fivestepsdown: living the questions of faith

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Christmas

It seems that I only get one post per season of the Church lately. I've been wondering for some time why theological schools require students to take finals in the midst of, dare I say, the most important season of our church year. Adventing our lives, preparing the way of the Lord...and what are seminarians doing? Running around trying to meet with study groups, taking final exams, putting the finishing touches on projects, and wrapping up final papers. This little inconsistency is something that has perplexed me for some time. The Church tells us to throw away the fetters of the secular season, to put the Christ back in Christmas, and all the while forcing the future leaders of the Church to turn their own lives into a shopping mall, jumping over the obstacles that make for a hurried season instead of one focused on deepening our lives with Christ. What would the spiritual lives of seminarians look like during Advent if seminaries were to change their academic calendars? How would the development of future leaders be enriched? How would our congregations benefit from leaders that are able to model a deeper liturgical spirituality?

1 Comments:

  • I think that the reason is that seminaries place increasingly larger demands on students these days. My M.Div program is 96 semester hours, and that's considered preparation for an entry-level job position. The degree requirements have grown so large that seminaries look for every opportunity to stuff in one more course that in their opinions, we must have to be competent ministers.

    By Blogger John, at 8:01 AM  

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