To Preach a Better Gospel: Meet MAPM Student Demetrius Davis
March 18, 2021
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
I grew up in Chicago and the northwest and west suburbs. I graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a bachelor’s in secondary education and history. I taught high school for five years while serving as lead pastor of a church plant, CityPoint Community Church in Chicago. Currently, I pastor full time and run our family’s real estate investment company while attending seminary.
Why did you decide to attend seminary and Garrett-Evangelical in particular?
I decided to attend seminary because I wanted to learn about liberative and socially responsive interpretations of the gospel. I am called to minister to millennials and have noticed that many are bewildered by the American church’s oppressive doctrine and collusion with patriarchy, sexism, racism, exploitative capitalism, and heterosexism. I’m at Garrett-Evangelical to become equipped to preach a better gospel to our mostly millennial congregation and help change the national narrative regarding what it means to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What challenges and opportunities have you found with the fall semester being online?
The online semester has worked well for me due to the many responsibilities that I have. Rather than commuting to campus, I am able to spend the extra time preparing for classes. However, I have found that I miss the in-person interaction and relationship building that typically happens organically with peers on campus.
How has your scholarship enabled you to pursue your theological education?
The scholarship has been huge in that it made seminary fit much better into our family’s budget. As a household managing daycare costs for a toddler, we needed seminary to not add another major education expense to our finances. I’m extremely grateful to the seminary and donors for their generosity!
Where do you see Christ leading you after seminary?
After seminary, I will continue to serve as lead pastor at CityPoint Community Church. I am also exploring applying to a PhD program in social policy or public policy. I’m interested in considering how liberative or social gospel theology can inform public policy decisions related to housing at the local and national level.