What is seminary?

A window view from campus.  

Those of us in seminary sometimes don't consider that others might not understand our fancy-schmancy lingo.  I sometimes say I'm a seminarian or a seminary student, forgetting to explain what that means.  The ELCA has an online Glossary of Terms which defines a seminary as, an institution that offers theological education and professional training for leaders in the church and others interested in graduate-level study of theology.  

I am training to become a pastor.  When explaining what it means, I often recall the following words from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, one of the earliest Christian communities:  Think of us this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. (1 Cor. 4:1, NRSV)  In order to become such a pastor, I am studying scripture, philosophy, history, counseling, management, ethics, human behavior, worship planning, spiritual practice and more.  Almost 1.5 years into my 4 year seminary journey, I would already call it a transformational one.  There's nothing I'd rather be doing right now.  

I didn't always want to do this.  Stay tuned for my next post on why I chose to attend seminary.