Question & Answer with Dr. Mat Loverin ’98, Dean and Professor of Bible & Ministry
Q: Describe Grace’s community and interactions with students inside and outside the classroom.
A: As a professor, I always felt that the connections I had with students in the classroom were the gateway to a deeper relationship of mentoring and eventually a real sense of shared partnership in ministry. The strong working relationship between Community Life and academics at Grace helps to further this connection through chapels, various ministry trips around the country, and overseas travel to destinations like Israel, Greece, Turkey, and Ireland. As professors, we’re grateful for the opportunity to impact the lives of students outside the classroom, often through immersive and transformational ministry experiences. Many professors also serve students as mentors, ministry supervisors, and even through premarital counseling and officiating their weddings. It is a massive honor to be invited into some of the most meaningful moments of students’ lives in this way.
Q: What’s it like to work with a former student?
A: Kyle and Hilary Vegh were fixtures of the Grace community during their time as students, and it’s no surprise that as alumni and now employees at Grace, they continue to be a vital part of the lives of students, faculty, and staff… A favorite experience of mine is to team-teach a class with Kyle called “Biblical Perspectives on Current Issues,” in which our unique approaches to classroom teaching can really harmonize and play off of each other—students get the best of both worlds.
Q: How has the Grace community impacted you?
A: The learning environment at Grace (both community life and academics) presents students with a unique transformational experience. Students can find a sense of place here that nurtures spiritual and personal growth while challenging them with academic learning that sets the bar as high as they want it to go. I know from personal experience that Grace prepared me extraordinarily well for a graduate program in theology at the University of Notre Dame. We have well-prepared graduates who go straight into their chosen jobs, career fields, and ministries immediately after commencement, and we celebrate that. And we also regularly have graduates who are accepted to some of the most academically prestigious graduate and seminary programs in the country and even the world. There is something at Grace for everyone. Professors are committed to helping students find what God may be calling them to do, and helping them prepare for those specific roles as courageous ambassadors for Christ.
Read more stories like this in The Journey Magazine | Spring 2024 >
