Going to Seminary

I wonder if you have a growing list of things you are going to do “when you get time.” For most people there seems to be at least a few things that are on a project list that are waiting for the right time or resources to be implemented. Some of these have more to do with the way we structure our priorities, and others are just waiting for the right pieces to fall in place. Either way, I bet that list (for most of us) is getting longer – not shorter.

My wife and I have experienced this at a couple of times in our marriage. We tried to get the timing right for me to step into fulltime ministry from a parttime role. We tried to wait for the right time to have a child. Once our boy came on the scene we wanted to wait for the right time for her to become a stay-at-home-mom.

In these few cases and SO many more, if we had truly waited for the “perfect” time – we would still be waiting. We have found it easy to find multiple reasons for delaying some life-changing decision; everyone does. But we have also learned that once we acted on those things – God provided. In fact, it became difficult to understand why we had not acted sooner rather than later.

I have had a similar experience with seminary and it became even more evident to me as I completed my journey at Rockbridge Seminary last month. For several weeks I had been longing for (and dreading a bit) the day when I had a week with no assigned reading, with no papers due at midnight, or some other seminary-related action to complete.
I just knew that once I graduated I would have tons of time to jump into the ever-growing pile of books I want to read. I would have more quality time to spend with my family. I was looking so forward to my well-deserved break of doing whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it.

My realization, however, was found on the opposite end of my assumption of all the free time I had coming. What I found is that I have absoutley no idea how I ever completed seminary! When I look at my schedule, there is no room for classes, homework, or papers. There is no time for me to engage professors or fellow students. And defintely no time to read page after page of something that I’m certain would make even God yawn two pages into it.

My point is that if you are waiting for the perfect time to jump in to furthering your education – that time might be right now. If you are thinking that you just can’t add one more thing or that your schedule is too cluttered – just ask yourself if that situation will be better, worse, or the same a year from now. My bet is that you will be just as busy or busier later as you are right now.

Now, admittedly, there are significant reasons to delay the timing of such an important decision, and the contributing factors are much broader than the scope of this post. But waiting for life to cease its incredible demand on you physcially, emotionally, and spiritually will be a long, long wait. Why not jump in and give it a go for a semester? See if you are able to do with seminary the same thing you do with every other hurdle life throws at you – face it head-on and conquer it through Him!

Today’s guest post is by Dr. Sam Simmons. Dr. Simmons is co-founder and vice president for learning design at Rockbridge Seminary. ©Copyright 2010. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Bob rubbed his tired eyes. For three hours he had been staring at seminary Web sites trying to decide where to apply. He was particularly interested in three seminaries but felt like he needed to probe a little deeper before making his final decision.

Returning to the three Web sites, Bob wrote down the phone numbers, and then pulled out his cell phone to make the calls. While dialing the first number, he slowly closed his phone, realizing he needed time to think more carefully about what questions to ask.

I have listened to questions from prospective seminary applicants like Bob for 25 years. In almost every instance, the most important questions were never asked – questions relating to learning design. A seminary’s learning design is how a seminary intends for you to change as a result of completing an academic program – change in knowledge, understanding, attitudes, and skills.

If I could catch Bob before he makes that first call, here are three questions I would suggest he ask before he settles on where to attend seminary.

How will your seminary help me understand and fulfill God’s call?
A generation ago, students entered seminary with a calling to one of a handful of ministry
multiple ministry roles. Seminary courses were developed accordingly.

Today, seminary students are more likely to view God’s call in terms of Kingdom, journey, and relationship. Rather than entering seminary with a calling to a specific ministry role, they are more likely to be committed to a journey of obedience that could include multiple ministry roles.

Seminaries are beginning to adapt to this new kind of student. Some provide an entry course that helps incoming students clarify God’s call and process how they are designed and shaped uniquely for Kingdom influence. With the average age of incoming seminary students approaching 40 years old, help is often provided so an older student can understand how life experience and secular work skills relate to God’s call.

Without some perspective of calling, a student can be overwhelmed with the vast assortment of programs and courses from which to choose. Charting a course of study is easier when a student has a clearer perspective of God’s call and a sharper focus of where ministry development is needed.

How will your seminary help me be more effective in ministry?

The root of the word “seminary” is “semen” or “seed.” The original idea was that seminary would be a season of planting seed into a young minister’s life – seed that would start bearing fruit after the student left the protective care of seminary life and assumed his first ministry position in the real world. Traditional seminary education was built on the assumption that a student would complete seminary before assuming full-time ministry responsibilities.

Students entering seminary today are more likely to be serving already in a full-time ministry position. Instead of enrolling in seminary for credentialing in order to find a ministry position, they enroll in seminary because they need help in being more effective as a minister.

Increasingly, seminaries are seeking to make theological education more directly relevant to local church ministry. Some are responding by designing curriculum that is competency- guided. Others are building assignments in a way that use a student’s ministry position as the primary platform for learning.

When I graduate, how will I know if your seminary has helped me?
Seminary is more than passing courses and receiving a diploma. It is a learning journey of growth and development. The entrance into seminary represents one point in your journey.

Graduation represents another. In between, seminary study has influenced you. After three or more years of study, you have a right to ask how.

Did seminary study help you grow? Are you better prepared to minister? Did the seminary program influence you in the way it was intended? These questions will be difficult to answer unless a seminary has embedded these evaluation tools into the learning process from start to finish.

• At the front end, a seminary should help you construct learning objectives based on God’s call and your ministry development requirements.
• As you take courses, a seminary should help you capture learning snapshots that track your progress.
• As you near completion of your academic program, a seminary should help youevaluate the degree to which your learning objectives were met .

Perhaps you are considering seminary education. If so, gather and study information on your prospective seminaries prayerfully. And as you do, be sure you ask the most important questions.

I was thinking yesterday about the process I went through that lead me to seminary.  It was a long  and drawn out process (here are some excerpts).  While there were MANY factors that influenced my decision to attend seminary, for me the Bible was most influential.  The more I read Paul’s explanations to Timothy and Titus about the role of the Elders in the church, I continually felt as if I fell short in the area of doctrine.  I knew I was called to vocational ministry and that I’d be spending the next 60 +/- years doing it… so I thought that an investment of 3 or 4 years was well worth it for me, my family, and those God would entrust into my care.

So, how about you… what was the most influential factor for you?  No right or wrong answers here… I’m just wondering.

I realized that it has been a while since I’ve written a post for all you out there who are considering seminary. Since the summer is approaching and there are a number of you applying and making final decisions about the fall, I thought I’d throw out an idea I was thinking about the other day… namely, interviewing current students.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, it is actually quite easy to hunt down seminary students online (hmmm…. that sounded shadier than I intended). Anyway, my point is that if you are considering a seminary, it is highly likely that you can find a student (or students) who attend the seminary and have a blog. Simply google: “I attend Seminary Name” or Seminary name blog student and see what you get. Odds are, the search will get you on the right path.

Once you’ve found a seminary blogger, find their contact info and shoot them an email. Explain that you are considering attending their seminary and wanted a students insight. Most bloggers are are MORE than happy to give you their opinion. It is kind of the whole concept behind blogging…

Now, in giving this idea I feel it is also important to also say that you should take any replies you get with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, you don’t really know the person you contacted… they could have just bombed a test and, at that moment, have very unhappy thoughts about their seminary. So, keep that in mind. But, none the less, this is another way for you to navigate the tricky and sometimes overwhelming waters of selecting a seminary.

(If you give this a try, report back to us and let us know if it was helpful!)

I got an message via the contact form this morning that is certainly worth sharing. A web developer, John, from Dallas Theological Seminary sent me a link to a cool little program they wrote that will compare a number of seminaries across various criteria. While it doesn’t have every seminary or every category of information you might want, it is a really cool tool for those in the process of trying to select a seminary.

Also, I really appreciated that John said,

Of course, one can never choose a seminary based on these factors alone, but we thought it would helpfully summarize a lot of data that future seminarians are trying to wade through.

Remember, choosing a seminary isn’t as simple as clicking some checkboxes and waiting for a computer to tell you where to go to school. However, a tool like this can certainly help provide some good information, and better yet, let you see that information compared to other schools.

These aren’t four magic steps. I just thought it might be helpful for those who are wondering how to start the process of finding a seminary if I gave a couple “first steps.”

1. Pray – Seminary is a big decision. So much of what you learn at seminary will greatly impact your ministry down the road (whether vocation or not). With so much riding on this season of your life it is only proper to being your search in humble prayer before your loving Father God. Place your life and decisions into his hands and commit the whole process to his glory. From first to last, keep prayer a central theme in your journey to find a seminary.
2. Talk – Now that you’ve talked to God, talk to people. Start with your pastor. Set up a meeting with him to discuss your desire to attend seminary and ask for his prayers, insight, and thoughts about what a good seminary might be for you. Along with your pastor, talk to friends, family, and acquaintances who might have some insight on the subject. Also, if there are a few schools you are particularly interested in, call the school and ask if they have any alumni in the area. Try and contact them and discuss the school.
3. Surf – Hit the net. All seminaries have a website (well, that is an assumption… but a pretty safe one I hope). Check out their site and find out as much as you can about the programs they offer, the professors on staff, and any other info you can glean. Many sites will also have a contact form that you can fill out online to get more info in the mail and to have an admissions officer contact you.
4. Pray – In case you already forgot… pray.

These steps are a great starting place in looking for a seminary. There are lots of seminaries out there and I know it can be overwhelming, but stick with it and you’ll find the right one.

Anyone else got some good first steps for the folks just starting down this road?

I’ve blogged previously about one pastor’s opinion on how to decide on a seminary and, somewhat related, I’ve given my thoughts on what seminary is the best, so now it is your turn to weigh in… What do you think is the most important factor when trying to decide on a seminary?

I know there are multiple factors, but which one do you give the most weight to?

Since everyone has different criteria, I’ve given the option for you to add your own response to the poll.

As always, feel free to “talk” out your two cents in the comment section.

Trying to decided if God is calling you to seminary or not can be difficult. While you could give the magic eight ball a try, there is probably a better way to determine what God is calling you to do.

For me, I found Finding the Will of God by Dr. Bruce Waltke to be tremendously helpful. While I already knew a lot of what Dr. Waltke had to say, it was refreshing to be reminded that I was on the right track as I sought to discern God’s will.

In the book Waltke reminds us that God is not some conman trying to hide his will from us… Rather, God is our loving father and his will is probably easier to discern than we sometimes think.

Waltke spends the first 1/4 of the book bringing correction to what he calls “Christian divination” that appears to be nothing more than what every pagan does when trying to conjure the will of the gods.

After his professorial/pastoral rebuke, Waltke offers biblical council on how we can rest assured that we are hearing and following our glorious and loving father.

Incredibly practical and biblically based, I often recommend this book to friends and family who are struggling to make big decisions.

A good number of people end up at goingtoseminary.com by searching some derivative of “best” and “seminary.” So, I figured I should take a moment and address the topic.

Actually, the real motivation for this post was a thread I read on a forum today that started something like this:

“What is the best seminary? Money isn’t a factor.”

That was it… nothing else… Just tell me which one is best.

Two days later 40 people had posted their 2 cents about this seminary and that seminary and why everyone else was wrong. It was really strange to read the responses. I tried to set up an account so that I could give some advice to the young man, but for some reason the forum didn’t like my post and it was rejected twice… so I gave up.

What I wanted to say to the young man and to all who query “best seminary” is that there isn’t a single “best” seminary. The reality is that the right seminary for me might not be the right one for you. That is why I go to great lengths at goingtoseminary.com to not reveal what seminary I am attending. I think that each of you need to do the hard work of asking yourself what it is that you are wanting to get out of your seminary experience and then find the seminary that best meets that need.

For example, if you really want to study and learn about urban church planting… then you probably don’t want to attend a seminary that is out in the woods somewhere and has no classes on church planting. Make sense?

To find “the best seminary” takes time, energy, and effort. It requires you to examine your own heart. It requires prayer. It requires getting council. It requires talking with professors and visiting campuses. It takes work…

So, what is the best seminary? You tell me…

Going to seminary has always been a desire of mine. Well, maybe not always… but for a long while. I’ve even tried my hand a taking seminary classes online. In the end it never panned out for me. So, when and how did everything change for me? Well, the story goes something like this:

About 4 years ago my wife and I moved from the south to the not-quite-north. The move had lots of factors… FAR too many to go into here. But we packed the car and headed on the journey with a couple thousand dollars in the bank and an apartment waiting for us. The main reason we ended up in our city was because of a pastor and friend who had recently started a church was here and had mentioned that, at some point, there might be a job for me.

So, my wife and I started working off jobs and just scraping by. After abut a year I spoke with the pastor and discussed my desire to return to full time campus ministry (that is what I had been doing in the south for the 3 years prior to the move). We agreed that it was good timing and started to work towards me coming on staff. The one catch is that, as a campus minister, I had to go out and raise a financial partnership team. Some of you know what I’m talking about… for those who don’t, basically I went to lots of people (friends, family, friends or friends, and so on) and explained my passion to see college students impacted with the gospel. I then asked if they wanted to partner with me financially. And, low and behold, some did.

Now, the problem was that I was REALLY bad at the whole process. While I managed by God’s grace to get enough money to live, it was always tight and difficult… then we added little man… then a house… then sweetpea… then a mini van… over the years our expenses increased, yet income didn’t quite keep up. I was forced to work second jobs and long hours. It was always stressful… We were getting by, but we weren’t sure how long we could keep it up.

Finally, last summer we spent some serious time asking God what we needed to do. I could not see spending another year working 60-70 hours a week to just scrape by… not knowing if it would be a “good” month or a “bad” month. We felt like the grace might be up for this season of life. So, we asked God, “if not this… then what?”

Seminary.

It seemed like an odd answer. We can’t pay the bills now, how will we pay them there? How could this work?

Well, we prayed, talked to friends and family, and thought about it a lot. After about 3 months of consideration… I quit my job. Now, that sounds harsh, and it really wasn’t. My pastor was very supportive and agreed that this seems like the right thing at the right time.

So, here we are… 6 months later… according to our plans we should be packing boxes and preparing to move back south… none the less, that is not what seems to be happening.

So, that is how it went down for us. We’re still in the process. God used (uses) His word, our situations, our friends, and the passions he has given us to help us know where we need to be and what we need to do…

and, by the way, while the story might have sounded rough, I must make it abundantly clear that we have lived a very comfortable life and God has never left us unprovided for. There were times it might have been a little tough, but God has taken care of our every need and many of our wants… To Him I am grateful forever.