30
JAN/FEB 2014
Person of Interest
Charisse Gillett
Seminary President Stresses Power of
Lifelong Learning
by Jamie Lober, Staff Writer
Lexington Theological Seminary
(LTS) is a graduate institution
accredited for the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, Master of Arts
in Pastoral Studies and Doctor
of Ministry degrees. Founded in
1865, it is not new, but the growing percentage of older students
coming to the seminary is a new
phenomenon.
Charisse Gillett, President of LTS,
has welcomed the surge of mature
students with open arms. She
feels strongly about the power of
lifelong learning.
“In our student population, the
average age is 46, so many would
be considered second-career
students,” Gillett said. “They had
a career as a teacher or doctor and
are responding to wanting to be a
minister or pastor a church.”
Gillett feels there is a connection
among everyone at the seminary.
“Whether they are second career,
raising families or married, when I
think about them, I actually identify with them and the idea that
God has called them at this point
in their life to pursue an education
and to pastor a church,” said Gillett.
It is not always an easy journey.
“There are challenges that come
along with going back to school,”
Gillett said. “You have to find a
way to manage your time so you
are able to care for your children
and spouse and still do justice to
your studies. Finding time to be
reflective about your own place in
life and time management can be a
huge challenge.”
LTS offers students the chance to
pursue various interests. “Students
study the history of the Bible,
Greek and scripture. They learn
how God helps people and how
they can help the members of their
congregations understand why
faith is important to them today,”
said Gillett.
Becoming the seminary’s President
was a clear course for Gillett.
“I had been working in higher
education for about 28 years and
had always been committed to
it,” she said. “My undergraduate
degree is in social work and I have
two graduate degrees in higher
education.”
She utilized her skills to the greatest capacity. “I worked as a trustee
of the seminary for about six or
seven years, and then I became the
main employee responsible for
admission and recruitment,” she
said. “Then I became President.”
Gillett, who is married to a minister, Rev. Dr. Donald Gillett III,
describes herself as a Christian and
an educator. “The work that I do as
President is a good combination
of what I care about in terms of
education and what I care about
in terms of faith,” she said. “I hope
it is obvious that I care about the
opportunity for every person to
achieve their goals through education. One of the things I get to do
as President is I have a chance to
meet with people who care about
the same things that I do, and an
obvious benefit is to talk to people
who care about education, faith
and community.”
Gillett is thankful she chose this
course. “I am hopeful for the future
and pray for a long tenure at the
seminary,” she said. “We are a place
where both clergy and laypeople
can come and study and be encouraged to grow in their faith.”
It is never too late
to get involved,
whether you want
to take classes towards a degree or
just enroll in continuing education
classes. “We have
classes that start
year round,” Gillett
said. “If someone
is interested in the
seminary or learning more about
us, they can either
call us or go to our
Web site [www.
lextheo.edu] and
our director of
admissions would
be happy to guide
them through the
process.”
Charisse Gillet
Photo courtesy Lexington
Theological Seminary
I hope it is obvious that I care about the
opportunity for every person to achieve
their goals through education.”
—Charisse Gillett, President, Lexington Theological Seminary
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