Goshen College accepting applications from high school students for new Study-Service Theology Term
Goshen College’s new Study-Service Theology Term (SSTT) is currently seeking 20 high school applicants for a two-week study tour in Guatemala in June 2017. Students will be provided with the opportunity to explore their understandings of Jesus’ life and mission in light of contemporary challenges and their own sense of calling.
“Faith perspectives are often developed in contexts that take us out of our comfort zones and raise new challenges,” said Keith Graber Miller, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy at Goshen College and SSTT program director.
Participants are selected through a competitive application process and will be drawn from students from any Christian denominational group in the United States who have completed their sophomore, junior or senior year by June 2017, with priority given to Latino and African-American students. The deadline to apply is Oct. 30, 2016.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., SSTT participants’ costs for the program will only be a $100 deposit, which secures their position in the group.
The program will include orientation and study on Goshen College’s campus and two weeks of academic study and field trips in Guatemala, followed by a 40-hour internship in the student’s home congregation or another religiously-based organization, completion of a theology and vocation online module, a capstone project and development of an e-portfolio consisting of photos and writing.
Upon completion of the SSTT program, students will receive three academic credits in religion through Goshen College.
“We hope young people in the program are able to think about the decisions, choices and commitments Jesus made during his brief life — commitments to the oppressed, to social justice, and to caring for those on society’s margins — and then apply those learnings to their own faith and life,” said Graber Miller.
To apply, go to goshen.edu/SSTT. If you have questions, contact Graber Miller at keithgm@goshen.edu or 574.535.7436.