Doin' Seminary: Tips for Surviving Year 1

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

     He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

     he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths

    for his name’s sake.

 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

    I fear no evil;

for you are with me;

    your rod and your staff—

    they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

    my whole life long.

- Psalm 23, NRSV                      

There is no easy way of describing the first year of seminary. 

     It was both fun and challenging. 

     It was both a spiritually formative experience and a scholarly meat grinder. 

     It was a mix of great and not-so-great. 

As with most new experiences, there will always be things that you like about it and things that you really don't like. But, as I reflect on the first year of my own seminary experience (at the School of Theology in Sewanee, TN) there are several very important learning moments that I want to share. 

These will range anywhere from small tips to larger and more important life lessons. But all of them are good!

Learning, after all, tends to be a good thing.

WHAT I LEARNED in Year 1 of Seminary

ACADEMICS

1. Professors are not out to get you, even when they seem like they are! 

     The easiest pitfall that bright, energetic, joyful "Year 1" students can find themselves in is the feeling that some professors just seem like they are out to challenge everything that you hold to be hard and fast truths about Christian life. On the first day of classes, you feel ready for learning. Yet, by the middle or end of the semester, you feel mentally and emotionally exhausted from all of the things you have been taught. When you are in this exhausted state, it is very VERY easy to let what the professor says to get on your nerves, ESPECIALLY when you have "just had about enough of their bull-CENSORED."

     But, the glorious reality is this: most professors are simply not out to get you! They, surprisingly, are also human beings who take great joy in delivering the hope of the Gospel of Our Lord to their students. I would also say that some have great nervousness teaching what they do. Hey, put yourself in their shoes. How would you like to teach students who have full freedom to just outright REJECT a subject that you have literally dedicated most of your life to already? That's not a position that is easy for anyone to be in, let alone professors who are trying to train future ministers in the Church!

     One of the things at the School of Theology that should never be overlooked is the fact that the professors have full knowledge that they are probably not training future academic professors. They are training pastors for the Church's needy flocks. So, do yourself a favor: DON'T fall prey to the idea that the professors are out to get you. 

BUT

2. You do not have to think like your professors think, or believe what they believe.

     There is a grand total of ONE advantage that I had coming into seminary: I had a B.A. in the area of Biblical and Theological Studies from a Christian undergraduate before I began seminary training.

     The reason I mention this is because, as should be apparent to anyone who looks at the way the Church is in the United States, there are so many different disparate voices in the arena of Christian thought that it is literally impossible to read all of them faithfully. However, because of my undergraduate training, it is easier to spot where professors get their theology and how their methods of interpretation are going to differ from other methods. 

     Here's the punchline: I don't agree with some things my professors say. And I still love going to class. I would say that upwards of 90% of what my professors have said have been very insightful and teach the truth. But there is always that annoying 10% of things that just don't work with how I think and why I have come to think the way that I do. ANYONE who goes through seminary needs to learn that it is perfectly okay to not agree with an extremely learned and well formed teacher AS LONG AS you have a rational defense. Don't just be a jerk and disagree without having well-informed reason(s) for doing so. But also don't be uncritical: be an organic, rational human being who is willing to disagree and yet still serve the God who loves us all. 

3. Your GPA (grade point average) does not accurately represent your spiritual formation. 

     I am used to excelling at what I do in school. Seminary is not exception because I work very hard at what I love to study. But one thing that I personally have had to work on is separating my GPA from my spiritual formation. Just because I made a bad grade on a Christian Spirituality essay (a class that I LOVED) does not mean that I'm bad at being a Christian. It simply means that I could do better and that God loves me still. 

     One of my professors once said, "Let's face it. Every grade you receive contains subjectivity. Don't let the fact that one professor marked you down ruin your day. Professors, after all, can be wrong just like students can be wrong." I think that is a piece of wisdom that any student needs to remember. 

SOCIAL LIFE

4. All seminarians are on the same team. We serve the same God.

     If there is one thing that I would suggest to any first year seminarian, it would be this: Love the community you have been given. The School of Theology community has really got this one figured out, in my opinion. NONE of us are the same and many of us fall into various social niches, but we are all still part of the same team.

     Some people are out every Friday and Saturday with their friends having a great time down at the local cafes. Others prefer to have the weekends with their families and just NOT see anyone for a few days. 

     Some people are very open with their opinions in the classroom. Other people really do not like sharing their opinions and they prefer to just listen. 

     Yet, ALL of us have been called by the same God who loves us and has commissioned us to be servants and pastors in the Church.

5. Your best friend in seminary might be the person you LEAST agree with. On Everything.

     I'll be completely honest with my reader. There are some people around seminary that I think are just dead wrong about certain subjects. There are times where I hear a person speak up in class and silently think to myself, "Nope. Just nope." 

     And I'm glad that that this is the case. You know why? Because I need those people just as much as they need me. If we, as future leaders in the Church, cannot set aside our differences in seminary to accomplish the work of God, there is no way we will be able to do so when we get out of seminary either. Will I believe the same things my friend believes? No. But will we confess the Nicene Creed together on Sunday, the ancient summation of the Christian faith? Absolutely. 

FORMATION

6. If you are not going to chapel and doing personal prayer during the week, CHANGE THAT.

     This should be self-evident, but it needs to be said nonetheless. 

     If you are in seminary and you ain't praying, you ain't doing it right. 

     Our academic dean said the following at the beginning of the semester: "While you all are here, you are now professional students. Your job is to read, learn, and write. Seminary is a great experience, but it is not a vacation." I like what he said, but I would add this: "Your job is to PRAY." Don't get me wrong: academics is important and I take it very seriously. But I fully believe it is more important that seminarians develop a robust prayer life than to consume their life with text books. 

     So, on behalf of the Church, GO TO CHAPEL. 

7. Be a self-starter when it comes to spiritual discipline. 

     In seminary, you will learn all you ever want to know about Christian spiritual practices. You will learn about monks who pray seven times a day, fasting practices of the Early Church, and the spiritual disciplines of simplicity and silence. 

     But, as to actually putting them into practice, there is no one who will make you do them. No one requires you to fast, to pray, to go to Mass, etc. If you don't set your spiritual practice, you will have no practice to speak of by the time you have exited seminary. 

     I'm of the mind that spiritual discipline is a REQUIREMENT for anyone who is being commissioned in the name of Our Lord Jesus. Not everyone will have the same practice, but nonetheless, it is REQUIRED of you to grow in prayer, love, and discipline.

AND FINALLY
8. Don't take yourself too seriously.

     Learning about God's work in the world is an important part of the experience of going to seminary, but it is also an opportunity to relax and let go of yourself! As a small example, some seniors put up fake realty "For Sale" signs in front of our chapel and had a picture of our dean as the realtor of "Smells n' Bells Real Estate," advertising to anyone who is looking for a place that has "a nice space for picnicking and a built in pool." Things like that remind me that God created us with a sense of humor, and I just playfully take for granted that all such shenanigans are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

In conclusion: 

My first year of seminary was amazing and it is exciting to think about what next year will bring. 

I pray that these suggestions are helpful! Current/former seminarians, feel free to suggest other helpful tidbits of information.