Prior to Brooklyn Williams graduating with her Master of Ministry degree from Grace School of Theology, she had the privilege to give a speech during one of Grace’s Board of Trustees meeting:

To this very distinguished panel that represents the greatest theological institution in the world to me, to a great leader, President Dr. Dave Anderson, Provost Dr. Mark Haywood, and to the other people who makeup this wonderful body of assembled leadership here today, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and He’s holy begotten Son, our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ.

April 2018 was a life-changing month for me, I shared my desire to full-time ministry with Pastor John R. Adolf in an administrative capacity. As soon as I shared my desire with him, he did two things: he prayed for me and told me that I was going to a seminary at Grace. Initially, I thought he was losing his mind.

“Me, seminary…you’re kidding me right?”

When I signed up for classes, I thought I was in for an advanced Sunday school type of education, boy was I wrong. The depth, scope, and substance of the courses have pulled me upward and pushed me forward. So now when I am in dialogue with my collegiate students at Lamar University I can tell them that their sins in Christ have been pardoned and that they have been justified by faith in Christ. I can stand flat footed and tell them that without the cross of Christ we are hopelessly lost but because of our Lord’s sacrifice, those of us who are in Him are eternally saved.

I can help them when they are stressed about a test or some of life’s toughest issues. I now tell them with great assurance upon the Lord because He really does care for us. Once they would raise questions in our group sessions about sexuality I would avoid them as best as I could but now I address them head-on. I listen intently and then I simply tell them while human sexuality matters to God and what God wants from us regarding it. And when they raise tough questions “Where is God when a murder happens?” racial injustice takes place, hunger, and even natural disasters, it gives me great joy to say that God is in the same He was when they crucified His Son. I’d tell them that His ways are not our ways. His methods are not our methods. His actions are not our actions, however, one thing is certain: all things work together for the good of those who love Him and if He’s not yet working together it’s because He’s still working.

My internship was wonderful. Even though I ended up with COVID-19 and couldn’t smell or taste a thing for nearly a month, God showed me a new level of grace and even a greater dimension of gratitude. Before the Covid-19 I was thankful to be on campus with my students but after Covid-19 I was just grateful to be alive. Before encountering the virus, it was just as if grace was a word that was used in church, you know the typical lingo. But while sick with Covid I watch others die because of it and now when I look at the mirror I see a reasonable facsimile of grace. God gave me another chance and I would never take life for granted again because of it.