Ben Smith
Master of Divinity
What is your favorite memory of your time at LSTC?
In 2022, I traveled with Dr. Rossing and Dr. Adam to Israel and the West Bank as part of a travel seminar to the Holy Land. It was an excellent group of people—students from LSTC and other pastors and alumni—who were a joy to travel and learn with. And to walk through places of the Old Testament and the New Testament—to see places is a fundamentally different experience than just reading about them!
What was the most meaningful class you took?
I took Postcolonial Theories and Theology with Dr. Jose-David Rodriguez during my first year at LSTC. The class looked at colonialism and power structures, the voices silenced by them, and the diverse theologies from around the world that resist and reject power and control as not antithetical to the gospel. What I learned from Dr. Rodriguez and my classmates helped guide the questions I would ask and how I would interpret questions throughout rest of my time at LSTC.
How did you feel supported during your seminary journey? Were you the recipient of any major scholarships? What communities or people uplifted you during your studies?
I received a Fund for Leaders scholarship that was instrumental in allowing me to afford seminary and supporting me through this journey. I also am doing my internship abroad, in Bratislava, Slovakia, and I have to thank ELCA Global Mission and the Horizon internship program for making this amazing experience possible. And simply the residential community of LSTC. Through all the changes of Covid, moving campuses, and everything else, my neighbors, the dinners, the parties, school events, and seeing you all in the halls at school, you made it a good time.
What are your post-graduation plans?
I am looking forward to approval and ordination as a Deacon in the ELCA and working in community development or disaster response. In the past few years, I’ve also found joy working with youth, young adults, and neurodivergent folks and celebrating the intersections of pop culture and faith outside of the congregation; I look forward to finding ways to continue this work, wherever I may end up.
How did LSTC shape you as a future leader of the public church?
During my time at LSTC, I really learned how theology cannot be indifferent to the joys and the challenges and sorrows of people’s lives. Looking at liberation theologies, theologies of mission, and Luther’s own theology of love — the church is not a sanctuary or guide, but we participate in the work of God’s love in the world, setting the captive free.
