As a seminary president, I spend a good deal of my time extolling the virtues of seminary education. I wouldn't be giving so much of my life to it if I didn't believe in its crucial importance. Nevertheless, in the interests of telling the whole story, I want to mention some things seminary education cannot do.
First, seminary cannot totally trans form personalities. Three or four years of school cannot reverse the effects of 30 years of socialization. A happy per son who enters seminary will likely be a happy one who leaves; an angry person who enters seminary will likely be an angry one who leaves, only with an arsenal of theology to justify the anger. Someone with the relational skills of a cactus will graduate just as prickly; on the other hand, a warm teddy bear won't have much fur rubbed off.
What the seminary can do is help some people start on the road toward greater wholeness. Many students have reported that the study, prayer, worship, dialogue with professors and students, and sometimes even psychological counseling during their seminary years, have led to significant spiritual and emotional growth in their lives.
Second, seminary education cannot turn those with no gifts for leadership into great leaders. A person you wouldn't want to teach a class or serve as an elder in your local church won't be changed into someone you'd want to be your pastor.
What we can do is knock off rough edges and polish the gifts a student brings. An agate can be turned into a beautiful stone, but a piece of pumice cannot be made into an agate.
Third, seminary education cannot fully train people for ministry. The role of a pastor is enormously complex these days, with seasoned veterans feeling more confused than ever. There is no way we can teach all that needs to be learned in three or four years.
What we can do is provide a necessary foundation of knowledge and skills, upon which the best students will continue to build throughout their lives. A few years ago I told our graduates at commencement, "If you think you're ready for ministry, we've failed you. At most, you're more able to learn what you'll need to know in the corning years."
Fourth, seminary education cannot do everything that is asked of it. In an era of shrinking budgets, many turn to seminaries to provide more and more services. Well-meaning people have asked me to get my seminary to develop programs specifically for urban minis try, rural ministry, Hispanic ministry, African-American ministry, health care ministry, executive training, steward ship education, and church growth not to mention requests to start new campuses in half a dozen cities! We're already doing some of these things, but there are limits.
What we can do is be a center that helps students develop their gifts for more effective ministry. We can introduce them to a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, help them develop basic disciplines of spirituality, and sharpen their tools for day-to-day tasks in ministry.
This may not be all some people would like us to do, but it's enough, I think. And worth supporting.
