Leading by Vulnerability Through Prayer

by Karis Cho ’21, Augustinian Scholar

Funnily enough, I learned how to pray—body, mind, and heart—from the professors in the Augustinian Scholars program that I’ve been lucky enough to get to know. 

I remember watching Dr. Jesse Covington pray with his hands open, sitting in a posture to receive, in my first-year seminar. The emphasis that he put on how we are embodied beings means that I always pray with my hands open to receive now. This practice is a powerful way that I open myself, through my body, to the presence of the Holy Spirit, even when I struggle to open my mind or heart. During quarantine, as I missed the gift of placing my body in the presence of others—of walking to and from class, of hugging my friends hello and goodbye, of sharing a meal with someone—I found myself unable to do anything but fall to my knees and pray.

In my sophomore year, Dr. Telford Work taught me how to avoid committing heresies, which is a surprisingly difficult task to do. But he also taught me, during my junior year seminar with him, how to take prayer back to the biblically, theologically sound basics. He assigned a reading from Vincent Donovan’s “Christianity Rediscovered” about how the most dangerous, most powerful prayer is praying that God’s continuing, creating work would be done in and through me, rather than somewhere out there, somewhere removed from me.

During this year, I’ve had the privilege of basking in Dr. Sarah Skripsky’s radically loving presence in my senior capstone class. She has demonstrated for me what it means to have a soft heart while praying audacious prayers. Dr. Skripsky stands as my example of obedience to God, which seems simple but proves to be very difficult, and living into God’s will for a full life and full justice for everyone. At the beginning of every class, she asks one of us to lead an opening devotional of our choice, which has given me an opportunity to lead with vulnerability through prayer.

Cultivating Stewardship

by Caleb Marll ’22, Augustinian Scholar

One of the key elements of the Augustinian program is stewardship. Many students come to Westmont already equipped with great minds and hearts for God, but it’s not simply about having these gifts; it’s about using them to love God and love others well. I remember discussing the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25 and realizing that we aren’t called to set our God-given gifts as trophies on a shelf, but rather to invest them in the Kingdom. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to Scripture and the writings of early Church leaders and saints, the program has taught me how to faithfully cultivate my own mind and heart for a deeper relationship with the Lord. 

An Augustinian Scholar also learns how to lead with truth and humility. As the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God… For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” Part of the Augustinian education is learning how to live faithfully in the world’s societies and institutions while also bearing witness to the coming Kingdom. The rich curriculum of the program demonstrates that we aren’t called to seek the fame and riches of the world, but rather to live and lead as disciples and servants.

Each year, Westmont invites nearly 300 candidates to compete for the Augustinian Scholars Program.

For more information, please visit westmont.edu/augustinian