2025 Journal-Yearbook

Illinois Great Rivers Conference 2025 Journal-Yearbook

• The Rev. Walter H. McKelvey Endowed Scholarship The fund, which was launched by Dr. Loretta F. McKelvey (wife of the late Rev. McKelvey) and Dr. Walter Kimbrough, continues to grow with matching gifts in partnership with the South Carolina United Methodist Foundation. • In June 2024, the Florida Conference’s Rev. Geraldine McClellan Endowed Scholarship Fund, which is now fully endowed at the Florida United Methodist Foundation, continued to grow with donations for 2024. Now, the fund balance exceeds $130,000.00, and Dr. Geraldine McClellan was honored at our 2024 Founder’s Day/Pastors and Leaders Conference Gala banquet with our Icon of Excellence Award. • Gammon hosted the Ebony Exploration Event for 75 young adults under the age of 35. The students explored their sense of call and vocational discernment. • In December 2024, Gammon celebrated our 141st Founder’s Day and Pastors and Leaders Conference. We hosted over three hundred people attending workshops (in person and virtual) and our Scholarship Gala Dinner at IMPACT Church in Atlanta, GA. • Gammon received two $10,000 donations for two new endowed funds from Dr. James H. Salley, in honor of his parents in the South Carolina Conference, and from Rev. Dr. Michael McQueen, District Superintendent for the North Georgia Central North District. Respectfully submitted, Rev. Dr. Candace M. Lewis, President-CEO Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary continues to live into its mission of Forming courageous leaders in the way of Jesus to cultivate communities of justice, compassion, and hope…for the thriving of the Church and the healing of the world. We do this work in partnership with the annual conferences of the United Methodist Church and other partners who share our values. Now in our 172 nd year of ministry to the church, the academy, and the world, Garrett is a strong, growing, thriving community of faith and learning that represents the fullness of the global church’s witness. During this past academic year, Garrett welcomed it largest entering class in over a decade for a fifth straight year, with 135 new students, and a current enrollment of 324 students representing 38 states and 24 nations from across the globe. We continue to see growth in our student body from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, adding to an already richly diverse student body. While our denominational diversity also continues to grow, we also proudly welcomed growth in our United Methodist students who constitute more than half of our student body. Or faculty also reflect this regional and global diversity, with fully half originating from nations outside the United States. Our growth in recent years continues to reflect patterns seen across theological education, mainly in distance and online learners. For the first time in our history, distance learners in the entering class outnumbered residential students. This has allowed for truly global learning spaces that have enriched our conversations and our overall learning environment. We’re blessed to have the world represented in our classrooms, which also impacts how our faculty teach, what they research, and for whom.

Ministry Reports 237