I went to junior high for the girls. I went to high school because they made me. I went to undergrad for the social life. I went to grad school for a pay increase. Now, I'm going to post-grad/seminary because I really want to know what the scholars know and I want to be educated to be an effective Christian Counselor as opposed to just another nice guy with an encouraging Scripture.
I researched doctoral programs and seminaries for years, but without finding one that resonated with me. Liberty and Regency were out because of their associations with, Falwell and Robertson, respectively. If my call was to work with Conservative white Southerners who are already Christians, then both institutions would have been excellent choices and I no doubt would have agreed with much of their theology, even if differing with their application thereof. However, I believe part of my calling is to introduce Jesus to a new generation, i.e. letting Jesus outside of the church and into the streets, the villages, the slums, the ghettos, the prisons - the world. There are plenty of people to serve in the traditional ways.
I submitted numerous applications to seminaries across the country and had phone interviews and e-mail correspondence with admissions representatives from several of these institutions with similar results. While I am a Southern white Christian male, I am not the perfect candidate for most of the programs for which I had applied. Basically, I felt as if I wasn't white enough, Baptist enough, Conservative enough, or Republican enough to be a good fit for most of these institutions. Please don't misunderstand, I have nothing against white people or Baptists - I am after all from Arkansas.
What I do have a problem with is getting the feeling that I'm being interviewed to see what parts of the Christian sub-culture I align with as opposed to the reason I want to attend a theological seminary. I was asked questions such as my position on the sanctity of life and my views about marriage. Remarkably, I believe I answered their questions in a manner that they could easily accept. The problem was that they could not answer mine. Do the writers of the Holy Spirit-inspired Bible choose two issues with which to define an entire religion? Not in my Book, so why must these seminaries? My questions to them were, Why are you not asking me about how I feel about the poor, the disenfranchised, the disabled, the suffering, the victims of heinous crimes, those who don't have clean water or access to education or healthcare, those who are routinely discriminated against, those who are in the child slave trade?
I refuse to base my Christian spirituality on a couple of hot-button cultural issues at the expense of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have no desire to re-write or reinterpret the meaning of Scripture on these or any other issues, but I have every desire to receive a Biblically-balanced, theologically sound seminary education.
Enter: Ashland Theological Seminary.
When I discovered ATS, it was one of those times when you just know that you know. I read the curriculum and felt as if it had been written and designed with me in mind. ATS is in Ohio, though, so I thought I had a bit of a problem as there's no conceivable way outside of me seeing and hearing from a burning bush that I feel that I could leave my friends in family in M0-ARK to go to Ohio. But this program was too perfect to not pursue. It turns out that after a few preliminary online classes that I can commute to ATS campus for two weeks per semester and do the remaining doctoral coursework online from home.
I am on a slow trek towards a Doctorate of Ministry in Formational Counseling. The program I am in blends a theological seminary education with spiritual formation counseling techniques. With a doctorate of ministry, I could get credentialed to preach, but my primary call is counseling. Some of the dearest people to me that have helped foster my own spirituality have been well-versed in the Bible and I want to be able to give back some of what I have received. I also place a great deal of confidence in counseling, when administered correctly and appropriately.
The theology of ATS appears not to be too different from that of the other institutions, but my interpretation of their application of it differs greatly. For instance, in my current class, Christian Theology II, I have a female professor leading a diverse group of female and male students of numerous denominations and from various cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds - truly representative of the Body of Christ.
ATS was founded by the Brethren Church, but they emphasize cooperation among people of all faiths and the students and faculty are from a range of Protestant denominations or like myself claim no particular denomination. My particular program emphasizes caregiving, spiritual direction, spiritual formation, pastoral care, and Spirit-directed counseling all based upon the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
I am being taught in such a manner that I am learning what the Orthodox, Catholic, and various Protestant traditions believe (and to some extent what other world religions believe). The truth is taught in love and I am not only allowed, but encouraged to develop my own beliefs based upon my studies. As long as I can back up my beliefs, they are accepted. No particular dogma or creed is taught to the exclusion of others. When the prof has a bias, she states it, but doesn't proselytize or pressure the students into agreeing with her.
Coming to a close in my first course, I'm already experiencing academic work as hard as any I've previously encountered. In any previous period in my education, I would have resented the demands of my time, but this time I am excited to learn and to know at least a part of what the great theologians and scholars have long known. I have long loved God with my heart, but now I am learning to complement that with a love of God with my mind.
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