10. Seminary is not church camp; if you want to relive camp’s glory days volunteer at camp.
9. Greek may be as difficult as you’ve heard, but it’s worth it. Some people even think learning Hebrew is fun!
8. You read a whole bunch of books other than the Bible.
7. Unless you want to date a seminarian, it’s a killer on the love life.
6. Seminary is about disruption and putting a stronger faith back together again, not just cementing your current understandings.
5. Pastors don’t make much money and an M.Div. isn’t marketable beyond the church.
4. Consider several seminaries; like ice cream, they have have their own flavor.
3. If you love God, love people, and love the church, seminary may very well be for you but Jesus loves you just as much without an M.Div.
2. If your idea of a great dinner conversation includes mention of the Trinity, predestination, or a distinction between the gospel writers, seminary may be just what our God ordered.
1. If you’re seeking a degree that will change yourself and empower you to change the church, sign right up.
More?
image by Marja Flick-Buijs
3 comments:
#2 sounds like it belongs in a new thread - You might be a Redneck, oops, I mean Seminarian, if ....
#1 hits me a bit hard. Change is tough to come by in the church.
#7 doesn't apply to married seminarians
You aren't there yet, but maybe mention of raising PK's is in order. Or maybe mention of the expectations placed upon spouses of pastors. Or maybe the desire of small congregations to have their own savior (it seems they are willing to crucify the pastor if they can't live up to the good points of all the pastors in the memory of those in the congregation).
Great post. One thing that I would like our denomination to seriously consider is the role of a seminary education for lay people and accessibility to that education for people who are looking for a job in ministry and for those who aren't.
#5b -- consider learning how to make tents.
#7b -- some seminaries don't even offer that option. it's Match.com all the way.
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