MEET TWO MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2020

The Rev. Rebecca L. DePoe (M.Div. ’16), Graduate Certificate in Church Planting and Revitalization

Ordination: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

As I began to pastor two under-resourced congregations, I received encouragement from my Presbytery to seek training in church revitalization. I wanted to learn the best practices of church planting and discern how to apply them in my traditional parish contexts.

An initially unanticipated benefit of the Seminary’s Graduate Cerfificate in Church Planting and Revitalization program has consisted in its helping prepare me for pastoring during the current global pandemic. Learning the best practices of discernment, missional theology, worship, and church leadership have made me less anxious about leading my congregations into a new normal.

In this new era of ministry, I continue to pastor the saints at Mt. Nebo UPC and Glenshaw Valley PC, both north of urban Pittsburgh. I am using the skills I’ve gained in the CP&R program to help my congregations discern what God is up to in our neighborhoods.

The Rev. Dr. Shea K. Zellweger, D.Min./Reformed Christian Spirituality Focus

Ordination: United Church of Christ

Having served churches for the majority of my adult life and pastoring two congregations in Connecticut for the past four years, I was seeking a doctoral program in the Reformed tradition with an emphasis on spirituality. I found it at PTS, and my time at the Seminary was one of deeper formation of my pastoral identity.

I enjoyed all my classes in the D.Min. program and particularly benefited from the directed studies I conducted with the Rev. Dr. Angela Dienhart Hancock (associate professor of homiletics and worship) and Kansas pastor/D.Min. professor the Rev. Dr. Jared Witt. Now as a graduate of PTS, I continue to serve my churches in Connecticut.