Shariah Anderson remembers being five years old when she “very consciously accepted Jesus Christ” into her life as an “ever-present friend.” As a child, she enjoyed learning more about Jesus with her family and through Scripture, where she saw Jesus as a loving safe haven. As she grew older, Anderson began taking note of how Jesus and religion were talked about in more public settings.
“I noticed how certain pastors were very political,” Anderson explains, “but Jesus didn’t talk about politics in terms of Republicans and Democrats. So, I started asking, ‘what’s going on?’ because what I was hearing didn’t really align with what I read. Little did I know, I was becoming a little Bible scholar and planting the seed for going to Divinity School.”
Throughout her educational career, Anderson grew even more inquisitive. She would notice when certain teachers or course curricula were less inclusive—particularly with what voices were (or were not) being represented in different lessons. She began to ask more questions, guided by curiosity and grace, that she hoped would help educators examine their practices. In advocating for more diversity and inclusiveness within education and within the church, Anderson found her own voice.
“I have been lucky and privileged to be able to speak up in class and around HDS, and for people to say, ‘I hear you,’ and to see changes being made,” Anderson shares. “It has been really special for me to see that using my voice actually does make a difference.”
When asked about highlights of her time at HDS so far, Anderson notes a new course offering: “I took ‘Theories and Methods in the Study of Black Religions’ with Professor Ahmad Greene-Hayes, and it was amazing!” Before Anderson arrived at Divinity School, she was interested in pursuing ministry but was unsure of what a pastoral career could look like. In her second year of study, she now sees how her calling to ministry could come to life through a number of different paths. “I’m interested in becoming a pastor who is involved in youth ministry, with helping individuals who are unhoused, and/or working on next steps to help those who have been incarcerated integrate back into society,” she says, “and I have grown really interested in sports chaplaincy, as well.”
A natural leader, Anderson was elected to represent the School as the 2023–24 president of the HDS Student Association. She hopes to generate conversations across religious beliefs and denominations here on campus as she prepares for what life after graduation may bring.
“I want to start interfaith conversations and see a cultivation of community that can disagree and still find kinship,” Anderson says. “True love is not just shown when you’re around people that always agree with you, love you, and affirm you. True love—like the Bible talks about—is shown even to those who do the opposite. Even when we disagree, or are under attack, we can still love and respect each other.”
—by Danielle Daphne Ang