Before seminary, Jacob dipped his toes in many academic pursuits, including music, music therapy, and psychology before graduating with a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Wyoming and its Honors College. While studying for the Office of the Holy Ministry, Jacob developed a passion for the way the Church expressed herself through the ages via music, poetry, and visual art. His first year after seminary (and his first year of marriage to Mary) was spent researching and writing the STM thesis, Storytelling as Doctrinal Identity: John, Paul, and the Parting of the Ways under Charles Gieschen. He and his wife enjoy playing race cars with their son, hiking in the mountains, gardening, reading good literature, and watching Law and Order reruns. He now serves Saint John’s Lutheran Church in Lovell, Wyoming and researches English renaissance literature at Trinity College Dublin under Mark Sweetnam. Despite sharing a non-German last name with other Lutherans, Jacob is not related to any other Bensons at Wittenberg Academy.
