Rev. Dr. John Genter teaches the importance of faith and family in Faith and Life classes
Rev. Dr. John Genter, assistant professor at Concordia of theology, philosophy, and biblical languages, grew up in a household where faith was central to life. His dad was a pastor, and his mom was always incredibly committed to her faith life. “Every morning before I woke up, my mom would already be awake, doing her devotions,” stated Genter. Faith was important to him, and it was always in the back of his mind that he would want to do church work.
It remained at the back of his mind for quite some time. Genter began his academic career as a computer science and graphic design major at Rhodes State College. Throughout his time at Rhodes State, Genter had an hour-long commute to and from school each day, and during that time, he prayed frequently about what God was calling him to do.
After about two years of struggling with this sense of calling, a verse came to Genter’s mind. “I remember the verse ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you as well,’” recalled Genter. At that moment, I realized that all those things that were coming to the forefront were telling me that God might be calling me to something I was kind of running away from.”
After that moment, Genter decided to transfer to Concordia University Chicago and join the Director of Christian Education program. “The moment that I got to campus, I felt a very clear trajectory of where I was headed. I followed that trajectory and God opened all the doors to get me here.”
From there, Genter went to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, did a vicarage for one year in San Francisco, and was a pastor in Los Angeles for five years. Afterwards, he accepted a position at Baylor where he was able to get his doctorate and work as a Teacher of Record at the same time.
Throughout all of this, Genter met his wife, Teddie, and had four children. During his time working on his PhD, Genter was able to keep his family important to him because of the emphasis he saw modeled in his own parents about what faith is supposed to look like in a family. “Growing up, my dad didn’t treat his vocation relating to church and ministry as his only vocation. He was busy, but he was always there for me. As a pastor and professor and dad, it can be very difficult to balance everything, but you just have to keep Christ at the center of everything in your family.”
While Genter was navigating his family and teaching responsibilities at Baylor, he saw that Concordia posted a theology position “When I saw it, I got tingles,” said Genter. Genter accepted the job as assistant professor of theology, philosophy, and biblical languages.
Since coming to Concordia, Genter has consistently sought to create classroom environments that foster faith and community. A life of faith is, for Genter, a life in community. For that reason, he challenges those students who hope to start families of their own one day to begin putting into practice right now those habits that will make a vibrant faith life in those future homes: “My Faith and Life course exists, in part, to challenge people to think about how the choices they make now might be shaping the kinds of community they will want to live in and how they will lead in those communities in the future.” He elaborates: “Families that have a consistent devotional life together, for example, usually don’t just spring up out of nowhere one day. More often than not, that family dynamic comes to fruition because one or both spouses cultivated personal devotional practices years earlier. If that is the kind of family environment you hope to have one day, it is worth asking ourselves whether the decisions we are making today are leading us toward that or away from it.”
To broach the subject of faith in people’s own lives, Genter cultivates an environment of vulnerability by being mindful of how he communicates. “At Baylor, some of the classes I taught had Sikhs, Hindus, atheists, and Muslims. I learned a lot about how what I was saying might be confusing or misapprehended by people coming from different backgrounds, and I try to be sensitive to that here,” said Genter. Genter continues to be mindful of that challenge in his various classes. He states that, “I have to draw people in who might not know a lot about Scripture or Christian doctrine, while continuing to engage and challenge those who have grown up in the church and have a solid foundation in those areas already.”
Genter believes that creating a sense of belonging leads to an important aspect of Faith and Life: open, honest communication about what one believes. “It’s much better for students if they own what they believe and have honest, respectful dialogue about it,” states Genter. Genter fosters this environment by being very open with his students and inviting them to do the same. “I make sure to connect with them and get to know them as people. By the end of the semester, I want them to be glad they took the class, even if they did not expect to feel that way when they first registered for the course.”
While Genter understands the value of building community in his classroom, he does not believe he’s unique in that regard. “When I say that I care about my students, I’m just adding to a deep pool of people at Concordia who already care about their students. I love that we are explicitly Christian in our focus. I love the community. Every day at work is a joy.”
Genter is married to Teddie, and they have four children: Zoe, 11, Eliana, 9, Emmet, 7, and Benjamin, 4 ½. They also have a rabbit named Thumper, a Boston Terrier named Jax, and two Guinea pigs: Chrissy and Sally. When Genter is not teaching or spending time with his family, he enjoys hiking and reading.
