Why CTS – Rev. Trevor Farmer
CTS MDiv Graduate, 2015
There are as many reasons to attend CTS as there are students and alumni in our community. To highlight the diversity of reasons students choose to attend CTS for theology and counseling degrees, we asked CTS alumni why CTS was the right place for them to pursue their degrees. The results were compiled into the Why CTS series.
When Rev. Trevor Farmer was choosing a seminary, CTS wasn’t even on his radar. Then a friend and CTS graduate suggested he look into it—and Rev. Farmer quickly realized CTS was the place for him.
For starters, CTS allowed the newlywed to stay local with his wife who works as a nurse in downtown Indianapolis. It also allowed him to engage in ministries on the outskirts of Indianapolis where he intended to pursue a career after graduation. Indeed, today, Rev. Farmer serves at both Lizton United Methodist Church and North Salem United Methodist Church.
CTS also provided him academic and financial support.
“I know that I have some setbacks when it comes to the rigor of higher-education. I may have moments when I need some extra time and assistance to develop my thoughts and writing more thoroughly,” Rev. Farmer shared. “CTS was just the school for me that affirmed my call and offered the support I needed—and they even had some funding available to help me contribute toward my education, which was a great blessing.”
Perhaps most importantly in terms of his calling, CTS allowed Rev. Farmer to explore a more inclusive and open theology.
“It seems evident to me that people are asking new questions now that weren’t really being asked before. And so we need to have a theology and a background to help address and confront questions regarding these matters,” he said. “And I felt like CTS did an excellent job helping me grow in my training and my theology to confront these kinds of issues. I’ve been able to help create space for people to ask these questions.”
Rev. Farmer believes that although theology itself and God has not changed, the ways we experience God are growing—and with that growth there is always change.
“CTS enabled me to be better suited to the current state of our world and care for people from a pastoral role.”
