Academic Life at Seminary

I am sure that many of you have noticed that my blogs have not discussed the academic life at Virginia Theological Seminary. This is by design. The first few months for VTS first year students are a bit unique. The school is on a quarters system. Following the intensive August term of Hebrew, the first quarter consisted of Old Testament, Research and Writing, Foundations of Theology, Liturgical Leadership and Art of Learning.

Foundations was the study of how philosophers influenced the development of Christian theology over the centuries. The review begins with Plato and ends with Descartes. It was fascinating to see the impact of these philosophers—particularly Plato and Aristotle who lived so long before the birth of Christ.

Liturgical Leadership was a more practical course focused on how to move and speak during Episcopal worship. Who knew that I needed to learn how to read aloud and walk to and fro. I’m confident you are all reassured that I now can read the Gospel with panache and walk around reverently.

Art of Learning is something of an experiment at VTS. It is part extended orientation, part work on developing good study habits using the results of recent research and part study of how to write theological papers well.

You can see that the first quarter is not what most people envision seminary will be. The second quarter began the more traditional seminary course of study. New Testament and Research and Writing continue. Foundations, Liturgy and Art of Learning were replaced by Old Testament and Church History.

Frequently I am asked how seminary compares to law school. The differences are significant. The time commitment at VTS is at least as great as law school and, in fact, is as large as the practice of law. (Darla likes to tell folks that I am doing “a pretty good job of imitating a lawyer.”) The type of nature of the commitments, however, are quite different. Those of you who went to law school will recall that time was allocated almost exclusively to attending class and studying. There were few writing requirements and no quizzes. Most courses had only a single exam at the end of the semester.

Seminary puts many different demands on a students’ time. There are 12 to 15 hours of class each week. The amount of reading required by all of the classes is enormous with the exception of Research and Writing. In addition to the reading assignments, all courses require students to submit at least three papers that include significant research. Finally, every week there are multiple commitments unrelated to courses. By way of example, every student is assigned to a “chapel team” to plan services for designated seasons. (Remember, there are 15 services per week at the school.) My chapel team had the task of planning services for Advent. (We are in the second week of Advent now.) We met during each of the four weeks leading up to Advent and spent time between the meetings drafting prayers and choosing between liturgical options for each service. I will not burden you with additional examples, but the point is that virtually every day study and writing time is interrupted with committee and worship requirements.

If it sounds like seminary is stressful, it is. But, here’s the good news……it is incredibly fun! This is the ultimate difference between law school and seminary. The classes, study, papers and other commitments are all energizing. The professors are brilliant, inspiring and concerned about their students. The reading is fascinating. With every course and task, it is easy to see how the experience will be useful as a parish priest. (On the other hand, knowing I wanted to be a trial lawyer, how excited do you think I was during my tax courses?)

The bottom line is this:  I am having a great experience.

         Darla and I miss you all and we pray that each of you will have a Blessed Holiday Season.  May the Peace of God be with you.

Randy