It’s been a year, but school starts back for me this week.  Joan Gray preaches for our Opening Convocation Service Thursday, and I’m busy today and Wednesday with orientation.  Though I loved my time in full-time parish ministry last year, I’m also eager to begin again the holy conversations that occur in the classroom.

One of the reasons I came to Columbia Seminary was the practical nature of their curriculum–we’re known as a seminary with a high standard of academic excellence which actually prepares pastors for ministry in the church.  All the book learning in the world is no good if you can’t run a session meeting or plan a worship service or think you’re above cleaning the toilets. Though Columbia has its quirks and nothing really can totally prepare you for parish ministry, I’d say my expectations have been more than met.

So I’m really looking forward to my classes, and to reclaiming the pace of academic life. Greatly enriched by my yearlong experiences in Scotland and anticipating a future pastoral call, I have high hopes that this academic year will strike a solid balance between the church and the academy.

Here’s my classes:

Introduction to Pastoral Care, Professor Pamela Cooper-White
Introduces the basics of pastoral care ministry, provides experience in pastoral visitation, and examines issues most clergy face. Supervised clinical practice facilitates theological reflection, personal growth, and pastoral identity.

Rebuilding Our House: Community and Theology in the Post-Exile, Professor Christine Yoder
Explores the socio-historical and theological world of 539 to 331 BCE; emphasizes the redefinition of community, the role of the temple, idolatry and purity, and the threat of “foreign” women, and considers how the post-exile may inform understandings of the contemporary church and the practice of ministry. 

Christian Ethics, Professor Mark Douglas
Studies the biblical, theological, and philosophical foundations of Christian ethics.

New Creation and Ecology: Practicing in the Garden, Professors Stan Saunders & Bill Brown
Explores dimensions of the ecological crises facing the present generation; presents theological, scriptural, and anthropological resources for shaping sustainable ecological behavior; examines traditional Christian practices pertaining to community, the Body, and the world; and offers resources and models for working with congregations and young people on environmental issues.

I’m looking forward to each and every course, and would have really enjoyed a number of others as well.  I’m not sure how I’ll cope with a very heavy load early in the week and no class Thursday or Friday, but I’ll approach gaining the discipline to make that schedule work as a learning experience itself.

Off to make some room on bookshelves…