It was advice I got from a friend who had traveled the path before and honestly I was shocked. When I explained I was called to preach and I was sure that I was and that I had been for a long time, I heard, “Don’t go to seminary.”
Don’t go to seminary? Don’t answer this call that has been nestled deep inside me for years? This couldn’t possibly be what he meant.
“No, really don’t go to seminary. Your life will never be the same.”
Ok, so things were going to change. I knew that. I knew I didn’t have money saved up. I knew I didn’t have an undergraduate background in anything I was going to study, but I had to go. I was called.
Now, having finished my second year of seminary I know what he meant and honestly, if I were talking a potential student, I would give the same advice. If you have the option to not go to seminary. Don’t.
It’s desperately hard and unnervingly humbling.
It robs you of your time of your relationships of your career potential.
It strips you of assumptions and certainties you once held close.
Take it from someone in the midst of the journey.
Don’t go to seminary.