My New Life Begins...

Finally, I’m about to begin seminary school; my first class is in two days! Many of my friends have asked me to start a blog, so they can follow my journey from here on out. This is that blog.

Over the last two days I’ve been at orientation from dawn to dusk.  It opened Friday morning with a worship service led by Mary Luti that was as close to Evangelical Charismatic Unitarian Universalist worship as you’ll find on the Eastern Seaboard--truly inspirational! The focus at Andover Newton is on inclusive interfaith worship and sacred hospitality, concepts I understand far more deeply after just a weekend of orientation. No doubt I will grow, not only into a minister, but into a fuller and deeper human being, during my time here.

But here’s the thing…as certain as I was in May that the time for seminary training is now and the school is Andover Newton Theological School, as orientation progressed I became plagued with self doubt. Am I really up to the task?  How can I plan for the future when seminary school is so transformative that I don’t even know who I’ll be in the future? Luckily, seminarians love to discuss their inner conflicts so I know for a fact I’m not alone. Apparently self-doubt comes with the territory. Around here it’s called “discernment” but the process is so much more tumultuous than the word leads you to believe.

As if all the self doubt weren’t enough, orientation included a session on the dismal financial aspect of ministry. Short version: the average salary of a minister will not cover the cost of student loans needed to fund ministerial education. They discouraged us from taking out students loans, and suggested finding other resources. Even with my scholarship and new position as part time director of religious education at a nearby church, I have nearly ten thousand dollars per year of unmet financial need for necessities such as fees, food, clothing, transportation—not to mention books, books, books and more books! Grant seeking will take on the status of part-time employment as the year progresses! 

Over the course of this year the contents of this blog will include reflections on my experience of seminary, my experiences as a part-time DRE, and sometimes I’ll post a portion of my homework assignments and invite discussion. I would love to have your regular readership and your loving prayers of support. To that end I’ll try to keep the postings brief and interesting.  I will also include a PayPal link, so that anyone who is so moved may make a small  monetary gift to support my ministerial education (and hence, my future social justice ministry).  Apparently a past student did just such a thing and it was well received.  Since I was planning to start a blog anyway, I thought I'd give it a go.  If the link interferes with your willingness to read my block, please let me know, because I'm very open to removing it if it's deemed overly offensive.

Blessings, Love, and Light,

Shelley