An Adventure Begins

Training for we Lutheran pastors is a four-year program that begins with two years of classwork (and some practical field work in local churches and hospitals), a year of full-time work in a church under the supervision of a seasoned pastor, and a final year of classwork, the idea of which is to help students integrate their personal faith life with their academic knowledge and their experiences with parish life. (All seminarians must already hold a Bachelor's degree, the field of study isn't important.)

Typically, Lutheran seminary careers begin with an intense initiation called Summer Greek. During this class, seminary students are immersed in Koine (or Common) Greek, the somewhat peculiar iteration of Greek in which the New Testament was originally written. When I say intense, I mean it. In the two or three week Summer Greek course, seminarians learn as much of Koine Greek as those who, for whatever reason, choose to take Greek beginning in the fall will get in one academic year. If you miss one day of Summer Greek, you may as well drop the course.

But, given the intensity of the experience, one I remember sharing in the summer of 1980 with forty-five incoming seminary students at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, you do more than learn Greek. You get to know other students, you begin to get a sense of what the seminary experience will be like, and, in most cases, you find confirmation of the sense of call from God you have to ministry. Two of my fellow Summer Greek students remain among Ann's and my best friends.

This little reverie of nostalgia has been incited in my by two posts from Ivy over at Called, Gathered, and Sent, who has begun her seminary career with Summer Greek. Check out two of Ivy's posts dealing with the start of this adventure: here and here.

Ivy: May God bless you and encourage you and all who love you as you heed God's call to ministry. You will do well, I am sure!

By the way, this is an experience our son, Philip, will be having next summer, as he too, begins training to become a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

So, is all the intensity and hard work worth it? There's nothing to compare with using the gifts, abilities, and passions has given to you in the work that God has given to you. I love it!

[Pictured above, from the school's web site, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, from which I received my training from 1980 to 1984. Students who train for pastoral ministry receive a Master of Divinity degree at the end of the four years there. Other degrees for lay ministry are also offered as well as advanced degrees. Click on the image to enlarge.]