Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Seminary

Learning to Read All Over Again (Letters to a Young Pastor)

September 16, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 4 Comments

learning to read

Dear ______: It does sound like you are now in the thick of things in your new semester. Glad to hear your new classes are exciting. Sorry to hear that you are finding yourself overwhelmed with your reading assignments. I remember one classmate who added up all the pages assigned for all his classes for […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Seminary Tagged With: Reading in graduate school, Seminary, Speed reading

Learning to Learn (Letters to a Young Pastor)

September 8, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 2 Comments

Dear ______: Last time I wrote I was full of athletic metaphors — the Olympics were a big deal at our house. Now I’m tracking backward from the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and thinking about how thriving in seminary is like learning to swim. We all start out with the flailing […]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Seminary, Theological Curriculum

Getting Through Seminary by Avoiding Contamination? (Letters to a Young Pastor)

September 1, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 2 Comments

Dear ______: The description in your letter of that particular group of students sounds like me when I was learning to swim: I thrashed around as hard as I could just to survive and get out of the water. Many enter seminary with the strange goal of avoiding contamination. I’ve seen two very different kinds of […]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Avoiding contamination, Letters to a Young Pastor, Seminary

Should You Look for a Mountaintop Experience? (Letters to a Young Pastor)

August 12, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 4 Comments

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, […]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Mountaintop Experiences, Seminary

What Kind of Seminary Is This? (Letters to a Young Pastor)

August 4, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 2 Comments

What kind of seminary is this?

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: […]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Chapel, Graduate professional school, Seminary, Spiritual formation

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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