Why Not Go To Seminary And Be A Pastor?

[Jonah]

There seem to be a lot of passionate serious Christians here. Why not have the courage of your convictions and go to seminary and then go out into the real trenches of parish ministry?

[orthodox]

there are those that do but are you saying that all serious Christians have to be pastors or priests?

Christianity is a belief and lifestyle. Being a priest is a dedication to care for a congregation of the faith or to start a new congregation. That is a life choice. People have families and obligations.

There are always more sheep then shepards.

I'm not sure what your getting at...

are you saying those who take their faith seriously should become priests based on that?

[Jonah]

No. I'm not saying that anyone has to do anything.

I'm just saying, Oh, why not consider it?

Aren't you curious about that aspect of Christian existence?

Do you wonder what you might learn? How your ideas and assumptions might change?

Let me tell you. Ain't no one that comes out St. Tikhons or St. Vlad's or Holy Cross unscathed.

Got Guts?

[orthodox]

Not sure what you mean by nobody comes out unscathed...

but are you basically talking about trying it out and seeing what happens? Well some people cant because they have their lives to live and perish ministry is not for them.

A Shepard must tend to his flock and cannot be found sleeping on the job. Perish ministry is not something to jump into out of curiosity. If you are responsible for a perish you are obliged to guide them and not leave because you just wanted to see what its like.

Maybe I'm missing your point because it sounds as though your saying to go and "try it"

If your saying to go to seminary school then yes some people can but real faith and knowledge is not exclusively found there....it is only concentrated there.

[Jonah]

LOL!!!

I love the unintended pun: Perish Ministry!

Well, if God calls, God calls. There is duty.

Your excuse about "having a life to live"....what is that? Ministry doesn't qualify as "living life"? LOLOLOL....hence, Perish Mininstry.

Uhh.....the VAST MAJORITY of Orthodox Priests are part-timers...tent-makers. In the OCA, I can count on my hand the number of priests I've heard of who are full-time priests. A lot of them are SCHOOL TEACHERS by day. That's a really popular mix, because the congregations can pay just a part-time salary to the priest and not worry about benefits because the priest/school teacher's teaching contract carries all the health insurance and other benefits.

And the Orthodox are flexible...if you are older...the OCA and Antiochians have alternative ordination tracks for older folks...you won't have to do a full four years in seminary...maybe one after you've studied hard on a distance learning basis.

Oh, come on. Isn't it too easy for you just to never be challenged by the top teachers in your own faith?

You haven't lived until you've worked your guts out on a piece of theological writing and had a scowling black cassocked Orthodox theologion with 6 degrees behind his name throw it back at you and tell you it's a bunch of crap.

....and then to apply your theology, if you survive seminary....to a woman with cancer on her deathbed...in person.

Got guts?

[McCulloch]

There seem to be a lot of passionate serious Christians here. Why not have the courage of your convictions and go to seminary and then go out into the real trenches of parish ministry?

It is a risky business.

I had a friend who did just that in his twenties. He became a full time professional minister of the Gospel. He did rather well, had a house and a family, grandchildren, a middle sized stable congregation. But in his fifties, he realized that he did not believe anymore. What could he do? He was trained and experienced in one profession, preaching and ministering. Rather than face unemployment, lose his house and stop supporting his family, he continued on with what he was good at, although his theological position became as liberal as that denomination would tolerate.

I also once had such ideas. However, in the process of learning more about what I thought I believed, I discovered that the evidential basis behind the faith was lacking.

[Jonah]

My best friend in seminary, like me, was from a blue collar background. We both were put the grinder in seminay. We were always in trouble. Anyway, my buddy was always deemed the most likely to fail by the faculty. It turned out the opposite. He's done 21 years in small struggling congregations that never pay guidelines. Currently, the house he and his wife live in is a place the church rents for him. The landlord sold the house...they'll have to move....it's always something.

In my first parsonage, I learned an early hard lesson about parish ministry...about what's yours, and what ain't.

One Saturday morning I bopped down the staircase in the parsonage in my underwear...and suddenly and shockingly met one of my church ladies. It was her and her fellow parishoner's house, not mine. Never forgot that after that morning.

[McCulloch]

Moderator Action

Moved to a discussion forum. There seems to be more of an intent to discuss rather than debate, not that there is anything wrong with that. Please review the Tips on starting a debate topic.

When the moderators feel the rules have been violated, a notice will frequently occur within the thread where the violation occurred, pointing out the violation and perhaps providing other moderator comments. Moderator warnings and comments are made publicly, within the thread, so that all members may see when and how the rules are being interpreted and enforced. However, note that any challenges or replies to moderator comments or warnings should be made via Private Message. This is so that threads do not get derailed into discussions about the rules.

[McCulloch]

One Saturday morning I bopped down the staircase in the parsonage in my underwear...and suddenly and shockingly met one of my church ladies. It was her and her fellow parishoner's house, not mine. Never forgot that after that morning.

And this is part of your encouragement to the Christians here to take up parish ministry?

[orthodox]

LOL!

wow must've been embarrassing!

But God hasn't called me to do so. We are all witnesses and we have an obligation to seek truth and understanding but to also live what we preach.

To be a priest, in my mind, is a much harder life than the one I have now and I wouldn't do so on a whim.

If you derive life lessons and learn realities from it then great! But not everyone has to. That's all I'm saying.

...and please ... remember your pants lol!