Why study Religion at MC?
Studying religion at Maryville College means learning to understand a complex and rapidly changing world. Religion majors grapple with enduring questions about what it means to be human and they study the rich variety of responses that different human cultures have produced, from the Bible to the teachings of the Buddha. But studying religion also means seeking meaning in the world today: it means contemplating your own place in the universe, understanding why some religious people commit their lives to social justice and others commit violence, examining religious pluralism in the United States, and traveling to any number of our study abroad sites–from India to Argentina to Ghana–to encounter new religious worlds. And religion majors learn skills that are most prized by today’s employers: independent research, precise speaking and writing, and an understanding of diversity.
Meet a Recent Grad
Sam Phillips ’19
Currently: Pastor at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church, Overland Park, Kansas
Sam came to Maryville College with an interest in religion but no idea what his career in the field would be. “What I discovered at Maryville College was that my questions about faith, God, Scripture, and the church were worth taking seriously,” he says. “That experience gradually helped me realize that my interest in religion wasn’t simply academic—it was connected to a deeper sense of vocation.”
It was that sense of vocation that led Sam to choose the Religion major and, later, graduate school, chaplaincy, and now congregational pastoral work.
In his work, Sam often reflects on the meaning of “doing good on the largest possible scale,” the personal motto of Maryville College founder, the Rev. Isaac Anderson. “Perhaps the largest impact is created through a million small acts of love and service,” he posits. He recalls feeling the same small acts of love and growth as a student—through conversations with professors, working in youth ministry, studying religion abroad in Germany, and having the space to explore and be challenged at Maryville College.
“I left Maryville College with more than a degree,” he says. “I left with a clearer sense of who I was, what I cared about, and where I felt called to serve. For a college student trying to figure out what comes next, I think that is an extraordinary gift.”
