Modern Day Schoolhouse

Many family living rooms have been turned into classrooms since 2020, with desks added for each school-age child in the family. For one family in Johnstown, Pa., a desk had to be added for mom as well.

Danielle Kendig, who began at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in August 2020, has balanced homeschooling her children with pursuing her M.Div. “I’ve been essentially a stay-at-home mom,” she says. “During the whole first year, when I was doing all of their teaching, we set up a classroom and school was something we all did together.”

So day after day, for two years, Danielle has been both teacher and student. And when she’s not doing that, she’s busy working part-time as the director of Christian education at Westmont PC, and owning and managing Specialty Cycleworks with her husband—a garage specializing in motorcycle repair and restoration, and building hot rods. It’s an understatement to say she and her family are busy.

Danielle first felt called to ministry as a teenager while participating in a youth leadership program. However, it took time for the seeds of that call to grow into what it is now. After high school, she earned a bachelor’s in interior design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, specializing in historical restoration. Yet she stayed active in local church ministry, and found herself frequently having to choose between accepting opportunities in design or opportunities in ministry. Finally, on a Sunday in late spring of 2020, she felt the time was right to enroll in seminary.

“I knew I wanted to go to seminary,” she recalls. “I was just waiting for that green light . . . We had worship in the parking lot, and I was preaching that day. I had preached in the past before, but there was something different about that day. I felt the Holy Spirit moving in me all day and all night.”

That night she told her husband, who encouraged her to apply immediately. Her pastor, a Pittsburgh alum, was not surprised by Danielle’s call to ministry, and suggested she consider PTS.

As it turns out, Pittsburgh Seminary has been the perfect place for Danielle. Despite all her classes being online so far, she’s created community with classmates and professors. And if she takes classes on campus in future semesters, she’s glad the Seminary values students’ families. In particular, she notes that the Fred Rogers Family Room in the Barbour Library means the Seminary campus has a place for both her and her children.

Danielle’s spiritual growth during her time at PTS has been life-changing. She’s gained new knowledge, skills, and confidence for her church position, which she’s held for 10 years. It’s also led to a shift in understanding her call. Formerly, she expected to land in youth ministry. Now she feels called to ministry as a head pastor. She doesn’t know where that will lead her, but just like Pittsburgh Seminary, wherever she goes next will surely have a place for her family too.