School is Around the Corner!

some thoughts on graduate school and other news

In the Spring of 2023, I completed my B.S. in Bible and Ministry with Amridge University. In January, I’ll be starting graduate school program with St. Stephen’s University in New Brunswick, Canada. I’m exited to purse an M.A. in Theology and Culture.

Yesterday, the experience became all the more real because I received my five syllabi in my inbox.

After pursuing the course material I’ll be engaged in over the next year, I went ahead and ordered all of my books for the spring semester. Thankfully, I had a few of the books and ancient sources in the required reading list, but I still had to purchase eight new books, which I am super excited about.

My Two Favorites

The two classes I am most excited for are Advanced Hermeneutics I and History of Theology I.

Advanced Hermeneutics

Advanced Hermeneutics will be taught by Dr. Bradley Jersak, someone I had the privilege of interviewing several years ago, which is how I learned of the school.

For his class, we will have to read his book A More Christlike Word, which I actually read a few years ago. We’ll also have to read and reflect on the sermon “On Pascha” by Melito of Sardis (circa AD 195). The grade in this class comes from reading responses and a major essay due at the end of the semester (2,500 words).

History of Theology

For History of Theology, the reading list is much more extensive. I’ll break it down into two parts: Ancient Works and Modern Books

Ancient Works:

Andrew Louth’s Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers, trans. Maxwell Stainforth

The Life of Anthony and the Letter to Marcellinus by Athanasius, trans. Robert C. Gregg

St. Augustine’s The City of God and Confessions

The Rule of St. Benedict, trans. A. C. Meisel and M. L. del Mastro

Modern Works:

The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (Revised and Updated) by Justo L. Gonzalez

Water from a Deep Well by Gerald L. Sitter

Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden

And a dissertation by a student at SSU from a recent semester.

Course Requirements

The requirements for this course include reading responses, a 2,000 word essay, and video lecture responses.

Other Classes

Since the degree is in theology and culture, we’ll be tackling some of the culture issues in our day in a class on race and gender. Some of the reading in this course deals with race conflict, how the church handled these situations, and modern debates on sexuality and gender.

One of the other classes is about the labels we use to describe others to place them somewhere on the political or idealogical spectrum: conservative, liberal, progressive, etc.

The last class is on contemplative formation. I think the idea behind it is something like, “Look, graduate school is hard. This will be a time to remind you to pray, to grow closer to God, and voice any needs you have.” Currently, I’m rereading The Cloud of Unknowing and Thomas Merton’s No Man is an Island, so I’m interested to see what practices and resources are recommended in this class throughout the semester.

A Big Ask

When I was at Amridge, my classes were all paid for through scholarship money. So far, I don’t have any scholarships for this new school. Perhaps I’ll be able to receive some funds after starting school and getting to know the faculty and staff.

Until then, I’m on my own… well, sort of.

Thanks to many of you, I have a little extra income through Substack subscriptions. While I don’t offer any bonuses for subscribing (I don’t want to paywall content), I do make the option available for those of you who wish to financially support what I do. Your subscriptions go towards book purchases, technology upgrades or replacements, software purchases and subscriptions, and various kinds of supplies I use in my ministry: pencils, notebooks, highlighters, and other kinds of office supplies.

From here on out, though, I’m going to be saving every penny I can for school. While some churches have pledged to help out with tuition costs, I’ll be putting any money from my online ministry into an account for tuition.

The tuition runs a little over $3,000 a semester, which is cheap compared to many schools, but it is still a lot for our current life situation. I’ve currently put about $1,000 of this away thanks to speaking engagements, website work, and a few subscriptions and gifts from the last month.

I’d like to ask you to consider becoming a paid subscriber to help me raise this money. Ultimately, this schooling will benefit you because by investing in me you are investing in my future writing, speaking, and podcasting endeavors.

This next part is really important: if becoming a paid subscriber would make things difficult for you financially, just skip down to the next section. I don’t expect this of anyone, but I’m thankful for those who can give.

Discovering Renewal

Every year, I attend Discovering Renewal at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina. Every year, I do the hiking track with my friend Aram Mitchell.

But this year things will be different.

For personal reasons, Aram will not be able to attend Discovering Renewal this year. This bums me out for several reasons, but I’m ultimately excited for Aram.

That being said, I have the privilege of leading the hiking track this year! I can’t tell you how much of an honor this is for me. I love Montreat. I love Discovering Renewal. And I love to hike and teach, so this is a win-win-win-win for me.

The only downside, besides Aram’s absence, is the Discovering Renewal isn’t until April.

My idea is swimming with ideas, potential routes, and ways to engage the other pilgrims on this sacred saunter.

As Discovering Renewal grows closer, I’ll be sure to share updates and ideas here with you.

Thank you all so much for your support, your kindness, and the privilege to write and minister to people like you. I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

Please note: I’ll continue to post my sermons here during the holidays, but I’m unsure how much time I’ll be able to put into my John series. Thanks for understanding!