Attending Covenant Theological Seminary as a full-time student has always involved sacrifice and risk with the promise of an unparalleled payoff: Come to St. Louis. Uproot yourself and your family and move to the Midwest. Find a new church home and new friends. And watch how the Lord works through these new surroundings. He will use the upheaval, the newness, the discomfort to forge a gospel-centered community and prepare you for ministry.
Few things threaten Covenant’s community-centric distinctiveness like a pandemic. Courses can be taught virtually, and an increasing number of Covenant students begin their education through online programs. But so much of the Covenant experience hinges on being together. Face-to-face interactions create a seminary culture of safety and community. But emotional safety feels at odds with physical safety in the COVID-19 era.
Mark McElmurry, dean of students at Covenant, says he wants students to understand that Covenant is a safe place to be broken. But COVID precautions — masks and social distance — can make intense honesty and vulnerability more difficult.
Like Covenant College, Covenant Seminary has implemented procedures to guard public health: increased cleaning procedures; limited, assigned classroom seating; library in-vehicle pickup; and the ubiquitous masks. The work to maintain physical safety has had its cost for everyone in the seminary community. But faculty, students, and staff see the Lord at work as they seek to build community in an era of isolation.
Mourning the Losses
The student affairs staff, McElmurry, and Associate Dean of Students Lindsey DeJong miss the touch points with students, the quick conversations to check in with students on the way from one activity to the next. COVID restrictions make it harder to connect with students, and the “hunker down” mentality — the urge to just get by until this nightmare passes — feels tempting.
“We are thankful and amazed at the courage of our students. Many moved to St. Louis to start seminary in the midst of the pandemic. This takes much faith in God’s call and provision for health and finances.”
The students who have borne the brunt of the adjustment might be first-year students who are trying to build their communities and forge new relationships for the first time. The natural process of developing friends is harder with virus mitigation measures in place, so DeJong is trying to help first-year students with common interests find each other more quickly.
“Normally there’s an intentional integration progress, of inviting the new students to community, and giving them to each other to create community,” DeJong said. But the large group events that foster the integration cannot happen this year.
Problems students experienced before COVID are exacerbated this semester, says DeJong. Roommate conflicts, mental health battles, loneliness — the struggles are more intense. So is the exhaustion. Like many educational institutions, Covenant condensed the semester to prevent students from traveling and risking coronavirus exposure. The risk seemed to pay off — incidents of COVID have remained low on campus while the virus has raged elsewhere in St. Louis County — but as students and faculty neared the end of the semester, they were running on fumes.
COVID has also had a big impact on Covenant’s international student community. The international student population is smaller this year — students and families total about 50 persons — but they are a tight-knit group. A few international students experienced losses in their extended families this fall, but COVID has prevented them from returning to their home countries for family visits and funerals.
Tasha Chapman, professor of educational ministries, works closely with the international students and sees how the pandemic is strengthening the faith of these sojourners.
“I see this fruit weekly in the lives of our international women as we lament, pray, and study together. Can you imagine how fearful and stressful [the pandemic] would be to go through in a foreign country? To not be present when family members get sick and die? Yet, their joy and hope in the Lord grow stronger. They speak with more confidence about God’s calling in their lives for vocational ministry and how even these trials prepare them for God’s Kingdom work to come,” Chapman said.
Professors also bear a burden as they strive to prepare men and women for ministry but cannot see the faces of those future ministers. Relationships feel stunted as masks, microphones, Zoom meetings, and social distancing make the classroom less personal. Professors miss the feedback they get from seeing faces, Chapman said.
How the Lord Has Been at Work
Despite everything that is different this semester, students are still glad that they made the move and didn’t defer admission. Jeb Ralson, president of the student body, considers this semester is a success. He said the fact that students could maintain in-person learning all semester was a “taste of normalcy” in a year that was anything but.
Ralston sees the unity among students, faculty, and staff as the Lord’s work. Despite all of the challenges, the Covenant community has remained united and flexible without complaining.
And the relationships are growing. Students are still experiencing deep community as they study and live together. And some aspects of Covenant life remain the same, like the Life Story Groups, cohorts of first-year master of divinity students who meet with a trained counselor to share their life stories, how their experiences have affected them, and the impact those experiences might have on their ministry and relationships.
Part of McElmurry’s work with students involves coming alongside them and offering the support they need to succeed in their studies. COVID has not changed that mission. He has continued meeting with each male student — now outside and socially distanced — to find out how the students need help, and providing assistance.
The meetings reiterate one of McElmurry’s main themes: Students bring the full weight of who they are into their studies. COVID has not changed that message.
“There’s something sweet and amazing when you pick up your lives and come here,” McElmurry said.
Chapel and morning devotions have continued, and people still put in the good work to fight for community. The Student Life team hosts outdoor lunch gatherings every Friday, and the seminary purchased additional camp chairs to keep the meetings feasible and socially distanced. Faculty and students have moved more meetings outside, and on to Zoom when needed.
Despite the fatigue from computers and screens, faculty recognize that the technology is a gift from God.
“We are so thankful to the Lord that in his sovereignty we would have technology to see and hear others and to be able to continue working together,” Chapman said.
And thus far the seminary community has had relatively little COVID, compared to high levels elsewhere in Missouri.
If these students have enough faith to trust God to provide for their seminary education during a pandemic, how much more will they trust him in the future as they lead churches, disciple believers, or counsel the hurting?
“We are thankful and amazed at the courage of our students. Many moved to St. Louis to start seminary in the midst of the pandemic,” Chapman said. “This takes much faith in God’s call and provision for health and finances. We are excited for the church that God has raised up these future leaders.”