Category Archives: Comparison Shopping

Alistair Roberts: What They Didn’t Teach Me in My Formal Theological Education

In this lovely little recording, Alistair Roberts — himself a product of the conventional ministry preparation system — gives a run-down on the areas where his formal training did not, in fact, prepare him for ministry. The recording is only a tad over 15 minutes, and it’s well worth your time. Roberts is not complaining. […]

40,000 Reasons to Reconsider Seminary

So let’s talk about seminary. You ship yourself off for two to four years of preparation, and come out the end ready to go, a newly-minted ministry professional. What’s not to love, right? Well… You’re attending an Institution of Higher Learning. There are Impressive Buildings, Distinguished Faculty Members, and Excellent Administrators (more layers of them […]

Character First!

In my experience with grad schools, I’ve found that unfortunately, they mostly think of character formation as someone else’s job. The church should do it, or the students should find a mentor on their own, or…well, someone else, anyhow. The school focuses on knowledge, and somebody else can worry about the students’ character. It makes […]