reading
A major question in the search for a grad school or seminary is how the school teaches. What will classes be like? How will I learn? What will the professors teach? What will I learn? What is the end goal? I know you teach theology, but what does that entail?
A good place to start is reading through our Goals and Learning Outcomes. This is a simple way of understanding what the faculty deems as important in terms of the learning environment:
Fuller Theological Seminary has set the following institutional goals. Students will:
This past Friday we had the privilege of meeting with Bert Jacklitch, the Director of Alumni Relations in the Alumni and Church Relations office.
Bert met with us to talk about how the Alumni relations office works here at Fuller. With over 37,000 alumni in over 140 countries, Fuller has a large network of people serving in different ministry and lay contexts all over the globe. First things first, Bert talked about how her job was not to raise money for Fuller, but to engage with the alumni community. “How do we connect as a community?” she asked at the beginning of our time. Most alumni offices work to collect funds for the school. At Fuller, the development office is separate from the Alumni office so the focus can be on community.
Really? The alumni office exists to engage in community with graduates? Continue reading
You have probably heard the theories that a degree from seminary is too theoretical, that it will ruin your faith, that it doesn’t train you to do actual ministry, or that it only talks about ideas.
We’ve heard them, too, but at Fuller, we feel differently. In 1947, Fuller Seminary was created by two distinct gentlemen: Charles E. Fuller and Harold John Ockenga. Charles Fuller was a radio-evangelist concerned with how theology interacts with culture, and Ockenga was a PhD and pastor from Boston. They wanted to create a school that had both academic rigor and cultural engagement.
From the very beginning, Fuller has been in the business of the integration of theology and culture, evaluating how our theological training interacts practically with the world around us. Through various courses and practicum experiences, we feel that you will not only get a theoretical and academic education, but you will be well prepared to practice your calling.
For my own experience Continue reading
If you just read your Facebook wall for a few minutes, you will be quickly reminded that there are some heated topics of debate happening in our country and world. War. Poverty. Gun rights. Minimum Wage. Immigration. Health Care.
How do we navigate such issues? Where do we even begin?
At Fuller we care deeply about the issues of Continue reading
During this quarter, we here in the Admissions office have had the privilege of meeting with different faculty members on Friday mornings to hear about their particular focus and interests to better understand Fuller and everything it has to offer. This week, we met with Dr. Erin Dufault-Hunter, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics in the School of Theology. We asked Dr. Dufault-Hunter to come chat with us not just about Christian Ethics, but also about the topic of Women in Ministry and gender roles in the church.
Dr. Dufault-Hunter, or Erin as she asked us to call her, has a background in Admissions, as she used to be an admissions counselor here in our office. She also helps with guest lectures at our events, so she came in the room as comfortable as anyone. She grabbed some breakfast with us and dove right into the conversation. “I don’t want to just talk about this topic,” she said. “I would like to actually dialogue about it.”
To begin, though, she shared what her experience has been talking about the topic of women in ministry, especially at Fuller. Erin mentioned how our approach to the subject can leave some more conservative friends a bit wary, and some more liberal friends a bit more open. Ultimately, though, Fuller is interested in dialoging about the topic, not just proclaiming its views. “I say topic, first of all, because it’s not an ‘issue’. Since when are women an ‘issue?!’”, she joked. Erin then shared Continue reading
Today we got to meet with Dr. Rob Johnston, professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Seminary. Former Provost of Fuller, Dr. Johnston has a long history with Fuller, including that his father was one of the engineers for the design of some of the original buildings on our Pasadena campus. After his time as Provost, Dr. Johnston has focused on his teaching in the area of theology and culture, with a particular emphasis in film.
Dr. Johnston walked in and immediately asked us to call him Rob. He has been at Fuller for a while now, but is still energetic and engaged. He told several stories about how the Theology and Culture department at Fuller originated. Fuller has always, since our founding, been interested in the intersection of theology and culture. Our founder, Dr. Charles E. Fuller, decided Continue reading