So I got this comment recently, and seemingly proceeded to ignore it:
A small personal update (not wholly unrelated to the post). After many years of consideration, I've decided to pursue a masters of divinity with a goal of parish ministry and ordination. This has been a long time coming, a more complete explanation can await another comment (I am struggling to write my application personal essay, try and explain your spiritual awaking and path to faith in two double spaced pages.) My original plan was to consider this in another three or four years, but we unexpectedly have become empty nesters (another explanation that will have to wait, other than to say it was because of series of semi-miraculous events that presented our youngest with an incredible opportunity). For the first time in 27 years not having children at home opened up the possibility of starting now rather than later. I am applying to three seminaries associated with the UCC that offer remote learning I can pursue while I continue to work. I have too many current and future school and college bills to quit my current position and attend full time in person. The number of students looking toward ordination continues to drop, the idea of "church" is rapidly changing, and it's hard to know exactly what everything will look like in 4 or 5 years when I hope to finish. That makes this both unsettling and exciting at the same time. A good note is that I am finding a lot of support, from my current pastor, the pastor at my previous church and many friends. My current church has experience with members in discernment, they are already working to put together a small committee for support and guidance as I apply and hopefully start seminary next fall.
There is much more to write, but I wanted to let you know and to more importantly thank you for all the conversations here that I feel are an important part of my move toward discerning a call.
I wasn't ignoring this, I was trying to find time to get on my computer (with a REAL keyboard) and answer it properly. I had great plans in that regard.
Which are all going to end up being this.
I can't say much about the UCC seminaries. Almost everyone I knew on the faculty at Eden is gone now (retired, moved on, etc.). The professor I knew as the "junior" NT professor rose to Academic Dean after I graduated, for example. The elevation was because of her qualifications and the fact she was ordained (the other NT professor was not a minister. Some of the faculty were, some weren't. They were, however, uniformly excellent, in my estimation.) The three seminaries I’m familiar with are CUE: Chicago, United, Eden. Eden is the one i attended; all I know about United is that Reinhold Niebuhr was on staff there (although he was briefly on the faculty at Eden before that). I was actually near United in August, visiting the Robie House on the university campus. Next door but one was the seminary bookstore. I wanted to go in, but my wife and daughter knew I’d never come out, and we had a full day planned.
So that's what I know. On-line seminary is a new one to me, but that doesn't mean I dislike/disparage it. I taught on-line courses for years at the local community college. I think it's an excellent resource, though I'm glad I got to live on campus at Eden for two years, and then commute from a local church where I was the student pastor for another two years. The experience was part of the education, and some of the education was visiting churches (how I ended up one Sunday morning in a Catholic church still worshipping in Latin, and another at one of the biggest black churches in St. Louis, where the service ended with the pastor on the PA urging people to clear the aisle and the building so the next service could seat and get started. And that service ran leisurely over-time, but no one was in a hurry to leave.) There's a lot to say about being in the seminary community, but those are my memories, not yours.
I was going to say something about the fearsomeness of falling into the hands of the living God, but that's more appropriate after you've been in seminary for a bit and begun to take on the responsibilities of ministry. For now I wish you all the blessings of God and welcome you to the blessed community, and rejoice that you have heard your call and answered it, and wish you all Godspeed and grace and peace to your family.
Because you richly deserve it. May it be for you a great adventure.
Thank you for the thoughtful and `kind words, especially the final paragraph. You are prescient, the three seminaries where I am applying are Eden, Chicago Theological and United. As you know they are each associated with the UCC, along with having established remote learning programs. I have spoken with each of their admissions departments, Eden even set me up for an zoom call with the current professor that teaches the UCC polity class. I was initially unsure about attending remotely, that it would be a much lesser experience. Having talked with several people who are pursuing their MDiv.'s online I started to feel better about the experience. The advantage of going to a UCC affiliated school is that coordinating with the local UCC committees to arrange internships and other experiences should be at least theoretically easier. Reality is that I will have to do more leg work to set up these positions, but I will at least know who to call and who can help. The turning point on attending remotely came when I was researching another school that offers a traditional full time, on campus program and a hybrid Friday night/Saturday set of classes with a remote option for students that need to continue working. They published their student numbers. The hybrid program has 33 students this year, the traditional program has 3. Each school emphasized that they work to create community even remotely. There are zoom meetings outside of classes, remote students in regions get together, and the professors work hard to regularly spend time even with their remote students. The reality is that seminaries and the students attending are changing. I kept asking, "Am I unusual to be in my late 50's and working yet still wanting to attend?" The answer over and over I was more typical than unusual.
ReplyDeleteYale, Harvard and University of Chicago can demand full time attendance on campus, but for many of the other schools they are working with non-traditional students that need flexibility to able to attend. Their experiences after graduation will also be different, more students are working on MDiv's with a focus on chaplaincy, less are interested in pastoral positions. From even more recent grads, the comments are the seminaries are even smaller than a decade ago. The new term being used is co-vocational, pastors will need to have another job to supplement their church salaries. The churches can't afford full time pastors. So my need to work now, and even continue working (with four children there will continue to be many college bills, to which I will now add my own) as I work toward a call and ordination if I can make it through the whole process. To want a less than full time position as a pastor after I am done being an attorney turns out to fit well with the future realities of the church.
It's both scary and exciting that so much appears in flux. I have kept in touch with my former ELCA church and synod. The synod has a pastor on staff working full time with congregations that are in the process of closing. The ELCA just announced an initiative to review the relationship of the denomination, synods, seminaries, campus ministries and more, and how to adjust for all the changes. The last time they did this it took 5 years. This time is more urgent, they need make changes now, so the timeline is a year and a half. I've been following a pastor that does statistical analysis of the various surveys on religious affiliation, attendance, etc. (Ryan Burge, Graphs About Religion, you can sign up for the basics for free). The last ten years have shown substantial drops in affiliation, attendance and a rise of the nones (spiritual but not religious) and atheists. In even five years the landscape is going to be very different.
ReplyDeleteSo despite the uncertainty, I am forging ahead. With some luck I will finish my applications in the next couple of weeks. I will then have interviews with Eden and United, Chicago generally makes their decisions on the application (it is also the largest of the three so that isn't surprising). My plan is to start next fall, but my applications will technically be submitted in time for the spring or summer semesters.
Again, thank you for the blessing. It means much to me. I'll keep you updated on my progress.