R.L. Stewart

Student

“The first stop for black students here should be the Black Collegians Center. They really make you feel welcome.”

Combining body building with a career in Pentecostal ministry: that might seem like an unusual mix to some. But to R.L. Stewart, future minister in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, he’ll just go where his calling leads him. Even into pumping iron. “I really like my weight training classes,” says R.L. with a chuckle. “And if I can become a bodybuilder along the way and get a sponsor to help me out, well then, I’ll go for it.”

R.L. is studying English, Spanish, and political science—a heavy schedule even without the weights. “But I’m just testing out the system right now to see which direction I’ll go in,” he says. “I’m pretty interested in computer technology too. But whatever direction I choose to concentrate on, I feel I’ll always have the ministry. And hopefully, some day, I’ll have a beautiful church and a congregation.”

R.L. reports that SMC has provided him with a lot of new friends and contacts. “The Cayton Center and the Cafeteria are good places to meet people and to talk,” he says. “But it’s really the teachers at SMC that make it all work. I think they’re just very enthusiastic about teaching, and they’re always doing whatever they can to help you reach out a little farther for yourself.” R.L. adds that “right now, I’m really dedicating myself to study. If I do well, I hope to transfer on to Loyola for their theological classes.” But wherever else he ends up in this life, R.L. intends to always come back to the anchor of his ministry. “That’s all I really want to do,” he says. “Help God to help people.”

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