Going to Seminary

I think it’s time for me to start the site NotGoingToSeminary.com.

It’s almost been five whole months since my last article was posted on this site. Much has happened. As I recently revealed in a recent post on my personal site, I’m not going back to Westminster Theological Seminary next year.

I’m a young man. At the time of this writing I am a week or so past my 23rd half-birthday. I have spent every year of my life in school since I was 4. I’ve never had a job with a consistent income. I’ve never made more than $13,000 in a given year. I’m a very, very young man.

I still remember the phone call with my mom almost six months ago where I was asking them to pay my rent again for the umpteenth time (it’s a real word, I promise). She finally said, “Paul, your father and I were going to wait until you were hear to talk to you, but we just can’t do this anymore. We can’t be paying for all this stuff for your brother and you and survive. We need you to work more and take on some of these responsibilities.”

I though she was joking. I thought she was just frustrated then and it would pass and I would just stay in school as I’d always done – as I’d always planned. But she wasn’t. A couple of weeks later I had to face the fact that my plans I’d had since seventh grade had been turned completely upside down. Then the job search began. Long story short, I’ve got a real job now, I’m only going to take one class next semester (a counseling class), and probably won’t ever finish seminary. And I’m really okay with that. I never thought I would be. How did this change happen?

As I was thinking about this this morning, I remembered something one of my old pastors once said concerning the seemingly-never-ending relationship saga of the single twenty-something: “you know, the identity of “the One” is something best discerned through clarity and hindsight rather than ambiguity and attempted foresight.” In other words, it’s better to live your life faithfully, trusting that the person you marry is and has always been “the One”, rather than trying to figure out who that is and then marrying them. The will of God is an ever unfolding present reality unfolding in real-time far more than it is some ethereal “path” we must figure out and make sure we are walking. You may find yourself in seminary one year, and not the next. That is just reality. Prepare your heart to be willing to let go of anything.

So, how do we wade through the murky waters of discerning the call to stay or go? How do you know if this is also the path for you? Ultimately, I can’t give you any 1-2-3′s, I can only tell you what hindsight and clarity have afforded me in respect to this event in my life. After the nail was placed into the coffin of Seminary Year 2, it felt as if scales fell from my eyes and I finally saw how this made total sense and how this was God’s love, mercy, and gift to me. See if any of these ideas resonate, and if so, “examine yourselves” (how do you like that misapplication? Kind of like Hosea in Matthew, huh? Sorry. Different post at a different time.)

First, financially I saw in hindsight that my situation was just not sustainable. This was God’s mercy to me practically. Seeing the trajectory I was on with school, work, expenses, and finances, I don’t know why I was so blind to the fact that I couldn’t go on like this for three more years, over thirty thousand more dollars of debt, and no real work experience (and therefore no marketable skills) to help me get a significant job. Oh wait, my plan had been to go into a five (more) year-long Master’s-Ph.D. program for Psychology, eventually putting me at age 31 with God knows how much debt and never having had a job more prestigious than waiting tables. Maybe some people could make it work. I could not. So ask yourself: Has God clearly granted me the resources necessary to be a good steward of both seminary and life – to do both well and restfully?
Second, theology. This was God’s mercy emotionally. I realized (once more only in hindsight) just how frustrated I had been at the theological differences I have with my seminary. I realized the direction the seminary is going in is one that, frankly, I didn’t want to be associated with five years from now. I’ve realized that those things matter, especially if you are going to a confession-run institution. This really helped make the decision emotionally easier for me. I’m really not going to miss the place that much. I will miss the people, the talks, and a few of the professors that are on their way out there, but not the institution. Ask yourself: Is it seminary per se that I am enjoying at this particular institution or just the people, readings, and a few conversations; and if the latter, would you miss the actual classroom environment if you lost that one thing but still had the others? Where do you disagree with your seminary and do these differences cause more friction than growth there?

Thirdly, I saw much of my growth intellectually stunted. Or maybe just humbled. Or maybe I just matured some. I don’t know. This was, therefore, God’s mercy to me intellectually. This aspect just now came to me and I haven’t really thought through it much. All I know is that at the beginning of seminary I was working on three albums of music, two plays, four books or so, and many hopeful journal articles. Now – all those have more or less fallen by the wayside. I was just too mentally exhausted by the absurdly superfluous and too-lengthy ad nauseam Francis Turretin readings and subsequent reading summaries we were forced to do all semester. I used to have big plans and visions for how to reach the world with the kingdom of God and how I could do that with psychology. Seminary was supposed to help fuel and facilitate these things. Some classes did (especially first semester), but then my thinking waned in many areas. Seminary is supposed to stimulate us to think in ways we never have and then apply Biblical understandings to these things. Ask yourself: Is this causing me to branch out and take intellectual challenges? It is bearing intellectual fruit, or is it just constant sowing and planting and tilling with no reaping or return? Is it causing intellectual ruts to form?

Lastly, sin. As I said earlier, I am a very young man. We have come full-circle. My immaturity has been revealed to me so forcefully in this season. I am merely a shadow of the man I was six months ago. I am more steeped in pride and arrogance than ever in spite of being more aware of that fact more now than ever. The grace and mercy of our loving Savior has shown me deep fear of man issues I am only now wrestling with. I’m realizing more and more of my life has been built upon the need for affirmation and to be built up by the people I make my idols. Seminary was yet another means by which I was trying to prop myself up. Everything both good and bad that I had ever placed my identity in has been taken from me: being an academic, in grad school, a successful writer, a well-known thinker, a culturally astute and well-informed individual in the midst of people that aren’t. Now I’m just a seminary drop-out who’s a counselor in suburban Philadelphia who can barely write blog post.
And this is God’s mercy to me spiritually. It’s incredible. I have never felt more my need and dependency for the One for Whom my soul was made, and for the first time perhaps, I’m tasting the Christian life of repentance I’ve only heard of all my life. I feel so weak, so inadequate, so frail – and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I am more in love with my Savior, restful in His cross, and joyful in His presence than ever, though it’s not in the cheap light fare sort of way. Ask yourself: Is seminary still beautiful? Am I quicker to repent now than two weeks ago? Is not just the workload, but the actual content, revealing my need for Christ? Could I work just as hard at other more fruitful endeavors, perhaps? Am I crying during church anymore? Do I still pray? Do I see my good and God’s glory in this presently?

And maybe that’s the point of this article. More than giving some principles to determine one’s place in seminary. Maybe it’s to encourage you that wherever God has you, it is to this end: that you might see your need for Him and thereby be shaped into His image and your joy. Take heart in a Sovereign, sanctifying God who loves you and is working all things to your good. His will is first and foremost your sanctification and you reflecting His Image more than it is that you go to seminary.

Hold all things with a very loose hand except for the broken body and blood of your slain and risen Lord – hold that very, very dear. Seminary, or no Seminary.

I work at the bookstore at the Orlando campus of Reformed Theological Seminary, and we’ve been slowly experimenting with using Twitter as a way to send out notices about promotions and sales.  We’re slowly building up our number of followers, and we’ve started to garner some business with it.

Aside from RTS and Westminster Bookstore, I’ve had trouble finding any other stores that actively use Twitter.  A whole bunch of publishers have started using it, like Zondervan and IVP.  But if you know of any seminary bookstores that do, please leave a comment with a link.  I’d appreciate it!

Tomorrow is July 1st and summer is in full swing. Now, summer means different things for each of us so I thought it would be fun to see what everyone has planned. I’ve put a few items in the poll already, but feel free to add your own answer and drop a comment below.

There is a book at the RTS Orlando Bookstore called Rural Evangelism: Catching the Vision. I haven’t read it yet, though I want to. The author’s intention is basically to help rural congregations avoid stagnation and decline by engaging in evangelism methods tailored to the rural context they find themselves in.

Christians in rural settings have some unique challenges that Christians in urban settings might not face. For example, most churches in rural areas belong to mainline denominations and are aging and dying (literally and spiritually). It is very difficult to find a gospel-centered church within a reasonable distance. Some of my extended family lives in very rural areas of southwestern Ontario and face this challenge.  Also, for those who are part of healthy churches in rural areas, it is very difficult to grow the church through evangelism because there is both a much smaller population to draw from and a steady decline in population as people migrate to the cities.

Though I haven’t read the book and don’t know of its worth, I’m glad to see that there is at least someone out there thinking through the challenges local churches in rural areas face. While there is good reason to focus on urban churches, as we do today, we need to make sure it doesn’t become an either/or. Rural areas may be becoming depopulated, but the need and the mission of the Church remains. Earlier, when I considered the call to pastoral ministry, I often imagined myself ministering in a rural setting. Still today, when driving through the countryside or even seeing a picture of a rural church building, the issue comes to mind.

Anyway, these were just a few thoughts I wanted to jot down. What do you think? Have you ever considered or engaged in ministry in a rural context?  What are the challenges and obstacles?

As I began discerning a call to seminary, 1 Timothy 4:6-16 came up early and often. Early in the discernment process, when I read that passage, I ended up focusing my attention on parts of verse 6, “you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” Early on, this verse encapsulated my entire motivation and purpose behind pursuing seminary–training “in the words of faith and of good doctrine.” And although the desire in my heart for this type of training was not wrong, I know that I emphasized it to the point that it was the only type of training that seminary would provide and the only type of training that I acknowledged in Paul’s letter.

However, there is another type of training, which may, in fact, be the more important of the two. For everyone in seminary, on their way to seminary (like myself) or considering seminary, we must not forget Paul’s exhortation in verse 7: “train yourself in godliness.” [why? verse 8]: “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” I constantly forget, and thus must constantly be reminded, that scriptural and doctrinal knowledge is not an end in itself. The point of our sanctification (growth in godliness) is not that we would merely know more, but that we would be “transformed into the same image“ (2 Corinthians 3:18) as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Scriptural and doctrinal knowledge is but one means to that end.

How can we tell if we have turned theological training (and thus our motivation in pursuing seminary) into the end itself?

I just recently began reading How People Change by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp. The very first chapter of the book, “The Gospel Gap” called my attention back to 1 Timothy 4:6-16. They essentially discuss how it is possible that there are so many people that know the Lord, “but whose lives fail to produce the expected fruit of faith” (p.3). Lane and Tripp write, “Often there is a vast gap in our grasp of the gospel. It subverts our identity as Christians and our understanding of the present work of God. This gap undermines every relationship in our lives, every decision we make, and every attempt to minister to others. Yet we live blindly, as if the hole were not there” (p.2).

What I found incredibly helpful (and pertinent to “training in godliness”) was how they began to describe different ways in which we fill these holes. Lane and Tripp assert, “Whenever we are missing the message of Christ’s indwelling work to progressively transform us, the hole will be filled by a Christian lifestyle that focuses more on externals than on the heart” (p.7). As I began to read their descriptions of different sorts of Christian externals, one stood out above all the rest in my mind. If you are a twenty-something Calvinist that has Driscoll, Piper, and Chandler on podcast, has a bunch of blog subscriptions, then this one might catch your attention as well (hey, it could just be me!)–Lane and Tripp call it “Biblicism”:

“John is a biblical and theological expert. His theological library includes rare, antique Christian volumes, and he is always seeking to buy first editions. John frequently uses phrases like “biblical worldview,” “theologically consistent.” and “thinking like a Christian.” He loves the Bible (which is a very good thing), but there are things in John’s life that don’t seem to fit.

Despite his dedicated study of Christianity, John isn’t know for being like Christ. He has a reputation for being proud, critical, and intolerant of anyone who lacks his fine-grained understanding of the faith. John endlessly critiques his pastor’s sermons and unnerves Sunday school teachers when he enters the room.

In John’s Christianity, communion, dependency, and worship of Christ have been replaced by a drive to master the content of Scripture and systematic theology. John is a theological expert, but he is unable to live by the grace he can define with such technical precision. He has invested a great deal of time and energy mastering the Word, but he does not allow the Word to master him. In biblicism, the gospel is reduced to a mastery of biblical content and theology.” (p.9)

Lane and Tripp do not make this leap, but I will. What if the first line of “biblicism” read: “John is in seminary”? I pray that my name would not be interchangeable with John’s, and yet I know this describes the type of Christian “externalism” that I move towards at times. I pray that I am not at this point right now, but I know that if I base my salvation on “rightly knowing” about the cross of Christ, and not the cross itself, that this is the form of self-righteousness will haunt me. I can not say this with any certainty, but I wonder if this might describe the struggle that many seminarians will and do face.

We must constantly remember–I must constantly remember–that training “in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine” and training “in godliness” must not be separated. All the knowledge in the world is useless if we are not conformed to Christ’s image in the process. Preparing to enter seminary in the fall, I often recall Jesus’ words to the Jews in John 5:39-40: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” It is a scary thought indeed to be able to claim a great deal of biblical knowledge and still not truly know Jesus Christ, much less sit under His Lordship. As Lane and Tripp phrase it–as a future seminarian myself–I must constantly allow the Word to master me, as I invest a great deal of time and energy mastering the Word.

I urge us all to take to heart Paul’s exhortation: “Keep a close watch on yourself (godliness) and on the teaching (good doctrine). Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). Our knowledge of Scripture does not cleanse us of our sin, only Christ’s blood poured out for us on the cross has that power. I pray that we would not simply intellectually grasp this, but that we would know it in our hearts, and it would transform us “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18) into the image of our Lord.

Seminary students are a transient bunch.  They blow into town, spend three years too busy to do anything but study, and then they’re gone.  For many of them (or, I should say, us), the whole seminary thing can seem like a hassle.  If we didn’t need to do it, we probably wouldn’t.  But is such pessimism really warranted?  In other words, does seminary need to be something that gets in the way of our involvement in church ministry, or can the two be pursued at the same time?  I’m writing to encourage you to get involved in the ministry of your local church while pursuing your studies, and to shed some light on ways of making that happen.

Few would disagree in principle with being involved in church ministry while attending seminary.  It’s just that the actual work involved in being a student gets in the way.  The workload can be especially overwhelming when coupled with the responsibilities of family life, leaving many to feel like they have nothing left to give to the Church.  Perhaps the most subtle temptation, though, is to view the seminary as an extension of the Church.  I won’t say that view is totally wrong, but it need some qualification:

1. Seminary is a ministry to the Church, not the world. Yes, it does minister to the world, but only through the Church.  Many of the professors at my seminary have ministries (many of which are connected to churches) that they are involved in outside of the classroom.  They understand the importance of reaching out to the world directly.  Should we be following their example?
2. Seminary is an institution of learning, not the bride of Christ. In other words, if worship is important to you, then you really don’t have an option.  A good seminary will make no pretense of replacing the Church in this way, but students still need to take care not to let the chapel services and prayer meetings – not to mention the classes themselves – become a replacement for engagement in a church community.

Once we understand the need to remain involved in the Church during our time at seminary, how do we overcome the practical obstacles?  Here are some suggestions to help you choose a church in which to involve yourself:

1. If you haven’t already, get to know your church leaders. This includes pastors (of course), elders, deacons, small group leaders, music team members, and others.  As they get to know you, they’re sure to find ways you can use your gifts to get involved in the ministry of the church.  They’ll also keep you accountable (especially if you ask them to) and seek you out if you’ve fallen off their radar.
2. If you’re strapped for time, consider slowing down the pace of your studies. This one is the most likely to cause controversy.  Shouldn’t I want to graduate as quickly as possible so I can get to wherever it is that I really want to be ministering?  Consider this: Most people I have talked to who finished their M. Div. in three years would take more time if given the chance.  You learn a lot in seminary; but you’re not taking full advantage of your education if you’re not putting it into practice in a local church as you learn.  Make the effort to apply what you’re learning while it’s still fresh.  No one needs a pastor who can get through his M. Div. in three years, yet has never tried to put his education into practice.  Just stretching such a program out to four years is sufficient for many people to have time to invest in their local church community.
3. Become part of your church community. This is the core of what I’ve been hinting at.  If the church is a body, community is the expression of the wholeness and unity of that body.  There are many factors of modern society that make community avoidable: we live in spread out across sprawling cities; we (sometimes) prefer e-mail and online social networking to actually spending time together; and our multiplicity of social circles (of which the seminary community is one) make us wonder whether we need to be building relationships at church.  We absolutely need to be building relationship at church.  How else is the unity of the church body to be realized?

The importance of the Church in the Christian life is rivaled only by the importance of Christ.  After all, if you plan on going in to ministry after your time at seminary, then you plan to serve the Church.  Why not start now?  Offer to lead a small group.  Or even just be faithful in attending a small group.  There are tons of ways you can be a benefit to your church while you’re a student.  In the end you’ll be better prepared for ministry, and you’ll leave the church you attended during your seminary years better than you found it.

I’ve been wanting to update the site for a while now and have finally found the time to do it. The new design is live (RSS readers come check it out) and I’ll likely be tweaking it here and there over the next week.

One of the coolest upgrades in this version of GtS is the inclusion of threaded comments. This means that you can reply to someone elses comments and it will put them inline so that it is easier to track conversations. This is a feature that I’m really excited about since it will facilitate more converastion within each post.

So, hope you like the new digs. Please feel free to drop a comment below and let me know what you think and offer any sugestions you might have.

Cheers all
_ryan

This post was written by Stephen Hess, a Rhode Island native and recent graduate of the University of Richmond, Virginia. Stephen will be heading off to St. Louis in August for the 4-year M.Div program at Covenant Theological Seminary.

About a month ago, I came across an Acts 29 Network Boot Camp message from Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor of The Journey in St. Louis, entitled, “Cultivating a Culture of Repentance.” Presenting some observations from his own pastoral experience, and insights from Dan Allender’s Leading with a Limp, he discussed the need for leaders to have a healthy God-honoring reluctance. Exploring the Scriptures, Patrick elaborated on reluctance in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Just a few months away from entering seminary, I have been trying to figure out what God-honoring reluctance looks like. When does reluctance in the life of leader fail to honor God? As I have been searching the Scriptures myself, God’s calling of Moses in Exodus has provided some initial answers for me. Moses is certainly reluctant to God’s call on his life.

But, what is the nature of Moses’ reluctance? When God tells him that he is being sent to Pharaoh that he may bring God’s people, the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses replies, “Who am I” (Exodus 3:11). Later in that same conversation after God has revealed Himself as “I am” (Ex. 3:14), Moses’ reluctance is voiced again, “O, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Ex. 4:10). These two initial responses by Moses strike me as possible examples of God honoring reluctance. Moses hears God’s call of his life, and then examines his life. Who am I to lead Your people out of captivity? How am I qualified for this task? How can I possibly address Pharaoh, the very person who had the power to enslave Your people? I do not have eloquent and wise words. As Moses examines his own position and his own abilities, reluctance emerges.

Why do I not harbor that same reluctance as I head off for four years of pastoral training? The truth is that I rely more on my perceived spiritual gifts than the Spirit himself. Shouldn’t we all be reluctant to lead in any sphere of life when we examine our own abilities and motives? Maybe I am not as reluctant because there is pride in my heart that needs to ripped out. Do I honestly believe that I am such an excellent communicator that my own words and not God’s Spirit produces heart change? Do I honestly think that just because I read theology and listened to sermons in my spare time as a college student, that those very assignments that I am excited about will not war against me, just as the curse God placed upon man in Genesis 3 reveals? Reluctance to lead and follow God’s call on our life may in fact be honoring to Him when that reluctance arises from a close examination of our own lives.

I love God’s response to Moses, even while there is part of me that begrudges His response. After Moses raises the honest question, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt,” God replies, “But I will be with you” (Ex. 4:10). The improper motivations of my heart to pursue pastoral ministry lead me to begrudge this response. When I think about my own reservations about seminary, I want God to respond by telling me how great a communicator I am, how I have a commanding stage presence, and a bright mind. But He does not respond that way!! When He responded to Moses, and as He responds to me, He does not try to build up our self-esteem, He reminds us of His sovereign power. The strength to lead and follow God’s call does not come from our own strength, but rather God’s presence in us! Our reluctance should never flow from this knowledge.

Reluctance to lead that fails to honor God comes when we not only doubt our own spiritual gifts and heart, but God’s sovereign power and desire. When Moses doubts his own rhetorical skills, God responds, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now, therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Ex. 4:11-12). “Therefore go,” be reluctant no longer. God has all the authority. It is Moses’ persistent reluctance after God’s response here that dishonors Him. The righteous “anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses” (Ex. 4:14) because Moses’ reluctance was a belittlement of God’s strength and power.

As I ask God to prepare my heart for seminary and possibly pastoral ministry, I ask that I would be reluctant for the right reasons. I pray that He would root out all the pride in my heart that speaks only of self-sufficiency and skills. But I also pray that He would provide me with courage to go where He already has all the authority (which is both in heaven and on earth)! I pray that He would mold me into a reluctant leader that is always confessing and repenting from sin, from improper motives and attempts to build up my own name. I pray that we would all have a reluctance that makes Him great and us small.

When I visited the site this morning, I noticed the little Feedburner reader count on the right side. At that time it said we had 277 people subscribing to this blog. That’s a pretty impressive number. It then occurred to me that with that number, we’ve probably got quite a diversity of readers. We’re glad that we can reach out this big of an audience.

That being said, while a lot of you have left comments here, we probably don’t even know half of you. So, just for fun, leave a comment with the following information:

• Name
• Where you live
• Seminary you are currently attending, will attend, or have attended and your degree program
• And blog, if you have one

Knowing who is reading the blog helps us when it comes to deciding on what kind of material would be relevant and helpful. We look forward to meeting you!

This is a guest post submitted by Brian Johnson. Brian is currently working on his M.Div. at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL, where he also serves as admissions recruiter.

“How will I pay for this?” This question is on the mind of every student considering seminary. Many will carry loans from undergrad into seminary. Is there a better way to follow your call than drowning in debt? After all, none of us are pursuing ministry for our own financial gain. We hope to serve the kingdom, and we recognize the importance of seminary training. If you want to avoid a 30-year loan payment which rivals a mortgage, you must think outside the box. Let financing your education be an opportunity to dream big.

I was thrilled when I found out I was accepted to Asbury Theological Seminary. Another step in the path to full-time ministry was unfolding before me. I quickly submitted my Financial Aid paperwork and they awarded enough loans to pay for tuition, books, and housing. I accepted, classes were paid, and life was good. This was the pattern of my first year of seminary. It was a cold winter day toward the end of the fall semester when I received a summary of my loans. I was shocked. How had it added up so quickly? How would I ever repay my loans? This must be wrong! I checked with the Financial Aid department, the numbers were correct. The next few days and week sent me into a time of frustration, which opened into prayer. I had to make a change. I could not continue to accrue debt at this rate. Slowly, I began to sense God wanting to take control of my seminary career in ways I had not previously allowed Him. Suddenly, stewardship became a very important topic to me. I became my own financial aid advocate. Asbury has Financial Aid consultants, but at the end of the day, the loans are in my name. The repayment statements will always come to my address.

My quest to find funding for school has become a second job of sorts. There is a great deal of trial and error, applications and rejections. Even in the midst of a market downturn, there is still money to be claimed. If you are persistent and get creative, you will be amazed by the opportunities.  Here are some tips I hope will encourage you to dream big:

• Get a Job: Working to pay for seminary is not creative in itself; but, where you work can make all the difference. See if your seminary offers a tuition remission/compensation policy for staff members. Are there other schools or universities close by? Neighboring schools will often offer discounts or free classes as a goodwill gesture to staff employees. Also, check with your current employer for educational opportunities. They may not pay for your entire degree, but maybe you can provide justification for how some of your classes will benefit the company. There is no shame in working while being a student.
• Scholarship Web Sites: Some are good. Others are a waste of time. I started my scholarship quest with sites like fastweb.com. Most of the scholarships they found, I had already stumbled across. The majority of scholarship search sites are tailored to undergraduate students. Seminary is a niche market. I suggest looking at other seminary websites for their scholarship opportunities. Outside donors often send applications to a handful of schools even though the scholarship is open to anyone at any seminary. You can also find “minority” scholarships at schools who differ in tradition or denomination from where you attend. Southern Baptist schools offer a good deal of scholarships for women.
• Don’t Forget your Roots: Where did you hear the call to seminary? Chances are a church, campus ministry, or parachurch group influenced your decision. There are likely several in your immediate circle of influence who would be happy to support your call. My seminary even has a Partnering Church program where supporters can give to students in an IRS approved manner allowing donations to be tax write-offs.
• Where Will You Serve: If you are part of a denomination or ministry there is a chance they already have funds designated for students pursing seminary education who plan to return post-graduation. Check with you local pastor or area supervisor to see what is available.
• Be Proactive: You can receive a full scholarship and yet be so bad with finances you end up with debt. Just because you balance your checkbook does not mean you live on a budget. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a savings account to fall back on if you were short on tuition one semester? I strongly recommend courses like Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Programs like Dave’s will set you on course for financial security as you take a very active role in your finances.
• Loans are Not Creative: But they are an option. I recommend using these as a last resort. The key here is stewardship. Remember, it’s not your money. You get to hold it for a while, but you will be required to pay it back, with interest. Only take what you absolutely need and return the rest. You are not required to take the full amount offered.
• Talk to others: See what they are doing. How are they funding their education? Also, get to know your financial aid consultant. I talk with mine about once a month and check for new opportunities. Many times new scholarships arrive mid-semester.

The biggest difference between students who receive scholarships and those who do is not dependent on 4.0 averages, awesome ministry experiences, or amazing essays. Those who receive aid will tell you to fill out any and every application you are eligible for, and even those you are not. You do not have to be top in your class, just persistent. Let me know how you are funding your education. We are all in this together.