Spiritual development is important to the Rev. Dr. Adam White ’00. He has been the Campus Pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln since 2010.
“We have a major focus on vocational development,” he said, adding that in his time there he has seen six students advance to seminary or divinity school, and many more serve as disciples through their work in other fields.
He is also excited that his program received a grant from the Lilly Endowment to “invite students to think deeply about the meaning of work through a Christian lens.”
Adam himself was mentored during his undergraduate years at Hastings College, where he received guidance from the Rev. Dr. James Watts, who was Associate Professor of Religion at the time. He returned to Hastings after seminary and was inspired further by the Rev. Dr. David B. McCarthy, Professor of Religion, and Dr. Dan Deffenbaugh, Professor of Religion and Chair of the Department, who invited him to lead Christian activities on campus.
For Adam, Hastings College was the perfect place to gain the skills he didn’t even know he would need.
“I wasn’t sure what to make of myself when I was a psychology and theatre double major with a religion and studio art minor. But I wasn’t making myself, I was being made into someone who I could scarcely imagine,” he said. “I think, for me, that was the profound gift of a liberal arts education at Hastings College.”
