Sem Life 101

One of the biggest positives about being here at Concordia Seminary is the fact that the vast majority of people here, married/engaged/in a relationship/single, are here for the same purpose: To learn and grow together in God's Word and to become ordained pastors in Christ's Church. It's a humbling thing to be going through.

Another big positive is the access to the minds that are here on campus. Some of the best and the brightest "in the business" are on campus here and are extremely accessible. It's important to be able to hang out at "Prof 'N Stein" on Friday afternoons with your professors to talk about theology or anything in life and throw back a couple beers. It's also important that so many of them have an open door policy that makes them that much more accessible.

The idea of fostering community, and not just any community, but a community centered around Jesus Christ and His Church is an awesome thing to be experiencing. Exciting times for sure here at Concordia Seminary, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I imagine that in some way similarities abound in graduate studies altogether: The material and course work is intense but it is very intentional and specific. After being in college and majoring something that you choose but still having to take classes you don't want to, it is a joy to be straight up taking classes that in some form or another interest you. I don't feel like I am laboring to go to class. That's a good thing, in my estimation.

My favorite part so far has been daily chapel where at 9:40am Monday through Friday we gather as a community around the Word, and on Wednesday's The Sacrament, to be enriched by God's fulfilling means of grace. It is great to hear the different preaching styles/perspectives each member of the faculty brings to the pulpit as they preach. Each homily is meaningful to the situation the student is dealing with. What I am finding is that seminary is very much real life. The campus is an easy walk away from Forest Park, a city park BIGGER than Central Park, as well as a short drive or a long walk from Washington University St. Louis, "The Loop," and other neighborhood areas with coffee shops, wine bars, and restaurants.

What we're learning at seminary is about digesting it and bringing it to the world, just as we would with anything we learn at church normally. It's good to hear we are encouraged to get off campus and to explore what is "out there" in a fun little city full of people and culture.

The Gospel is at the very center of how Lutherans operate so it should come as no surprise that engaging the world with the Gospel of hope is what we do.