Published on June 27, 2025 by Neal Embry  
CommencementStudent

Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School is working to ensure all students come into seminary thinking about their future.

The Vocational Guidance Initiative, led by Ronald Sterling, director of student and vocational services, and Caleb Craft, director of enrollment management and academic support, trains Beeson faculty to serve as facilitators to help students reflect on their future each year they’re at Beeson.

Each facilitator has about six students and that number continues to grow, Sterling said. The facilitators spend time talking with students about their vocation, calling and purpose. While some students may have thought about their vocation prior to seminary, some simply feel a calling to pursue a seminary degree.

“That rings true to what I see and have personally experienced,” Craft said. “Some know they feel a call to ministry, and seminary is the next step. Most students coming straight from undergraduate studies don’t have a, “I want to do this.”

Every Master of Divinity student will go through the initiative, which started with the fall 2023 cohort. Facilitators are given five general questions to ask, but as they develop relationships with the students, those questions may take different directions. As students progress through the program, the questions are designed to follow along with them.

The first round of questions, discussed in the student’s first year, is focused on fitting in at Beeson and connecting to local churches, along with discussing the student’s sense of calling.

“Community is important,” Sterling added. “Stay connected to a church setting. Get a mentor. And know that seminary is a journey. Coming out of seminary doesn’t mean that you’ve already reached level 10. It can be the middle of the journey, and it’s important for them to understand that as well.”

Subsequent questions focus on internships and life after Beeson.

Success for the initiative looks like students and alumni feeling like Beeson “aided them in their discernment process and supported them throughout their time” at school and thinking about how God has led them, Craft said.

While vocational placement rate matters, Sterling said students getting the most out of their seminary experience matters more.

“It’s more about the faithfulness, giving them the confidence that they’ve gotten everything that Beeson could have given them,” Sterling said.

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.