Dear ______: Thanks for your note. You are definitely right: seeking a mountaintop experience is by no means the only off-target assumption people bring to seminary. And the assumptions that you bring make a big difference on the experience you have. Anyway, the conversations you mention point to another assumption that can keep people from […]
Should You Look for a Mountaintop Experience? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Thanks for writing. Glad you found the distinction between Protestant and Non-Protestant seminaries useful. Seminary as new car showroom? Yes, your car analogy works pretty well: Protestant seminaries are built on the chassis of an academic program, with spiritual features and option packages. Catholic and Orthodox seminaries are built on a monastic chassis, […]
What Kind of Seminary Is This? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Sorry if I burst your bubble when I said that Seminary can’t really be your church for the next few years. It really depends on what kind of seminary you chose. Like it or not, choosing just about any Protestant seminary means your school doesn’t even try to be a church. Don’t worry: […]
Is There Life OUTSIDE of Seminary? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: I agree: when you are in seminary it can be hard to build relationships beyond that intense Christian community. But you do need a life OUTSIDE of seminary. When I wrote to recommend that you have a real church home while in seminary (despite the comings and goings for field education and so forth) […]
Yes, You Do Need a Church (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Sounds like the first summer of seminary has brought to light a common problem: You no longer have a church. Yes, you do need a church. Yes, as I wrote last week this season is a great opportunity to visit churches of other traditions. But you still need one church to be your community, […]
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