The Problem With Seminaries Today

2010 July 01

by Tyler

I recently read a post by Colin Hansen on the Out of Ur blog that captured a lot of my feelings toward seminary right now.

The current trend in seminaries and advanced education is to move classes to be more accessible to more people than the standard residential education model (think undergrad, living on campus for 4 years). This means online classes, night classes, weekend-long classes, and classes that fit outside the normal work day.

Generally speaking I do a combination of short intensive courses and travel to school once a week during the semester for classes. I am the non-traditional student in that I don’t live on or near campus and I work full time on top of going to school. Colin Hansen said:

It seems that fewer students today can afford to set aside a few years for full-time coursework. So seminaries expand their online offerings, bolster their satellite locations, and make their courses friendly to commuters.

But where he really got me was with his following statement:

I share in these financial struggles, but I want to advocate for considerate expansion. A master of divinity is no mere means to the end of pastoral employment. Spiritual formation must accompany this program. How can this happen if we neglect relationships with fellow students and professors and fail to set aside time to reflect on the massive volume of material we’re learning? Busyness is the enemy of meaningful thought and deep faith.

Seminary establishes patterns for ministry that don’t end on graduation day. A student who sees only the immediate becomes a pastor who responds only to the pressing (emphasis mine).

I’ve felt this tension in my own life and studies. My life is busy enough without school and there are few moments when I am able to give thoughtful reflection to what I am learning and being challenged by. And in my work this means I am very rarely able to dream big dreams for the ministries I serve in. I’m at the constant call of the most pressing thing.

This is neither healthy or wise.

As seminaries change structure and models they must also keep in mind the learning patterns of their students. The end goal should not be always be more students and more money.

I’m grateful that my seminary has made it possible for me to further my education and spiritual formation while also working (it’s the only way I can afford school anyway), but there are repercussions to living busy lives (maybe even too busy).

All to often we overlook those repercussions and the expense is far greater than we can truly know.

The expense is wisdom.

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http://www.aworshipfulheart.typepad.com Jan Owen

Insightful post Tyler. I am considering going back to school as well but there is no local school to go to. I have to move or take the online route. Which I hate because I learn best in the company of others. I am afraid I will be bored silly in an online class. There are not many other options available to me.

I think we have substituted “finishing” or having a degree ( something to check off our list, so to speak) for becoming. Again, we’ve substituted knowledge of what to do, not who to be. The goal of any schooling is not simply information, is it? No, we will not remember much of what we studied. But we can GROW and be shaped and formed by the processes of learning, finishing well, and thinking deeply about what we are studying.

As a 44 year old I’m not sure how to do that to finish my bachelor’s in any kind of ministry degree…….options seem to be limited.
http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com Kyle Reed

I think that formation is huge. Honestly in college I felt like it was just a means to an end, but what I was missing out on was the fact that I was being shaped by each conversation.
This is one of the main reasons why I have not done the online thing. I want to be apart of the conversation and formation and shaping that happens in each class.
Eric Thompson

Tyler,

These are good and very important thoughts. I work for a seminary which I will not name lest this be construed as simply an opportunity to advertise. We recently launched a new form of distance program whose design is the result of grappling with the tensions that are presented in the source article.

One of the stated values of our program is that we value community over convenience, but yet must take into account that there are servants in remote places for whom going to seminary would cause great detriment to their families and the communities they serve. In the past, people in such a position would usually have to resign themselves to doing the best they could with the limited tools that they had. More recently, they would have the opportunity to take a class by watching DVDs or participating in online chats. Either of these approaches can be convenient, and may be an improvement over having no resources, but they do not incorporate the community element that is critical to seminary education.

Many of our students are staff members at churches in communities that have no brick-and-mortar seminaries. Their pastoral leaders have asked them to engage a seminary program as part of their development, and have given them relief from many of their ministry duties in order to make room. Others are small church pastors whose congregations have made similar financial and obligatory concessions in order that their pastor may be equipped. We do deliver some content by way of the internet and other courses are taken in intensive format, but even in our web-based courses we bring people together in workgroups to engage the course content in community. We also have local courses with local adjuncts and are designing internships with local mentors to make sure that our distance students are a part of a seminary community.

Is this as good as devoting oneself entirely to living residentially with other seminary students and being able to engage, reflect, and absorb in the traditional manner? Undoubtedly it is not as good. However, we are able to equip people for ministry who otherwise simply would not have the opportunity, and they, the churches and the communities they serve are better off for it.
http://nearemmaus.wordpress.com Brian LePort

Hansen is correct. I think seminaries have had to sell a product to a consumer audience. While it is unfortunate it doesn’t seem that there is any going back because any seminary that refuses to do so will eventually be out of business. In the end it is up to the student to get the most out of seminary.
http://theycallmepastorbryan.com theycallmepastorbryan

I will admit that I have yet to read Hansen’s blog post, but I would offer back some critique.

1. This assumes that spiritual formation is the role of the seminary and not the local church. Isn’t discipleship and therefore formation done best in the context of a community where we are already known?

2. While busyness is a real struggle, ultimately it is a struggle which falls on the responsibility of the individual, one can attend seminary and still be busy enough to not have a proper amount of reflective time.

3. In my experience and estimation, the being involved in ministry in a context where you are familiar is essential to using seminary towards equipping for a lifelong training. That is, it’s a lot harder to get by with pie in the sky BS when you’re talking to the people who won’t accept it. Spending a predominant amount of time with other seminarians can produce an incredible amount of unproductive idealism and group think.

4. I’m thankful that I got to attend a campus for my seminary and believe learning in community is an important part, but I’m not sure that withdrawing from one’s community to spend 3 or 4 years outside of context just thinking is really the best solution either, especially if our goal is to produce pastors and not “leaders”.
http://manofdepravity.com Tyler

Can’t disagree with anything you said. And absolutely, at least some of my feeling of a lack of formation falls on me, not my church or my seminary.
http://theycallmepastorbryan.com theycallmepastorbryan

I fear I might have come across a little harsher than intended Tyler… I think i had just woken up from a nap when I wrote that.

Certainly there is some room to be worried about where seminaries are moving, but I’m pretty sure that some of it is actually a healthy move as well.
http://godsidekurt.com Kurt

Definitely felt that same burn you feel…part of the reason why I stepped out of ministry this season was I realized I was retaining little of what I was learning in my classes and was just attempting to get a grade. The irony is a swore I wouldn’t do seminary just for a grade…but to actually grow in my understanding of Scripture.
http://visiodeicommunity.org David Zook

Tyler -

When I attended residential seminary I found two things extremely helpful: 1) Getting plugged into and serving a church with real people with real issues. This helped me apply what I was learning. 2) Getting plugged into a group of seminarians to hash through many of the issues unique to seminary including high brow discussions with fancy vocabulary.

I too worked my way through school and know too well the pressures of keeping many balls in the air. I was on the go from about 6 am to midnight M-F with half days on the weekends. In the midst of this crazy schedule, I had to schedule time to reflect. During those times I blocked everything else out of my mind and just reflected.

These times refreshed and nourished my soul … and was able to rest from my busyness.

Hang in there.