Theological Education & Community

As our school prepares for its annual Convocation I am thinking about the role of community in theological education. When I look back over the formation of those graduating, I realize that many of their greatest revelations, greatest moments of growth, came in community experiences and not necessarily in the classroom.

Theological education is about the formation of the whole person. Students learn in the classroom, for sure, but that should not be our only focus. Students also learn from one another. They learn how to argue, how to compromise, how to reach out to someone in pain, and more importantly, how to reach out to someone who has caused them pain.

They learn by what they see and hear all around them, in the classroom, the student room, in community placements and in church placements. Every encounter becomes an integrated part of a whole.

Thank God for the community that forms and transforms us.