Chris & Abby (and family!)

I graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary two weeks ago.  Boy, does it feel good to be done!  The best thing was turning in my last paper, knowing that it was my last paper.  I’ll never forget that last paper.  It was an extra credit assignment on what I learned from memorizing Psalm 145.  It seemed very appropriate as a last seminary paper.  I can’t get enough of saying that!  No more papers to write!

I really enjoyed my seminary experience.  I definitely grew in knowledge and was challenged in ministry.  Every class was beneficial, but certain classes stick out in my mind as being exceptional.

Biblical Hermeneutics

This was first class I took at seminary.  My professor was Dr. Robert Stein, author of A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible.  The class was an overview of literary genres and how the Bible must be understood in light of them.  It was not new information to me.  I had learned most of this in college, but Dr. Stein was simply a great teacher.  He retired the following year, and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn under him.

Church for the 21st Century

Looking back, this class forced me to think about what church fundamentally is.  It’s not about the building, worship style, or cleanliness of the bathroom.  It’s not about manufacturing an experience.  Being the church means being the “called out ones” of God who are in the world but not of it.  Being the church means loving God and loving one another.  Though newcomers often judge churches on secondary matters such as keeping the bathroom clean (which I am certainly in favor of), the church must earnesly strive to be faithful in the primary things, which are clear in Scripture.  My professor was Dr. T. Vaughn Walker, pastor of First Gethsemane Baptist Church.

Hebrew Composition & Exegesis

Ironically, it wasn’t really the content of the class which sticks out in my mind.  Though it was certainly beneficial to learn to read and write in Hebrew (an objective which at first seemed insurrmountable), it was the professor’s humble demeanor and wealth of pastoral experience which will cause the class to remain with me forever (or at least for a very long time).  My professor was Dr. T. J. Betts.  I had other classes with him as well, but it was in this class that I remember him sharing many of his experiences and humbly instructing us through them.  One instruction I remember was how he told us to be very careful how we utilize the original languages in our preaching, as we never want to give the impression that one needs to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar in order to read the Bible.

Theology of Marriage

This was an elective that I took primarily because of who was teaching it.  Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of the seminary, doesn’t teach many classes, but when I saw that he was teaching one at an ideal time for me, I snatched the opportunity.

I remember doing a LOT of reading for this class, which is consistent with what we know about Dr. Mohler: he highly values books and ideas.  One of my favorite books that I read throughout all of seminary was in this class: Sacred Marriage.  It forces the reader to consider the question, “What if God designed marriage primarily to make us holy rather than happy?”  He was not implying that marriage should make us miserable at all, only that we should not go into marriage with a hedonistic mindset, and that we should look for opportunities to grow in Christlikeness because of our marriage.

The Practice of Ministry

This class covered many of the non-theological issues that arise in the pastor’s life.  Dr. Hershael York is simply a fun, down-t0-earth, extremely wise pastor.  I greatly enjoyed his advice and encouragement.

Courses in Biblical Counseling

I knew that counseling would be a major part of my life as a pastor, so I finished up my seminary education with a couple courses in Biblical counseling.  One of them was required (Intro to Biblical Counseling), and the other was my final elective (Essential Qualities of the Biblical Counselor).  I took both courses with Dr. Stuart Scott.  Both courses gave me some of the building blocks that I’ll need in order to do pastoral care.  I’m going to need to continue my education in this field, however, in order to be an effective Biblical counselor.

And finally…the Church

I cannot summarize my seminary experience without also mentioning that the local church has taught me so much about ministry.  Seminary education is great, but it cannot replace the hands-on experience that I’ve gained from being active in the local church.  I’ve been blessed to have been on staff at four churches now, serving in a variety of roles: Children’s Daycamp Director at Rockwood Baptist Church for a summer while I was in college, Student Ministry Intern at Parkway Baptist Church for 2 years (again during college), Youth Minister at Midlane Park Baptist Church when we moved to Louisville to attend seminary, and I’m currently the Associate Director of Activities (a.k.a. Minister of Recreation) at Parkland Baptist Church.  I will always look back on these last 6 years fondly (yes, I’m a slow learner).  But I’ve been in school since I was 4 years old, so I’m glad it’s over!

Posted on May 28th, 2009 by Chris in General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.