Visual Storyteller Explores Greatest Story

Student Kyle Sunderland wants to help others understand the story of Scripture

As a young child, Kyle Sunderland always drew pictures of Jesus in the same way: with his arms stretched out towards her. “That’s always how I saw him,” she recalls. Now a professional illustrator and designer, Kyle still likes to tell stories through pictures. She also still believes that Jesus stands with his arms out to the world, which is one of the reasons why she is studying at Western Seminary.

“My biggest passion is helping people see the Bible is for them,” she says.

Kyle began her career as an illustrator, graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design and going on to start her own media business. She also worked in the film industry for several years as a production assistant, which she describes as “project management for movies.” She was involved with several large projects, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Stranger Things.

“I don’t really like having one job, but I try to keep moving in the direction I feel the Lord is calling me,” she says.

A third-generation church musician and the granddaughter of an evangelist, Kyle grew up in the church and has been singing on worship teams since she was a teenager. But it wasn’t until she graduated from college that she began to consistently read her Bible. The more she read, the more questions she had.

“I just like to get underneath things,” she says. “Life is a constant cycle of realizing I don’t understand things as well as I thought I did.”

She realized that seminary would provide her with a structured environment where she could learn more about the Bible. Having grown up in Southern Baptist churches in Georgia, she wanted to find a school outside of that denomination that would offer her a new culture and a well-rounded perspective. That search led her to Western.

Kyle is currently studying in the exegetical track in the MA (Biblical and Theological Studies) program, a more rigorous option that includes 20 credits of Greek and Hebrew courses. When she graduates, she would like to pursue a PhD in New Testament Studies, focusing on how biblical theology converges with Jesus in the gospels. But whether it is in scholarship or in the local church, she is confident that her education will help her give credible answers to honest questions about the Bible.

“If you really understand something, you should be able to explain it to anybody,” she says. “My heart for ministry is to help people feel like they can come to the Bible with confidence, curiosity, and excitement – I think that can be in the kids’ ministry classroom or an academic space.”