Rev. Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko learned early in ministry that caring for a community begins with listening to its stories.

Her first pastoral call brought her to a historically Japanese American church in Seattle, where she ministered across generations, languages, and experiences of war and displacement. At McCormick, she had learned to approach those differences with curiosity—and to recognize her own story as part of her calling.

Today, as Minister of Spiritual Care and Formation at Park Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Jennifer puts that formation into practice amid immigration enforcement affecting her neighbors.

She and her congregation have responded with prayer, public witness, grocery runs, school drop-offs, and care for vulnerable families. Two fellow McCormick graduates were among the first to offer support, bringing supplies and helping create spaces for prayer.

For Jennifer, whose family history includes Japanese American incarceration during World War II, faith calls her to speak and act. “McCormick empowered me to see my voice as a gift,” she says, “and to understand my responsibility to steward that gift as a global citizen.”

Your gift helps prepare leaders who listen deeply, speak courageously, and care for their communities.

When young people enter The Honorable Timothy Wright’s Chicago juvenile courtroom, he sees potential.

“I tell them there’s a greater power in them that they have yet to realize,” he says.

Timothy knows how far a life can reach. His own journey took him from growing up amid gangs and gunfire in Compton to law school, public service in Chicago, and participation in the legal effort to secure Nelson Mandela’s release.

A search for meaning eventually brought him to McCormick, where he completed his Doctor of Ministry while serving on the bench. His thesis explored how churches can help revive struggling urban neighborhoods, drawing on Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones brought back to life.

Today, his theological formation informs the hope and responsibility he brings to his courtroom.

“I’m doing God’s work in my courtroom,” he emphasizes. “That’s how it shows up.”

Your gift helps prepare leaders whose ministry reaches into public life—and opens possibilities for others.

Honor a legacy. Help shape what comes next.

Support McCormick students preparing for ministry rooted in both proclamation and presence—sharing the Gospel and showing up for their communities. Created in honor of the Rev. Dr. Ozzie E. Smith, Jr., this scholarship carries his legacy forward by investing in a new generation answering the call to ministry.

Help us reach $25,000 to establish an endowed scholarship that can support students for generations to come.

Meet today’s needs. Make tomorrow’s ministry possible.

A gift to the McCormick Annual Fund goes where it is most needed, right when it is needed most.

Your generosity helps McCormick:

• Keep theological education as affordable and accessible as possible

• Sustain innovative, justice-centered academic programs

• Support the faculty, staff, and resources that surround students with care