Fifty Years, One Home
DECEMBER 8, 2025
Reflections from 50th-Anniversary Reunion
For the Rev. Chuck Cary (MDiv ‘75), McCormick isn’t just a seminary; it’s the place where call and community found each other. It’s where a young pastor-in-the-making learned to read the world with Scripture in one hand and a neighborhood map in the other, and where friendships first took root that would carry him through decades of faithful ministry.
So when McCormick announced a 50th-anniversary reunion during McCormick Days 2025, Chuck — now splitting his time between New York State and Florida — knew he had to come home.
He also knew a reunion needs… people. When he heard RSVPs were light, he reached for the alumni directory, picked up the phone, and started dialing. Laughter. Catch-ups. Many “I wish I coulds.” Distance and waning mobility kept some classmates away, but not all. Doug Ronshine, a friend who has stayed close across the years, said yes immediately. Together, they nudged Hank Kenzie to make the quick drive down from Evanston. Old rhythms returned with each call — voices he hadn’t heard in ages, yet somehow still familiar.
Stepping onto campus for the first time since McCormick’s move into its new building, Chuck felt memory move faster than his feet. Hallways and classrooms were different, but the pulse was the same. “I remember when we were at DePaul,” he said, smiling. “We had an incredible library that felt endless.” The stacks, the smell of paper, the long tables where ideas from Calvin to Cone argued their way into vocation — that’s where the work began.
And it’s still happening.
ONGOING LEGACY
While on campus, Chuck met current students who, in their own ways, are doing what his cohort once did: testing a call in real time. He shared a favorite classroom moment from years past, when the late, beloved Rev. Dr. David Daniels responded to a student’s critique that something “wasn’t reformed enough.” Daniels paused, then asked with a twinkle, “Which Reformation are we talking about — the one in Vienna or the one in Ghana?” The reframing landed like a gentle thunderclap, pushing the young theologian into deeper reflection. A global lens. A wider Church. A larger story.
McCormick has moved four times in its history, trading Lincoln Park for Hyde Park among other transitions. Buildings change; mission doesn’t. Across those decades and addresses, hundreds of students have discovered their ministries here—organizing for justice, preaching good news, and becoming scholars of faith and practice. Each person, each class year, adds a paragraph to the McCormick story.
That’s why Rev. Cary came back, and why he picked up the phone. Reunions aren’t just about nostalgia; they’re about memory doing work — about hearing the past from many voices so today’s students can stand taller. “It’s good to see how the core holds,” he said. “Different walls, same heartbeat.”
ADD YOUR LINE TO THE STORY
If you were formed here — if you found your voice in a classroom, a library aisle, a field-ed site, or a late-night debate — add your line to the story. Call the MTS Story Line at (773) 947-6320 and leave a 1–2 minute memory. Start with your name and graduation year, then share one moment, mentor, or takeaway that still fuels your work. We’ll feature selections to keep the story going.
McCormick is stronger when we remember together, for the students who are here now and those who will arrive next fall, next decade, next Reformation.
