So, better late than never here's my last post:
(with an updated update to follow soon)
Seminary Ketchup
September 27, 2008
I’m supposed to be writing a paper on Paul and his pastoral strategy….
So it seems like a good time to update my blog
I’m busy, busy, busy. Classes only began three weeks ago and I’ve already written two papers, read about 3,000 pages, and been labeled as “boring” by the extrovert who lives 3 doors down from me. Mainly because every time she knocks on my door (which is 5 times a day) I’m always “too busy studying to hang out and have fun.”
Which is not quite true.
I did venture into Boston with her last Sunday to see a movie at the Museum of Fine Arts. But she’s right. I definitely go into ‘hermit-mode’ whenever I’m not in class or attending some school event.
I have to. Otherwise I’d go nuts.
Monday through Thursday I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the cafeteria, and that’s close to 3 hours a day of just socializing, which for those of us of the introverted persuasion is a stretch. Pack a 3 hour class each day on top of that, most of which involve some form of group discussion, daily morning chapel service, Wednesday Community Chapel, a bi-weekly meeting of our Spiritual Formation covenant group, and numerous special events, info fairs, and fellowship gatherings that occur on campus nearly every day, and I NEED to squirrel myself away in my room every now and then, not just to study but to recharge my batteries.
Miss Extrovert down the hall doesn’t quite get that. She wants to “study together out on the quad” and since we’re not in any of the same classes I’m guessing that her idea of “studying” is sitting around chitchatting with books propped open on our laps.
Yeah. No.
This girl is the anti-me. I love how quiet it gets here on the weekends. She can’t stand it. Give me a book and 3 hours alone in my room and I’m happy as a clam. She’s climbing the walls after 30 minutes. Yet we’re living on the same floor, we’re in the same Spiritual Formation group, and she’s claimed me as her ‘seminary best friend’ because I helped her move in.
God definitely has a sense of humor.
Last Sunday I went to Old South Church, a UCC church near the Boston Public Gardens. It was the first stop on my “Tour of potential Field Ed sites.” I have to do two semesters of internship next year (15-20 hours a week) so my goal this year is to take a peak at as many of the churches on our site list as I can. Unfortunately, most of the churches on our school’s list are either outside of Boston or not easily reachable by public transportation, so my SO and I may need to think about getting a second car. I don’t want to limit myself the handful of churches that are near T stops – getting the right fit is more important than how I’m going to get there. Although Harvard Div has a few local sites on their field ed list which we’re allowed to use, so I may check those out next.
Why am I worrying about this now? Because I have to start the search process next semester and it will be here before I know it!
This past Tuesday we had an all-school “Community Day” – classes were cancelled and we all went off the hill in groups to work in the surrounding community. One group worked on a Habitat for Humanity house, one did some neighborhood canvassing for a local non-profit, and our group sorted and packed food at the Boston Food Bank. It was a blast and when we got back to campus we had a barbecue on the quad.
I finally got the report from the psych evaluation I had done at the end of July (yes it’s official, I’m crazy). So the next step is my interview with the Council on Ministry on Oct. 7, which if all goes well will officially give me “In Care” status in my local association.
To get to the meeting my SO will have to come up to Boston and bring me home for the weekend (yay!) so I can attend the interview on Tuesday morning, and then I’ll drive back to Boston, hopefully getting here in time to make my 6:00 class. Of course, all of this back and forth traveling will happen the weekend before I have major papers due in 3 of my classes.
Speaking of which, I better get back to Paul and his pastoral strategy (….something about the women staying silent and the men staying celibate….Paul apparently was not overly concerned with marketing strategies or church growth).
Ketch you later - Happy Fall!
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