tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post3885061824416222404..comments2023-05-16T08:21:43.605-06:00Comments on iMinister: Resources for ExcellenceChristine Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02291622244158872449noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-44733042109791104312008-12-05T11:22:00.000-07:002008-12-05T11:22:00.000-07:00Unfortunately, I live in Montana. The fellowship ...Unfortunately, I live in Montana. The fellowship I attend is lay-led, and rather small. We've never been able to afford a minister on anything other than a once-a-month, visiting basis. This has had it's advantages, in that I've had the opportunity of presenting several sermons to my congregation, as well as being involved in many aspects of fellowship life. <BR/><BR/>I've been recognized by my fellow members as someone called to the ministry, due to my actions and lifestyle and well-recieved sermons. I feel called to the Chaplaincy, and am told that UU Chaplains are in rather high demand due to our ability to speak in many religious vocabularies. However, going to seminary "in my area" is not an option, as there are none, and the traditional academic track to a job in the ministry seems, well, wrong to me. As ogre says, academics are valuable to, but not the essence of ministry. For my part, I have a hard time devoting myself to something which is not "essential" to my work in the world (See Kierkegaard on the difference between Relative and Absolute concerns). Addittionaly, being something of a reader, I wonder how much book-learning an academic program can even offer me at this point. What to do...bite the bullet and shell out for the "classical" route to ministry, or try to find some other way into the Chaplaincy that is more amenable to my particular financial and existential situation? Any suggestions are welcome.<BR/><BR/>Josh Davis<BR/>mahankhal@gmail.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-32393196181883089462008-12-01T16:08:00.000-07:002008-12-01T16:08:00.000-07:00It's particularly bizarre... when you consider tha...It's particularly bizarre... when you consider that our earliest roots are to congregations that called and ordained their own ministers from AMONG their own members.<BR/><BR/>Granted, I think that there's a lot to be said for the academic learning. But I don't think that it's the essence of ministry. That's in the doing and that mysterious but real thing called formation. Cart and horse issue.<BR/><BR/>There's probably an excellent argument for breadth... but that might mean getting practical experience in more than one congregation as well as some basic set of academic training (and again, I'll argue for some sort of ongoing education...).ogrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15910505029382522110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-65978923411216339662008-12-01T14:45:00.000-07:002008-12-01T14:45:00.000-07:00What is adequate preparation for our liberal minis...What is adequate preparation for our liberal ministry is a fascinating question.<BR/><BR/>While I loved almost every minute of my seminary experience, and have said on more than one occasion that if they offered a benefits package I'd never have left, as far as directly useful to me as a parish minister, about all that I can without reservation name were my internships, parish & CPE.<BR/><BR/>I really believe we'd be better off as a denomination if we were open to alternative methods of preparation, particularly authorizing forms of in-care, apprenticeships...Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03320860122104064884noreply@blogger.com