"Embrace Every Opportunity"
Jen Lisowski entered Palmer Theological Seminary in 2016 as a non-degree student, taking just one class. “After that one class, I knew I wanted to continue,” she says. Jen was initially hesitant about seminary and questioned if she belonged there. Following her undergraduate education at Eastern University, Jen spent four years doing mission work in South Africa. When she returned to the US, she craved deep biblical and theological training and conversation. This desire stemmed from her experience engaging different perspectives while serving in South Africa.
The first class of Jen’s seminary journey was a church history course taught by Dr. George Hancock-Stefan. She caught herself thinking about the content of each lecture throughout the following week. At Palmer, Jen found an openness to questions and a passion for the biblical text that pervaded her course work. In classes with Dr. Diane Chen, she learned to engage with the different cultures, perspectives, and contexts in Scripture. She remembers thinking there is so much to learn and uncover. “I couldn’t wait for the next class to dig deeper. God has so much to show us.” Furthermore, her education was not merely a cerebral exercise. It was always tied to practice, wrestling with how the academic content affected serving the real struggles of people.
The merging of theory and praxis, academia and ministry, is a central part of how Palmer lives out its mission of “The Whole Gospel for the Whole World through Whole Persons.” Jen is emphatic that “the Gospel is transformational, and people who follow Jesus are not meant to keep that transformation to their personal lives, but live their faith in the world by impacting their communities. Jen is working towards that in her current role at Hopewell United Methodist Church where she serves as the Director of Lay Ministries and Director of The Well Community Center. A key part of her position is exploring how the ministry of Hopewell can expand into the community and develop partnerships. She is also exploring ordination in the UMC.
When asked for words of encouragement for the Palmer community and especially current students, she says without hesitation, “Embrace every opportunity to learn and be challenged. Build community because you’ll need it along the way and even after you graduate. Ask as many questions as you can. Ask the questions that you can’t in other environments.”