Life in Seminary (3)
PASTORAL MINISTRY
Correct me if I am wrong. There is a 'flexible' requirement in my seminary (for the lecturers) that requires lecturers to be involved in the pastoral ministry of an (any) ecclesiastical institution. I do not know the intention underlying such a requirement, but I can only guess that it is for the lecturers to continue to nurture a pastoral heart and gain pastoral experience which will aid them in their vocation as seminary lecturers. If this is the case, then I will say that such a requirement is unnecessary.
Why? Simply because within the seminary itself exists 100 over students who are in need of pastoral concern while they are here. Each of them having his or her own struggles, waiting to be guided, pastored and cared. If the seminary wants the lecturers to cultivate a pastoral heart, there are endless opportunities here!
Yet, the question remains: Are the lecturers willing to sacrifice their time, energy and money etc., investing them in the lives of the students amidst their busy schedules? Perhaps the next question that needs to be ask is, "If being a lecturer to the seminary students is my primary vocation, who are suppose to take primary priority in my life?" Isn't it the students? Thus, as much as lecturers are busy with endless assignments, perhaps such reality cannot justify their lack of provision of pastoral concern to the students. And may I qualify that the kind of pastoral concern that I refer to is not the "meet-me-once-a-week/month/semester/year-in-my-office" kind of concern, but the kind of concern that is expressed through the lecturers' unhurried presence among the students outside classroom hours, inconveniently yet willingly wasting time with them.
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Correct me if I am wrong. There is a 'flexible' requirement in my seminary (for the lecturers) that requires lecturers to be involved in the pastoral ministry of an (any) ecclesiastical institution. I do not know the intention underlying such a requirement, but I can only guess that it is for the lecturers to continue to nurture a pastoral heart and gain pastoral experience which will aid them in their vocation as seminary lecturers. If this is the case, then I will say that such a requirement is unnecessary.Why? Simply because within the seminary itself exists 100 over students who are in need of pastoral concern while they are here. Each of them having his or her own struggles, waiting to be guided, pastored and cared. If the seminary wants the lecturers to cultivate a pastoral heart, there are endless opportunities here!
Yet, the question remains: Are the lecturers willing to sacrifice their time, energy and money etc., investing them in the lives of the students amidst their busy schedules? Perhaps the next question that needs to be ask is, "If being a lecturer to the seminary students is my primary vocation, who are suppose to take primary priority in my life?" Isn't it the students? Thus, as much as lecturers are busy with endless assignments, perhaps such reality cannot justify their lack of provision of pastoral concern to the students. And may I qualify that the kind of pastoral concern that I refer to is not the "meet-me-once-a-week/month/semester/year-in-my-office" kind of concern, but the kind of concern that is expressed through the lecturers' unhurried presence among the students outside classroom hours, inconveniently yet willingly wasting time with them.
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[Click picture for enlarged view]Labels: Reflections
posted by Dan at 8/09/2007 03:35:00 pm
1 Comments:
Well, for my case, it is not that I DO NOT want to spend more time in the seminary, BUT my church REQUIRES me to work 2 days a week in the church office too - this is because my church supports a large percentage of my salary as a lecturer in the seminary. If the seminary has sufficient funding to pay ALL my my salary, then there is no need to ask for funding from my church and as such, the question of me working in my church does not arise, and hence I am able to spend more time in the seminary (a solution for is, perhaps, to increase tuition fees? :-)
In addition, I am also required to do promotional roadshows and STM Sundays to promote and to raise fund for the seminary in different churches and denominations. Again, in cases like this, we do need time to prepare for such events.
My hands are tight too in this instance of having the need to divide my time between the seminary and the church. I do understand the needs of the students in the seminary, but my "paymaster" also wants a slice of my time. What can I do to resolve this tension?
Well, this is another persepctive from a lecturer.
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