Ministry Practicum: Fill & Download for Free

Hmm, no answers yet?Okay. So -- seminaries that I was part of: mostly: Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Evangelical and Interdenominational), South Hamilton campus; a few classes I did distance learning; I did one through Gordon-Conwell's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston; and then Holy Cross [Greek Orthodox] Theological School and St. John's [Catholic] Seminary.Seminary is the academic arm of the church. Gordon-Conwell heavily emphasized it is not the church; it is the equipping arm of the church. Seminary is graduate-level studies -- and very specifically in Christian theology or pertaining to Christian theology. The word was used in the late 16th century to present referring to "a school for the training of priests." Sometimes you get schools that become theological schools or divinity schools as they move away from mainstream/orthodox Christianity (or at least "more embracing of other world religions").In the application process, Gordon-Conwell usually required 1) personal statements indicating conversion, faith, sanctification, 2) a church recommendation, 3) transcripts, 4) someone giving an academic recommendation, 5) other personal recommendations, that tends to reduce the number of ill-qualified or non-Christian students at seminary. I believe I had heard that some professors made it a point to speak to students who expressed very questionable theology. (They allowed for a great deal of theological diversity ... like my Catholic professor gave me an A despite my not agreeing with Marian and papal dogmas.) My Gordon-Conwell professors never had a problem with my theology but I think I'm pretty theologically conservative.As it is graduate-level, it requires an undergraduate degree, and depending on the school, there may (or may not) be some preferred degrees/majors. Gordon-Conwell didn't have a requirement, although if you had a theology, philosophy or New/Old Testament background, you definitely had an advantage.Most official seminaries are accredited through the The Association of Theological Schools (ATS).Like with any schooling, you do have to count the cost and decide what advantages and disadvantages to have. Many of my seminary friends who lived at the South Hamilton campus complained that their education was too academic and they weren't able to draw the relevance. I lived in Cambridge and worked in high tech full-time and only took part-time classes, so I wasn't fully in the seminary community. But I was able to find a good balance of serving my home church (which is part of the seminary education process) as well as applying what I learned.I think most of my friends thought that I was insane as I was working in high tech full-time and then taking 3 classes per semester (9 per year). I slowed down to 2 per semester and eventually when I was interning, I did 1 upper-level exegesis class plus internship -- which was effectively like a second almost full-time job. I mentioned to a friend "I think I did around 15-20 hours a week for Dr. Stuart's Old Testament exegesis class, who then replied with, 'Only 15-20 hours a week?'"Towards the end of my time, Gordon-Conwell re-numbered all their courses to be much more logical. 500-level classes were first year (graduate work). 600-level were second year. And so on. I ended up mostly following that numbering system in terms of progressing through classes.In asking about using a couple of electives to my assistant pastor , who was one of the overseers of my internship -- he suggested that I branch out a bit. Boston is one of less than a half-dozen places in the US (I believe another is San Francisco, New York if we include St. Vlad's and St. Joseph's in Yonkers) where all three major branches of the church have major seminaries, and as a Gordon-Conwell student I could cross-register for the same price. So I spent some time at Holy Cross and at St. John's. (My criteria was: 1) it had to be Christian and edifying, I'm not going to waste money on something that isn't going to be edifying ... or is solely intellectual/academic, and 2) it had to have something interesting.)I enjoyed my time at all the schools, especially Gordon-Conwell. I discerned I wasn't supposed to go into the professional pastorate by my first year, so I structured my learning accordingly. It is certainly an excellent background and training for a layperson. It certainly sharpened a lot of my beliefs and thinking. My home church (Park Street in Boston) gave me plenty of opportunities to serve. I was already co-leading a small group/Bible study when I started seminary. After a couple of years of co-leading and based on the situation, I was leading by myself (and one of few people in their 20's that the church trusted to do that). I taught a number of different adult "Christian Formation" Sunday school classes and served on a couple of committees. Park Street was trying to find me new avenues to explore as a meaningful internship so I got visitation (visiting those in hospitals, house-bound -- mostly elderly, in retirement homes, etc.) as well as missions. I then served on the Nominating Committee which identified and did due diligence on new elder candidates towards the end of my time at seminary. ("Mentored Ministry" or some kind of ministry practicum is required for Master of Divinity programs. For me, it was pretty organic and natural for serving at Park Street. I know others who have much more of a challenge, especially if they're relocating from another part of the country or world.)For upper level classes, I spent a lot of time in the libraries, including Gordon-Conwell's and Andover-Harvard (associated with Harvard Divinity School). Andover-Harvard was no more than a couple of miles from where I lived and much closer than the Goddard Library. Plus Andover-Harvard had copies of the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament and other things that HDS students didn't care about or hardly used, so I think I was the only person who used these!Sure, there are many who are there who want to enter the professional pastorate or are there as continuing education for the professional pastorate. For Master of Divinity candidates, only about half were wanting to enter the professional pastorate. There were a number of other degrees offered, all mostly two year Master's degrees. There was a one-year Th.M. "advanced research" master's degree, which was largely advanced classes like historiography and a one- or two- semester thesis, largely as Ph.D. preparation.As I ended up teaching First-year Koine Greek a couple of times and had some friends who were thinking about theological education, I drafted up a small paper on the topic. Feel free to email if you want the paper.I basically lay out different models like pastor-scholar, continuing education for pastors, theological training for lay leaders; I outline some of the core classes and why these are core classes (e.g., NT/OT Survey, Church History, Systematic Theology Survey, 1 year biblical language, Christian Ethics, Christian/Spiritual Formation for Ministry). I also lay out a few classes more in depth as well as degree/program structures.

I had left ministry, had my last Mass on a Sunday, followed by a little reception. Since I was a priest-psychologist I’d been able to line up a job at a clinic for Monday morning. I’d taught counseling, done some therapy, put together some programs, but never been a full-time practitioner.In my state at that time you had to have your “competencies” on file, and not stray beyond them. I was “competent” in psychotherapy with adults and adolescents, couples therapy, psychological testing and evaluation and a couple of other things I forget.The clinic owners steered referrals my way, but I wanted to be busier, faster. New career, excitement, no commitments other than the job — I was ready to work long hours and make my mark.I asked one of them “How do I get busy in a hurry?” He said “do you have a kid competency?” “No,” I admitted, “I’ve had all the child development courses and did a practicum, but not really. I do love kids of all ages. . .”He sad, “Loving kids is good but you’re going to have to take at least two upper-division courses — start them right now, simultaneously, since you’re not busy — and get a supervisor for the first six months. I’ll do it for free.” In three months you’ll be able to claim a kid competency and you’ll fill up the rest of your practice in a hurry.It was four months, but he was correct. And even wiser than I realized too. I turned out to have a special connection with kids 4–12, doing play therapy and story therapy, and drawings and all the rest. I even developed a reputation for being good with kids, and I was always busy after that.My kid experience was a big help much later when I moved into the final phase of my career, family forensics — meaning child custody evaluations in high conflict divorces, where most of my data came from the kids, directly and indirectly.

It takes about two hours. That's the usual time for the ordination liturgy.Of course, the preparation before that is ordinarily extensive. The Church requires studies in Philosophy (one or two years, which can be completed in college) plus Theology and similar subjects (Scripture, Canon Law, Church history, Practicums) for four years. During these five to six years there is extensive formation and spiritual direction, plus often time spent in pastoral ministry.