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Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I have learned many things over my time here at Christ Lutheran. I now know what
a Chicken Q is, how to make Boo-yah, to reschedule everything around Packers
games, and never try to schedule anything in the first place during deer gun
season. Furthermore, I realize that through this internship process, many of you
have learned a great deal about the formation of a pastor and in particular
about me and my formation.
Still, I continue to be asked a lot of questions about not only internship, but
also the whole seminary journey. So this month I'd like to walk you through what
that journey looks like and what the struggles and sacrifices are like for those
answering the call to rostered ministry.
So first, what is a rostered leader? Simply put, a rostered leader is someone
who has been called by the church into an official leadership position, after
completing some amount of formal training, and then ordained or consecrated into
that service position. Pastors, Associates in Ministry (AIM's), Diaconal
Ministers, etc. are examples of rostered leaders.
After a person talks, typically with their home pastor, they begin with their
home synod what is called the Candidacy process. Candidacy involves a series of
checks and evaluations along the formation path to ensure that the person
seeking a call is right for the job and the job is right for them. This begins
with a background check, a psychological evaluation, an essay, two interviews,
and finally an entrance vote. A committee of both lay and called leaders in the
synod reviews all of the candidate's information and decides whether or not they
can enter the seminary in a rostered track.
Once entranced and accepted by the seminary, the educational adventure begins.
First of course is figuring out how to pay for this. The current tuition for
Wartburg Theological Seminary is $13,800 a year. Scholarships and grants are
available, but most students must take large, additional student loans in order
to cover the housing and living expenses. Then, once finances are figured out,
the first big test is getting through Summer Greek.
Summer Greek is a 5 1/2 week torture of intensive learning and studying of a
language that has been dead for well over 1000 years! Still after that time,
when your brain stops bleeding, you miraculously can read and translate Koine
Greek, one of the original languages of scripture, with some fluency. Then the
Junior year, or first year, baseline classes begin in earnest. After your first
year in seminary, students desiring to become pastors must complete a unit of
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in a clinical environment, such as a hospital,
and serve as student chaplains.
This additional tuition and fee expense is required before internship and serves
in large part as the pastoral care education a student receives. After CPE, the
student goes back to the Candidacy committee for another round of evaluations.
This time, the student is looking for an endorsement from the synod to go on
internship. This endorsement says that the student has
completed a basic level of theological education and practical work, which
qualifies them to serve in a parish under supervision.
During the students Middler year, or second year, students learn Hebrew at a
much slower pace, and begin to think more about the parish environment. It is
after that Middler year that internship takes place. This is when we get to the
point where I am now, on internship. An intern serves at a site for 9-12 months,
but no more than one year. During this time there are again multiple
evaluations; this time from the lay committee and the supervisor. A student does
not pay tuition during this time, but sometimes must still take out loans to
bridge the gap in expenses which the stipend does not cover.
Finally, when internship is complete and all the evaluation forms are sent in,
the student goes through a final round of the Candidacy process. This time, the
student must earn an approval for ordination from the committee. This, in
conjunction with an approval from the seminary faculty, makes a student able to
be ordained once a call is offered from a church. The student continues through
their senior year, completing all academic requirements, and graduates in May.
All told, the seminary process is four years in length and out of it a student
earns a Master of Divinity (MDiv). Typically students move four times during
seminary and rack up a sizable debt. If the student is married and has a family,
like me, the spouse and family go through seminary too. The seminary journey is
an extremely rewarding, joyous, affirming, and wonderful experience. But, with
all of the good, also come the sacrifices of time and treasure.
Personally, I would not trade my seminary journey for anything. My family and I
have lived a much richer life because of it. But remember this; no other
profession spends as much time and money on the education, without receiving a
doctorate level degree, than those in ministry.
I hope this sheds some light on the journey that my family and I are on. I also
hope that I haven't scared anyone away from a call they may be feeling for life
in ministry. Truly, it is a wondrous thing to serve the people of God in this or
any place.
God's peace and blessings to you all,
Intern David
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