Graduate Profile: Rev. Barbara Phillips Pekich
Rev. Barbara Phillips Pekich didn’t major in religious studies at Alma because there were no opportunities for women ministers.
But things began to change. Graduating from Western Theological Seminary in Holland in 1992, Pekich could no longer deny that the ministry had been calling to her.
“In 1977 I began to experience a call to ministry,” the 1972 graduate says. “I was expecting our first child imminently and had just quit my job as an editor for a publishing company. After four children and 12 years, I finally ended up attending seminary.”
“When I was at Alma I was challenged to re-think many of my assumptions about justice issues. It was during the Vietnam War and the civil rights era, and living and studying during this time coupled with my beliefs in Jesus’ passion for justice for all people caused me to re-think many of my white middle class values and assumptions. This really changed my life by creating in me a determination to advocate for the poor and marginalized.”
“I can only say that during those 12 years the idea of ministry haunted me, and though I only shared this with my husband, many others began to ask me why I didn’t consider ministry since they felt I had the gifts,” she says.
Pekich is now the executive director and pastor of Heartside Ministry in Grand Rapids, a homeless ministry that offers programs in employment assistance, computer skills, G.E.D. preparation, advocacy and housing assistance and pastoral care.
“I believe we embody the future of the urban church, serving as a community empowerment center for all who come,” she says. “When I was at Alma I was challenged to re-think many of my assumptions about justice issues. It was during the Vietnam War and the civil rights era, and living and studying during this time coupled with my beliefs in Jesus’ passion for justice for all people caused me to re-think many of my white middle class values and assumptions. This really changed my life by creating in me a determination to advocate for the poor and marginalized.”
Pekich was a history and political science major during her time at Alma. She earned her master’s degree in history from Southern Illinois University.
“The two greatest influences of my history major that prepared me for ministry are that it taught me to think critically and fed in me a passion for justice, since so much of history is a saga of injustice,” she says.
While at Alma, she was a resident assistant, was involved with Phi Alpha Theta (an honorary history fraternity), and helped found the Mortar Board as well as being involved in a local church.
