It isn’t easy being in Christian education these days. The case of Dr. Larycia Hawkins and Wheaton College is showing us why. You’ve read it in multiple places and from various sources: Things aren’t what they once were.
Why I will protest a school I love
I am a pastor who loves Jesus. Yet I’m also realizing I’m a pastor who loves comfort, ease, a good reputation, and money almost just as much. These idols cause me to fear writing the words you’re now reading.
The 40-year-old seminarian
Steve Carell starred as The 40-Year-Old Virgin. If someone made a movie of my life this year, they could call it The 40-Year-Old Seminarian. After 23 years in public ministry, 17 of them as pastor, and 10 as the lead…
Five keys to thriving in seminary
By Eileen R. Campbell-Reed What does it take to succeed in the Women’s Leadership Initiative – or most any other MDiv program? Recently I was talking over tea with a prospective seminary student when she asked, “What will it take…
Educating healthy ministers outside ‘The Bubble’
By Kate Riney I am a proud product of distance learning. I was homeschooled until my sophomore year of high school, when I entered public school at age 13. Yes, I was that kid. The homeschooler. I heard it all…
Seminaries, spiritual formation and personal story
By Ron Crawford I am indebted to the thoughtful response of Scott Hudgins to my response to Brett Younger’s original article about seminary education. I will not review these two fine offerings but will extend the conversation. A key point…
There is nothing wrong with seminaries that a disruptive strategy couldn’t fix
By George Bullard In recent times we have witnessed a dialogue around the role and function of seminaries. This dialogue has been generated primarily by people involved in seminaries, divinity schools and other forms of higher education. Thus, their perspective….
How seminaries form ministers: a much-needed conversation
By Scott Hudgins A recent column by Brett Younger, an associate professor at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, raises important questions about the changes in theological education, especially the emergence of exclusively online programs that are often described as…
Seminaries forging a future
By Ron Crawford A response to “Seminaries reluctantly selling their souls,” by Brett Younger. So, I bought the microwave oven anyway! Typically, my wife and I reach a consensus before we make major purchases; in the early 1980s a microwave…
Are seminaries ‘selling their souls’?
Brett Younger, associate professor of preaching at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, is one of the best writers in Baptist life today.He is at his best when writing satirical, humorous columns on the church and its various…
Common story, community and Christian higher education
(The following are my prepared remarks delivered as a devotion for the President’s Prayer Breakfast at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina on September 2, 2015.) The one unalterable date on our family’s summer calendar is the third week…
Remembering John Claypool on the 10th anniversary of his death
I have been told that long before I stepped foot on the campus of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology the issue of what students ought to call professors was addressed at a staff meeting. At a relatively small school…