Your seminary isn’t responsible for your education.  You are.

In the past week, I’ve had the chance to visit with a few current and just-graduated seminarians, and some of their observations have been strikingly similar:

• The seminary environment is too academic.
• The assigned readings are too long, and not really related to the subject matter.
• If I do everything they ask me to, I won’t have a life at all.
• How can I learn to pastor from profs who’ve never pastored?

Most seminaries are built on an academic model, focused on seeing that you master a theological knowledge base in an insulated environment removed from the real world of ministry.

One recent graduate remarked, “It’s one thing to talk in class about the practice of church discipline, it’s another thing to do it sitting down and looking them in the eye.”  The disconnect he saw and lamented was that the ones teaching church discipline in class had never had to actually do it.

Which leads me to emphasize again: Seminary does not prepare you for ministry.  Not by itself. The traditional seminary environment can only provide one (albeit very important) piece of the total picture of your ministry preparation.  Seminary grants to you a theological knowledge base, and provides a credential supporting your desire and calling to serve in ministry.

The rest is up to you.

You must take responsibility for your own ministry preparation.

• You will need real world experience in ministry-so go get some.
• You will need a mentor in your field-so go find one.
• You will need to be with people outside the Christian bubble-so go make some new friends.

If you immerse yourself in the seminary environment in the way students are tacitly encouraged to-reading every book, completing every assignment, and focusing on the subject matter presented in class-two things will happen.  First, you will have spent two to four years isolated from the world, and will be unaccustomed to living with the real, lost people in the world to whom we have been sent.  Second, it is highly likely that you will emerge as a theological egghead, with lots of knowledge but not much love.

Another student I spoke with, no doubt in the middle of mid-term madness, was aghast at how excessively his professors overburdened him with readings, papers and assignments.  “No one could do all this and have a real life,” he complained.

Answer: so don’t do it all, and go have a real life.  You must set your own life agenda… just like you must when you’re in a church.  If you allow the institution to dictate your life, well, then that’s what you’ll get.

A few questions:

• Are you fully plugged into the life of a local church?
• Do you know your pastors well, and do they know you?
• Are you serving at your church?
• Have you sought out someone more experienced in ministry for mentoring?
• What exposure do you have to people who are far from God?  Unless you plan to stay buried, irrelevant in the Christian ghetto, you need to make being with lost friends part of the fabric of your life.
• When’s the last time you ignored an assignment in order to do something more important?

My parting suggestion:

1. Sit down with a blank sheet of paper, and design for yourself, from scratch, a ministry preparation program.  What do you need to know?  What do you need to be able to do?  What kind of experience will you need?  How can you get it?
2. Then compare your program to what you’re doing now: your ministry assignments, relationship, and degree program. Show this comparison to someone who’s been out of seminary and in ministry for several years, and get their input.
3. Adjust your life accordingly.

Similar:

Using Mentors In Seminary

Knowledge is Not Life

Live Off Campus

Our research on theological education as well as surveys with people in the field led us to make mentoring a significant part of our learning model. Many seminaries will involve mentoring during the last two semesters of their study as part of the field education experience. At Rockbridge, we require students to have a mentor for every class. We believe mentoring is supported by biblical teaching. Regardless of your seminary’s requirements, you can enlist the support of a mentor throughout your entire program of study.

We’ve learned that mentoring is best done when initiated by the student. Mentors who are assigned by others often don’t work because there is no chemistry or camaraderie. Look for a person who is willing to inject truth into your life and spend time with you. This should be an enjoyable experience for both of you. You will get as much out of the experience as you want. Let me say this as straight as I can: If you select a mentor that isn’t willing and able to invest time in you, then you are better off finding another learning coach.

It’s a good idea to have more than one mentor. Typically, not every mentor is strong in all areas of ministry. At the first of every term, schedule meetings with your mentor(s). Get them on the calendar early. Mentors are usually very busy people and you’ll have to work with their schedules. Multi-task by meeting for lunch or breakfast, and accompanying your mentor to regular work events. If your mentor is great in evangelism, go together on outreach efforts. Ride in the car to meetings together. Find ways to spend time with each other without adding to your busy schedules.

Go prepared for each meeting. Know what you want to debrief about. Ask questions, seek clarifications, and so on. Go in with an agenda of questions for your mentor, things you’ve learned and especially self-discoveries to share and discuss. Ask your mentors for insights from their experiences and any insights they might have regarding what they have observed in you. The better planned you are, the better the experience. The purpose of these meetings should be to discuss how what you are learning is moving you forward in your spiritual development, in light of your calling. Here are some starter questions to discuss:

• How is this course helping you develop your call to service?
• What questions do you have from your reading or class discussions?
• How do you apply what you are learning this term to your ministry context?
• What leadership skills do you need to develop?
• How can your mentor personally support you moving forward?

When meeting with your mentor, plan to ask open-ended questions to draw out what your mentor is thinking, like

• “What do you think?”
• “Where do you think I need to focus more attention moving forward? Why? How?”
• “What blind spots do you see that I may be missing?”
• “If you were in my position, how would you go deeper to develop in this area?”
• “Have you made mistakes in this area that I can learn from?”

Lastly, don’t forget to say thanks for the investment your mentor made in your life. Send your mentor a thank-you card or small gift to express your appreciation.

Daryl Eldridge is President and Cofounder of Rockbridge Seminary.

www.rockbridgeseminary.org