I found you via CrummyChurchSigns. Excellent blog and discussions. Although my experience as a second-year seminarian falls outside the boundaries of the normal grad school experience, I thought I’d chime in with a comment or two.

I am working toward ordination as a minister in an organization that does not require a graduate degree from a seminary (although there are other rigorous requirements). That said, I decided to enter an interdenominational seminary because I wanted to mingle with others whose beliefs didn’t match with mine. What better way for a minister to prepare for living in a complex, diverse world with varying opinions than to train that way for several years?

The experience has been difficult. I work full time, as does my wife. We are both active in our church, and spend no fewer than 10 hours per week counseling, teaching and other activities for which we are responsible. Adding the demands of course reading, paper writing, learning Greek and Hebrew to an already busy schedule is taxing. Much of the material does not prepare you for the real world of church ministry, and most seminary professors will tell you this.

So, why bother? A seminary degree gives one cachet that those without it simply do not have. It enables one to move around in society and in the world of religion with less scrutiny.

But there is another reason: the knowledge one gains by enduring the difficulty of a seminary program cannot be replicated elsewhere. Rare is the person who would have the discipline to read through the core curriculum and submit a paper to a blog or academic journal. I know I’m not this sort of person.

Thanks again for an interesting discussion.