I have now survived the first week of my next to last semester of seminary. I must say that I have some very mixed emotions about this semester. I think that it is potentially going to be one of the best series of classes yet, as well as perhaps the hardest semester yet.
The first class is “United Methodist Polity.” (Doesn’t that sound exciting?) I actually haven’t attended this class yet. When I arrived on Monday there was a message reminding me that this class won’t start until September 8th. Reminding me? That is to somehow assume that I knew this to begin with. I checked the course schedule, and it said that it started this week, and I checked with some of the other students and they didn’t know about it either. So, I think that when they “reminded me” it is a bit like the times I “remind” Karen when perhaps I forgot to tell her about it to begin with.
The next class is “The History of Christian Spirituality.” This is going to be excellent. The professor, Jeff Jaynes, is wonderful, albeit a bit strange, (in the good sense) and the course looks like it will be very comprehensive. As usual,there will be a lot of reading and writing but no tests (YEAH) which is good when you have a 48 year old brain.
I also have an advanced preaching, Homiletics, class this semester, the interesting thing is that it is titled “Spirituality Foundation Preaching.” I am getting the feeling that God is trying to tell me something about Spirituality, so when I begin to figure out what it is, I will be sure to pass it along to you. We did do an interesting, or perhaps a better word would be terrifying, exercise in class this week. The professor asked the class to look up a scripture that he selected, read it, and then after only five minutes give a 1 minute sermon, NO NOTES. Now you might think that should be easy for me. You might even say, “Hey, you talk for 20 minutes every Sunday.” But, that is with a considerable amount of preparation and preaching on Sunday is just for God and those listening, it isn’t for a grade or in front of my classmates who are going to critique me. What made it worse is that I ended up going next to last, so I had to sit and listen and listen, not knowing when I might be called. I think that this last part was his point. You never know when you will be called upon with only a moments notice and you had better be prepared all of the time with something worth while to say.
This morning I attended my last class of the week, “Multi Religious America.” This class, I am beginning to suspect, will be one of my favorites. I am already intrigued by the first assignment which is to select a religion that you are interested in, centered in America, which was founded since 1960, research it and discuss the themes and conflicts contained within the religion. My first thought was to look at Scientology, but it was formed in 1954 so it didn’t fall within the time frame. So, my next thought was The Branch Davidians of David Koresh fame. I think that should be very interesting. I’ll let you know what I find out.
My final class which doesn’t meet until next Wednesday is my “Cross Cultural Immersion.” “What’s that?” You might ask. Well in early January, I am going with a group of students to El Salvador. This is not a mission trip but rather an opportunity to be totally involved in the culture, staying with local families, sleeping on concrete slabs, and meeting with missionary’s and officials of government and private aid agencies in an effort to understand the challenges faced in their culture. I will keep you posted on that as well.
Well, the 75 hour weeks have begun. In reality, although I sometimes complain about being tired and the work load, I truly understand how blessed I am to be able to experience the life of a seminarian, and I am eternally grateful to those who make that possible for me!
Blessings
The first class is “United Methodist Polity.” (Doesn’t that sound exciting?) I actually haven’t attended this class yet. When I arrived on Monday there was a message reminding me that this class won’t start until September 8th. Reminding me? That is to somehow assume that I knew this to begin with. I checked the course schedule, and it said that it started this week, and I checked with some of the other students and they didn’t know about it either. So, I think that when they “reminded me” it is a bit like the times I “remind” Karen when perhaps I forgot to tell her about it to begin with.
The next class is “The History of Christian Spirituality.” This is going to be excellent. The professor, Jeff Jaynes, is wonderful, albeit a bit strange, (in the good sense) and the course looks like it will be very comprehensive. As usual,there will be a lot of reading and writing but no tests (YEAH) which is good when you have a 48 year old brain.
I also have an advanced preaching, Homiletics, class this semester, the interesting thing is that it is titled “Spirituality Foundation Preaching.” I am getting the feeling that God is trying to tell me something about Spirituality, so when I begin to figure out what it is, I will be sure to pass it along to you. We did do an interesting, or perhaps a better word would be terrifying, exercise in class this week. The professor asked the class to look up a scripture that he selected, read it, and then after only five minutes give a 1 minute sermon, NO NOTES. Now you might think that should be easy for me. You might even say, “Hey, you talk for 20 minutes every Sunday.” But, that is with a considerable amount of preparation and preaching on Sunday is just for God and those listening, it isn’t for a grade or in front of my classmates who are going to critique me. What made it worse is that I ended up going next to last, so I had to sit and listen and listen, not knowing when I might be called. I think that this last part was his point. You never know when you will be called upon with only a moments notice and you had better be prepared all of the time with something worth while to say.
This morning I attended my last class of the week, “Multi Religious America.” This class, I am beginning to suspect, will be one of my favorites. I am already intrigued by the first assignment which is to select a religion that you are interested in, centered in America, which was founded since 1960, research it and discuss the themes and conflicts contained within the religion. My first thought was to look at Scientology, but it was formed in 1954 so it didn’t fall within the time frame. So, my next thought was The Branch Davidians of David Koresh fame. I think that should be very interesting. I’ll let you know what I find out.
My final class which doesn’t meet until next Wednesday is my “Cross Cultural Immersion.” “What’s that?” You might ask. Well in early January, I am going with a group of students to El Salvador. This is not a mission trip but rather an opportunity to be totally involved in the culture, staying with local families, sleeping on concrete slabs, and meeting with missionary’s and officials of government and private aid agencies in an effort to understand the challenges faced in their culture. I will keep you posted on that as well.
Well, the 75 hour weeks have begun. In reality, although I sometimes complain about being tired and the work load, I truly understand how blessed I am to be able to experience the life of a seminarian, and I am eternally grateful to those who make that possible for me!
Blessings
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