What I learned my first semester in seminary

Well, ok, it's not my first semester IN seminary, but my first semester as a seminary prof. The distinction is a real one, but I can use the term anyway.

I've learned that people are passionate about what they do. Most people genuinely care for their studies and want to improve themselves. They are working on being involved in various kinds of ministries, and so they want to be prepared to engage in those sorts of things. I have often come up against the idea that the preparation for and the practice of ministry should be thought of in opposition to one another. How this tune usually gets played is some variation of the theme, "God told me, 'What are you spending all this time in school for? Get out there and DO ministry!'" That's really an unfortunate position to take. I keep coming back to the dictum of J. B. Chapman, one of the earliest Nazarene General Superintendents, who said that, given 10 years to do ministry, he would rather spend five in preparation, because he would feel that he would accomplish more in the remaining five years than if he had spent the entire ten years in the practice of ministry. Theory and practice do NOT oppose one another. Theory does NOT get in the way of practice. Education is important.

That being said, another thing I've learned is that sometimes even the people with the greatest potential will disappoint you. I need not give any details about this, but it makes me ache to put a low mark on someone's record. It really does. And at the end of the day, even if I have more justification than just the impression I got from the students' work and behavior how well s'ya was engaged in the subject, it still hurts me tremendously. I do not want to give out A grades to everyone (unless they earn it!) because then an A becomes a C (average), but I also do not want to give out F grades like candy and I do not want to appear vindictive.

The third thing I've learned is that I really do not know what I'm doing. It is all trial and error in this process, and I've seen some things that need to be continued and some others that need to be dropped for the next time I go through this (starting two weeks from today). It is unfortunate when students get caught between the gears of this learning process, but in some respects that is unavoidable.

The fourth thing is that it is really hard to grade things period. Especially in a discipline such as mine, when there is a lot that is open to discussion and mediation, it is very difficult to apply some objective standard which can later be explained and defended. I've already had one student come and ask me how to improve a grade, which I think is good, because that demonstrates that s'ya is willing to do better, and wants to do better. But it's hard work.

Anyhow, even though I haven't posted for quite a while, since I've been buried in grading and working on various writing projects, I'll bring this entry to a close now. I will improve as time marches on, and my students will as well, and I imagine we will all be better for it.