Denver Seminary

Doctrine, Devotion, and Duty in Practice ALUMNI & DONORS 10 FALL 2020 For J. Chase Davis, the call to ministry came early in his high school years. A clear desire for a seminary education soon followed when he stepped into the role of pastor following college. Chase and his wife Kim met while studying at Texas A&M University and relocated from Texas to Colorado in 2009. Then in 2011, he started The Well in their apartment. Nine years later, they have grown those initial gatherings into a thriving church in the heart of Boulder, Colorado, and have planted three more churches in Boulder County. "Christians often focus on reaching the poor and the difficulty in meeting both their physical and spiritual needs," said Chase. "But one question we must also address is, how do we reach and impact the wealthy with the gospel?" Boulder is an affluent community positioned in a breathtakingly beautiful spot along the Front Range. As far as appearances go, people's quality of life is far above average. There is a thick interest and openness to a choose-your-own spirituality in Boulder, though not necessarily Christianity. The Well and other growing churches are making an impact in the community for Christ. Attendees of The Well are diverse and educated. "We have a spectrum from young to old at The Well," Chase shared. "We see college students from CU Boulder coming and we greet many professors, too. There is a desire for head knowledge along with heart knowledge." He shared that people come to the questions of faith with the expectation to learn, discover, and find truth. Chase and his team are responding to and building up a community of critical thinkers. Early on in the church's growth, Chase knew his next step. He saw the value of seminary education, a view that was unique among the church leadership at the time. "I wanted to attend seminary to grow in wisdom and to grow the many skills required to lead others in our church. But most of all, I wanted to attend seminary for myself. I love God and desire to know Him and follow Him. I sought the transformation, character development, and biblical scholarship that really only comes from a seminary education." Chase earned a Master of Divinity in 2014 and returned to complete a Master of Theology in 2019. His proximity to campus made Denver Seminary a natural choice, but he said that he was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of denominations, backgrounds, and life experiences he found among his fellow students. "There are niche seminaries that align themselves with a certain denomination and see education through that more narrowed lens. Denver is the opposite. I was amazed by all the different people who are a part of the Denver Seminary community, and that had a huge impact on the way we learned together." When asked what led him to pursue his second degree at Denver Seminary, he humbly shared that his reasons were rooted in relationship. "I wanted to explore and vet my ideas on disciple- making. I had an approach in mind but valued the opportunity to develop those thoughts while in community and in partnership with the professors here." Chase's thesis focuses on Christian spiritual formation in light of John Frame's Triperspectivalism, a theological method that approaches knowledge from three perspectives that, in short, include the authority of God's Word as truth in our world, the internal By Maritsa Redus

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