Cortney Lemke to Lead Admissions for Phillips

Philips Theological Seminary welcomes Cortney Lemke as its new Director of Admissions. In her role, she will be responsible for guiding prospective students on their path to becoming enrolled students and members of the Phillips community.

“I am encouraged by the creative, collaborative, and justice-seeking values of Phillips and am eager to accompany students as they develop life-giving and difference-making theologies,” Lemke said.

Lemke says her experience as part of a non-church family and “Air Force brat” inform her interfaith and ecumenical spirit that helps her be a bridge for individuals from diverse backgrounds and places interested in personal and spiritual growth.

“Having grown up in myriad diverse spaces (in order of life: Alaska, Arizona, Japan, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri), I learned early to adopt a ‘yes/and’ worldview and recognized from a young age how life experience shifts our hermeneutic experience of God and ‘other,’” she said. “I am delighted to add Oklahoma to my ever-expanding lists of ‘borders crossed’ and am eager to learn more about its social-spiritual geography.”

Lemke recently received her MDiv from Saint Paul School of Theology where her studies specialized in women, church, and society. She also served as class co-president and student recruitment representative.

“I am excited to join Phillips during a time of great transition,” Lemke said. “Many in the church and religious education spaces see downward trends and visualize catastrophe, but the practical and relational culture of Phillips allows the institution to recognize the gravity of these downward trends yet embrace change as an opportunity to transform their scope and offerings.”