seminary
Facing theological ed’s existential crisis
Four schools and the creative paths they’re charting
What happens when Mormon women are called to ordained ministry?
Talking with five former LDS members who left to go to seminary
by David Howlett and Nancy Ross
The formation of Martin Luther King Jr.
Motivated in part by the whitewashing of a radical legacy, Patrick Parr explores King's seminary years and the roots planted there.
What I learned from our seminary's conflict about hosting Tim Keller
At times, the cost of theological diversity is painfully clear.
Studying while black
Am I using my gifts and my body in a faithful manner, given my abilities? To be honest, one of the most encouraging things I had to hold on to was when I remembered the words of James Cone as he accounted for his own struggles back when he was in graduate school.
Something old, something new: Innovation in theological education
Why is theological education necessary? What are the conditions of its fruitfulness? Such questions are both basic and perplexing.
Figuring out faith
In divinity school, professors engaged my heart and mind—and began the process of helping me figure out what I believed and whether it was important enough to give my life to it.
Architecture of thought
Our intellectual architecture is being dismantled. But it is also being reassembled. I use the architecture metaphor because I believe that what we are creating will be in place for many decades to come.
Cooking from scratch
Frozen lasagna is also a pretty good metaphor for how church has been working for many communities.
M.Divs. without collars
I enjoyed Michelle Boorstein's piece of reporting on M. Div. students who aren't headed for parish ministry. She details how some seminarians seek to be ministers of a sort as part of their calling to other vocations; she also touches on the challenges of post-Christendom pastoring and the need for more flexible and affordable paths through seminary.
Revisioning seminary
It’s time for bold, creative experiments in preparing women and men for the unique challenges of 21st-century ministry.
Face-to-screen learning: Seminaries go online
The idea that students will reside on a campus and attend classes at specified times seems increasingly quaint.
Making ministry difficult: The goal of seminary
For all their problems, churches are often a good deal more self-critical and boldly innovative than seminaries.
New clergy, new churches: Church planting as a first call
Emily Scott had an idea: what if young adults got together for a weekly agape feast? Soon St. Lydia’s was born--but Scott was not ordained.
Cell groups: Inmates and seminarians study together
Vanderbilt was not the first school to offer theological education in a prison. But it did pioneer the approach of having seminarians learn in company with prisoners.
Forgive us our debts
You might be on a committee that thinks that a candidate needs that extra training before they ought to be ordained. They could use some time in a hospital setting or in a real world setting before they earn that REV before their name. If you are, then let me tell you something that the seminary student under your care can’t tell you: students can’t afford it any longer.
Devotional difference
When I first came to Harvard, the weekly
worship service was recognizably Protestant but flexible and welcoming. Over the years, our students have urged us toward
new ways of gathering.
Is this relevant to ministry?
I'm a part-time student at a denominational seminary, where I'm working (very slowly) on an academic-track masters. It's generally been a good experience, but the school's not a perfect fit. Again and again, professors and coursework assume a ministry context.
Bearing testimony: Ministry in the 21st century
"People need to hear the good news," says Katherine Willis Pershey of First Congregational Church in Western Springs, Illinois. "If the church doesn't take on this mission, I'm afraid—well, that's where that sentence can end. I'm afraid."
Second-semester longings
I wasn't sure how many people I would find at our first weekly Eucharist
of the term. Driving was impossible, even if one mustered the will to
dig out one's car for the third time in three weeks.