Why we're here...

As much as I love Sewanee, it is really wonderful to be over half way through with seminary and moving on towards parish ministry.

For one thing, I have learned to relax and enjoy myself in class and around our faculty. This is saying a lot, because the academic environment can be really intimidating - the professors are super smart and the work is tough, plus you still have to do things like feed the kids and wash the dog.

Another cool thing about this point in seminary is that you are good friends with seniors who will soon graduate. Of course they will be dearly missed (and the weight of that fact hasn't been felt yet), but it is awesome to be there during ordinations, to learn about the priests and dioceses that they interview with, and to watch as they leave and are welcomed into new church homes.

Finally, by the middle of the second year of seminary you begin to recover from the first year. Going to seminary is kind of like joining the military - first they break you down... and then they build you back up into a new you. My classmates and I are now in this rebuilding process and it is fun. Unlike the first year, we get to preach in chapel and do field work in local parishes. It is such a blessing to apply what we learn in the classroom to the everyday practice of ministering to and with God's people. It's why we're here!