Church and Seminary
Content
Relation between Church and the Seminary
At the outset I wish to thank the organizers for giving me an opportunity to participate as well as present a paper in this seminar. Special thanks goes out to……… The topic chosen for this seminar is an important and a pertinent one. The relation between church and seminary is a crucial one in our present context. In this paper I wish to share few of my thoughts drawn from my experience as a theological student as well as a minister. The relationship between the church and the seminary is an embryonic one, just like that of a parent and child. Seminary is the place where the candidate prepares for the future church ministry. Seminary can be likened to a nursery where the seed is placed to mature and the church to a garden where it is planted to grow. Hence the relationship between seminary and the church is vital. It is here that the church leaders and theological teachers play a vital role. Theological teachers are called upon to be both scholars in their field as well as have a pastoral heart. Therefore the curriculum has to be both academic as well as ministry/pastoral oriented. If we look at the history of some of our theological colleges, we find that they were established so as to train the clergy community in an environment congenial for them. The vast curriculum of our theological training is framed in such a way so as to enable the clergy community to be thoroughly equipped not just with the word of God but also be contextually relevant also. The famous saying of Karl Barth is very pertinent in this context. He said that every minister should carry a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. That is theological training should be able to make a person aware of the contextual realities as well as be grounded in Christian faith and practice. When one looks critically at the relation between the church and the theological colleges we find certain lacunae. The curriculum and the training at the seminary sometimes makes the person not fully prepared to face the pastoral ministry. Sometimes the seminary lives in its own cocoon and are not aware of present issues of life. To remove some of these drawbacks, a new curriculum is being prepared which includes suggestions from church leaders as well. An important question that we need to ask today is how are the church leaders trained today in our seminaries so that they could carry out their ministerial responsibilities effectively. We notice a wide gulf between the pedagogy of the seminaries and the practical realities of the church. Senate is the instrument of pedagogy for the church. Hence theologies that are taught in seminaries should be relevant and practicable to the church.. Active
participation of the church in theological education strengthens the pastoral ministry and mission. One issue that we come across is that when the church leaders and Bishops are in the seminary they are morally good people, but when they become bishops they are corrupt. We need to keep a proper balance between the theological and pastoral dimension in ministry. In the present context of our country, the focus should be on equipping ministers in term of social awareness. New subjects such as church administration and property management, church accountancy and human rights and duties should be included in the curriculum. We further see that many in our church are not aware of the difference and focus of Senate, ATA and NATA streams of theological education. The laity and ministers should be made aware of this issue. Another area which I wish to bring to notice is that, even though we the church, research centres and seminaries come under the umbrella of senate, there is still not much interaction between theological colleges and the different churches as well as the research centres. Hence senate should organize consultations where these institutions are included. We also find that once a pastor trains himself/herself after theological education, there is not much interaction between him/her and the theological institution. This can be bridged if church leaders/pastors are involved in the decision making process of the senate. Also senate should organize, student and laity exchange programme where the church members/leaders visit the seminaries and student/staffing turn visit the church and learn first hand the various dimensions of both church and seminary life. Also keeping in mind the north-east context, most of the student of the non-north-east region are not aware of the context and issues of this region. Therefore adequate attention must be given to the context and issues faced by the north-east region while preparing the curriculum. This would be helpful to both students from the main Indian region as well as for those from north-east. The urban bias that we notice in theological education should be taken seriously also. We need to focus more on current issues in our society, church administration, counseling in our theological curriculum. The curriculum should take into consideration the congregational expectations, pastoral as well as the expectation of ecclesial leadership. On important area which I wish to bring to notice is that seminaries in collaboration should provide refresher courses to clergy and laity from time to time so as to make them aware of the current issues in church and society.
The present context of communal violence, fundamentalism, upsurge on traditional religions, minority rights, gender differences etc. should be incorporated in the pedagogy of seminaries. Adequate focus should also be on the liturgical training of students in the seminaries. Further, in the present scenario, church should be able to give ministerial opportunity even to those students who are not sponsored by them. Theological education should be ecumenical in nature. It should be able to challenge the traditional approach to other faiths. It should be able to renew and transform society and individual as well. Salvation should not just be limited to spiritual arena but should concern the fulfillment of the total aspirations of human life. Therefore seminaries play a vital role in enabling the Church to be an instrument of making the Kingdom of God a reality on earth by liberating the oppressed and fighting for justice. These issues therefore need to be reflected in theological education.
At the outset I wish to thank the organizers for giving me an opportunity to participate as well as present a paper in this seminar. Special thanks goes out to……… The topic chosen for this seminar is an important and a pertinent one. The relation between church and seminary is a crucial one in our present context. In this paper I wish to share few of my thoughts drawn from my experience as a theological student as well as a minister. The relationship between the church and the seminary is an embryonic one, just like that of a parent and child. Seminary is the place where the candidate prepares for the future church ministry. Seminary can be likened to a nursery where the seed is placed to mature and the church to a garden where it is planted to grow. Hence the relationship between seminary and the church is vital. It is here that the church leaders and theological teachers play a vital role. Theological teachers are called upon to be both scholars in their field as well as have a pastoral heart. Therefore the curriculum has to be both academic as well as ministry/pastoral oriented. If we look at the history of some of our theological colleges, we find that they were established so as to train the clergy community in an environment congenial for them. The vast curriculum of our theological training is framed in such a way so as to enable the clergy community to be thoroughly equipped not just with the word of God but also be contextually relevant also. The famous saying of Karl Barth is very pertinent in this context. He said that every minister should carry a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. That is theological training should be able to make a person aware of the contextual realities as well as be grounded in Christian faith and practice. When one looks critically at the relation between the church and the theological colleges we find certain lacunae. The curriculum and the training at the seminary sometimes makes the person not fully prepared to face the pastoral ministry. Sometimes the seminary lives in its own cocoon and are not aware of present issues of life. To remove some of these drawbacks, a new curriculum is being prepared which includes suggestions from church leaders as well. An important question that we need to ask today is how are the church leaders trained today in our seminaries so that they could carry out their ministerial responsibilities effectively. We notice a wide gulf between the pedagogy of the seminaries and the practical realities of the church. Senate is the instrument of pedagogy for the church. Hence theologies that are taught in seminaries should be relevant and practicable to the church.. Active
participation of the church in theological education strengthens the pastoral ministry and mission. One issue that we come across is that when the church leaders and Bishops are in the seminary they are morally good people, but when they become bishops they are corrupt. We need to keep a proper balance between the theological and pastoral dimension in ministry. In the present context of our country, the focus should be on equipping ministers in term of social awareness. New subjects such as church administration and property management, church accountancy and human rights and duties should be included in the curriculum. We further see that many in our church are not aware of the difference and focus of Senate, ATA and NATA streams of theological education. The laity and ministers should be made aware of this issue. Another area which I wish to bring to notice is that, even though we the church, research centres and seminaries come under the umbrella of senate, there is still not much interaction between theological colleges and the different churches as well as the research centres. Hence senate should organize consultations where these institutions are included. We also find that once a pastor trains himself/herself after theological education, there is not much interaction between him/her and the theological institution. This can be bridged if church leaders/pastors are involved in the decision making process of the senate. Also senate should organize, student and laity exchange programme where the church members/leaders visit the seminaries and student/staffing turn visit the church and learn first hand the various dimensions of both church and seminary life. Also keeping in mind the north-east context, most of the student of the non-north-east region are not aware of the context and issues of this region. Therefore adequate attention must be given to the context and issues faced by the north-east region while preparing the curriculum. This would be helpful to both students from the main Indian region as well as for those from north-east. The urban bias that we notice in theological education should be taken seriously also. We need to focus more on current issues in our society, church administration, counseling in our theological curriculum. The curriculum should take into consideration the congregational expectations, pastoral as well as the expectation of ecclesial leadership. On important area which I wish to bring to notice is that seminaries in collaboration should provide refresher courses to clergy and laity from time to time so as to make them aware of the current issues in church and society.
The present context of communal violence, fundamentalism, upsurge on traditional religions, minority rights, gender differences etc. should be incorporated in the pedagogy of seminaries. Adequate focus should also be on the liturgical training of students in the seminaries. Further, in the present scenario, church should be able to give ministerial opportunity even to those students who are not sponsored by them. Theological education should be ecumenical in nature. It should be able to challenge the traditional approach to other faiths. It should be able to renew and transform society and individual as well. Salvation should not just be limited to spiritual arena but should concern the fulfillment of the total aspirations of human life. Therefore seminaries play a vital role in enabling the Church to be an instrument of making the Kingdom of God a reality on earth by liberating the oppressed and fighting for justice. These issues therefore need to be reflected in theological education.
