Any election year brings compelling requests for contributions. This is one more ask. Instead of supporting a candidate, however, I am asking for you to support a cause: the pursuit of justice through the development of new leaders at both the Pacific University Center for Peace and Spirituality and Chicago Theological Seminary. Your gifts will support students working to change the world.

Ten years ago – on September 17, 2006 – I was ordained into the ministry by the United Church of Christ. Almost thirty years ago – while a student at Pacific University in Oregon – my calling began to become clear as I started work with the Burnside Community Council, a non-profit multi-service center and advocacy program committed to ending homelessness. Over the last thirty years, my life has been blessed with too many mentors to mention who saw in me gifts I would never have found alone.

Make a donation here: https://donate.ctschicago.edu/currie

Investing in the students of Pacific University and Chicago Theological Seminary builds Leaders for the Next. The Pacific University Center for Peace and Spirituality works to live out the university’s mission to inspire “students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world. At the same time, CTS works as an “international force in the development of religious leadership to transform society toward greater justice and mercy.” The purposes of these two different institutions – one in Oregon and the other in Chicago – sound similar for a reason. Both Pacific and CTS are United Church of Christ-related schools founded by Congregationalists.

As the University Chaplain and Director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality at Pacific University, I get to work with students in our undergraduate and graduate programs committed to social justice. We tackle issues such as racism, gun violence and how to move our world closer to a just peace through academic courses, forums, and conferences.

My job at Pacific became possible because after completing by Master of Divinity degree at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, I was able to enter and complete the Doctor of Ministry program at CTS where my studies were concentrated on public theology – how it is we live out our theological beliefs in a pluralistic society for the common good. What I learned at CTS gets put into practice at Pacific.

Your donation today will support both the Pacific University Center for Peace and Spirituality and Chicago Theological Seminary in preparing the next generation of leaders to tackle some of the most difficult issues ever faced by humanity.

Make a donation here: https://donate.ctschicago.edu/currie

Ministry is a calling and a blessing. I could not have accomplished what I have without the support of a strong community. Right now your help is needed to support students during challenging economic times.

Thank you in advance for your support. To all those who supported my education and call, there are not enough ways I can say thank you for the opportunities provided to me.

Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie (CTS D.Min ’15)

University Chaplain

Director, Center for Peace and Spirituality

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Pacific University | Oregon


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