Residency in Ministry

There’s a great danger in attending seminary. In fact, seminary has robbed many people of a great ministry.

There, I said it. I feel much better.

The danger I’m referring to is an intellectualism that can drive students to value truth over people. That finds more value in being theologically “right” than in loving people. Seminary can leave students with an unbalanced view of ministry and theology and life.

Life, as the seminary student will find out, does not operate like a seminary classroom. The once black-and-white difficult doctrines either fall on deaf ears in most congregations…or appear somehow like a shade of gray not hinted at previously.

In the classroom & outside

That said, I see the benefits of seminary for ministry. I was able, during my last 4 semesters of seminary, to work in a local church, fleshing out the information I was being fed in the classroom. And for me, that intimate connection with a local church helped me turn the corner. It helped me value knowledge, but never walk away from people in the process. It helped me work through living, breathing shades of doctrinal gray.

At Grace, we’ve been looking for a way to raise up and develop future leaders. We’ve had short-term interns, but those tend to be centered around doing tasks than actual development for ministry. We wanted something that was more robust, that gave people real hands-on ministry experience, and that also connected the dots theologically as young leaders were cutting their teeth. Even in areas of ministry like small groups.

I think we’ve found a way to accomplish this.

Residency in Ministry Program

We’re calling it, for now, our Residency in Ministry program. Similar to a medical residency, we view this as a post-college “residency” where those in the program will be doing real ministry alongside pastors who are a little further down the road. They’ll be entrusted not with making copies (though, as we all know, that is a small slice of ministry, too) but with life-changing ministry. They’ll be viewed as full-on staff members, held to the expectations of the rest of our staff team. They’ll also receive a small stipend and have their housing covered.

In addition to doing the work of ministry, one major benefit of the program is that seminary tuition will be included. Clarksville is ~45 minutes from the new Nashville campus of Southern Seminary. We’ve already had staff members (myself included) who have worked full-time at Grace and attended classes concurrently. And as I said above, I believe that this is a great way to learn and do ministry: in the classroom and in the “lab.”

We’re receiving applications now, looking to have residents in place by August, 2012.

So, to sum up, the benefits of the program are:

• Monthly stipend
• Seminary tuition
• Housing arranged
• Specialized training
• Access to leadership development

If you’re interested, just head right HERE and start the application process. If you know someone who would fit the bill, send this info along. If you have any questions, we’ve tried to answer the most frequently asked HERE.

We’re stoked about this program, and are convinced it will be a great benefit to a great number of young leaders.

If you were at the right stage in life, would this program entice you?