Recent Luther Seminary graduate Christopher Beaver received at commencement this year the G.M. and Minnie Bruce Prize in New Testament. Christopher graduated with an M.Div. and was recognized for his paper ”The Ministry of Women in Acts of the Apostles.”

Where did you grow up and what led you to pursuing theological education?
I was born in Americus, Georgia, and as a child lived in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana. In 2002, I graduated with a B.A. in French and international studies from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge and then moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2003 where I received an M.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in French studies. From 2006 to 2015, I served Canadian bicycle retailers and later European bicycle distributors as an international sales representative of Trek Bicycle. In 2015 I returned to UW-Madison where I took an M.S. in environmental conservation and subsequently served as a National Park Ranger on the Namekagon and St. Croix Rivers in Trego, Wisconsin and then as an environmental educator at the MacKenzie Center in Poynette, Wisconsin.

As I look back on these two careers, I can see that I was engaged in forms of ministry—both as a counselor and helper to bicycle retailers and as a steward of God’s creation. As the son of a pastor mom and organist dad, I literally grew up in the church and always had a call to ministry in the back of my mind. Later in high school and in college, I began to think seriously about seminary and pastoral ministry as a vocation. For many years, I pursued other vocations that were fulfilling. During the covid pandemic, I was forced into deep reflection. It was then that the internal and external calls became quite clear to me, and I finally made the decision to apply to Luther Seminary in 2021.

What are you hoping to do with your Luther Seminary degree?
My call is to pastoral ministry in an ELCA parish. In February 2026, I was approved for ordination in the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin and am currently in the call process. I hope to serve in a parish located in an urban or suburban setting, though I do have experience serving in rural parishes. I also haven’t ruled out a doctoral degree in New Testament studies.

Tell us about the paper you submitted for the Bruce prize. Why did you want to dig into this topic?
I am deeply interested in the involvement of women in Jesus’ ministry and in the growth of the early church and beyond. As mentioned, my mother is a retired pastor and in 1977 became one of the first ordained women in the LCA (an ELCA precursor). My paper, “The Ministry of Women in Acts of the Apostles,” unpacks how Luke-Acts sheds light on the many women who were in Jesus’ orbit during his earthly ministry and on the many women who played key roles in the spread of the gospel after Jesus’ resurrection. I read texts through many different lenses but am particularly interested in historico-cultural and feminist criticism.

How would you contextualize that piece of scholarship (this paper) with your overall scholarly work here at Luther?
When I enrolled at Luther, I was in the last cohort that could declare a concentration within the M.Div. program. I chose to focus on biblical studies and relished the opportunity to study the Old and New Testaments beyond the core M.Div. coursework. A favorite classes was Reading Hebrew, where we dove deeply into Hebrew language and developed exegetical skills. I have also valued my classes with Kathryn Schifferdecker and Matthew Skinner, both of whom have opened scripture to me in new and exciting ways. I think my paper on women in Acts is a fitting culmination to my biblical studies work at Luther Seminary that I hope will serve as a jumping off point for further studies. 

Is there anything else you want to share about your academic and professional experiences at Luther?
It has been a privilege and an honor to serve as a teaching assistant for biblical Hebrew during my final semester. Being able to teach and guide students to appreciate the importance of Hebrew and to apply these new language skills to the interpretation of scripture has been exciting and humbling. I have learned more Hebrew and many other useful skills from the students over the past three months.