Seven Thoughts on Seminary
Don't even start with the "cemetery" jokes.
It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the Perkins School of Theology. A few weeks ago I went there to attend a lecture. Things have changed considerably since I was a student. Much of the faculty has turned over. There is a labyrinth in honor of Professor Ruben Habito. They’ve built the large and impressive Prothro Hall. I’ve changed, too. I have a lot more gray hair, for one thing. I’m a dean now, too, which accounts for a lot of the gray hair.
Perkins, and even more so the Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU, was like a refiner’s fire for my intellect. I must have been a tremendous pain as a student, particularly early on. I was curious but undisciplined. I was all over the place with my interests. I was intellectually and spiritually immature. I had no idea of how much I didn’t know.
My professors were more patient with me than I deserved. I remember that these days when a student is tap dancing on my nerves.
Returning to Perkins after so many years away impressed on me how grateful I am for what I received there. Between my MDiv and PhD, I was in that space for a long time. Although my PhD wasn’t through the seminary, I was living and working among the seminary community. I came out a different person than when I entered.
All this is to say, my own journey of theological education was deeply formative. I have seen, moreover, how formative it has been for others. Seminary is where we learn the habits of mind that will shape our ministries in the days ahead. As we think about theological education moving forward, it behooves us to ask, “What kind of ministers do we want?” Working backward from that question to the curricula of seminaries would serve the church well.
I suggest the following as conversation starters about the work of ministry and the preparation we provide through theological education. (Of course I have seven points because we Christians like the numbers seven and twelve, and I couldn’t think of twelve. But anyway….)
Ministers should love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love their neighbors as themselves. Put differently, they should possess Christian character. Seminaries, then, should help students to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and the sanctifying grace available to those who have faith.
Ministers should confess the faith of the church. This means that seminaries should immerse them in the historic, consensual Christian tradition and help them to understand how to proclaim these truths in the work of preaching and teaching.
Ministers should think “Christianly.” They should perceive the world through the lens of divine revelation and the church’s historic interpretation of it. Seminaries should teach students particularly Christian ways of approaching the pastoral situations and ethical issues they will face in the work of ministry.
Ministers should be sensitive to Holy Spirit. Thus seminaries should help students develop practices of prayer and other disciplines that help them hear God’s voice. Seminaries should help students to grow in the gifts of the Spirit.
Ministers should know the Scriptures and be able to apply them for faith and salvation in the life of the church. In seminary, then, they should not only learn more about the content of the Bible, but develop a deeper understanding of Scripture’s nature and function. It is important for those in the work of ministry to apply Scripture sensitively in accordance with its salvific purpose.
Ministers should be able to engage people from a variety of beliefs and backgrounds. Seminary should equip students to listen, engage different perspectives, think critically, and articulate their own beliefs in ways that are clear and compelling. In other words, seminaries should help students cultivate intellectual virtue and avoid intellectual vice.
Ministers should be well equipped to lead people to faith in Christ. It is incumbent on seminaries, then, to cultivate in students the skills of evangelism. Moving forward, apologetics will become increasingly important as well, though we may have to reframe the apologetic message from arguments for the truth of Christianity to arguments for its goodness. I’ve touched on this topic here.
So… What did I miss?
Well done. Thinking backwards is critical to designing processes to produce the desired result. One thing I missed in your list of 7 (8 is not so holy!) is a clear focus on the Great Commission and the worldwide mission of the church. An outward focus is incumbent on an effective church. I helped found an undergraduate seminary in Venezuela and we made numerous mistakes over the last 21 years. However, one thing we did well was a clear focus on the practice of ministry which fulfills the mission of the church. That has produced thousands of new believers and continues to multiply in Venezuela and at least 8 (there it is again) other countries. Blessings on you.
Dr. Watson, thank you for this piece. As representatives of Jesus Christ and His Church, I believe ministers need to live incarnationally and reveal the Christ in them through acts of mercy and compassion - ministers should meet folks in their messiness and brokenness before attempting to redirect them to a better way found only in Jesus Christ. Ministers should have nothing to do with pandering to the whims and caprices and itching ears of their members but should speak the truth in love knowing that teachers will be judged more strictly. Ministers should always be humble and embody Jesus Christ. Often times, folks think because they are seminary trained and have a "Master of Divinity" they have mastered the divine which can sometimes come across as unintended arrogance. Ministers should always be mindful that there is always a lot more to learn and should therefore be diligent students of the Bible and other resources to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. Ministers should not only invite folks to come to Jesus for rest as He invites in Matthew 11, but they should also model for their congregants what that rest looks like. Always a blessing to read your posts. Grace and peace!