The psychology of a seminarian. Of this seminarian. I'd love to know what the others go through.
I started the week with a moderate amount of 'refreshed by the holidays energy'. I did feel like I was hitting a bit of a brick wall when I came back to the seminary - but it hasn't been too bad. Maybe it is just the usual adjustment from being in control of one's own time to being at the mercy of others. I have been working way too hard - and there is not a soul on the planet who can even begin to understand that(oh, alright - I guess everybody goes through it!) I think this might be an integral part of the minister's life - and I am very happy to confess that if this part of 'formation' then I am happy to be doing it in the relatively 'safe' seminary environment. And it is formation because I am subjecting myself, by and large, to the 'working way too hard' - it is not decreed by others.
But at the end of the week I am able to believe that God is faithful. I can see things coming together in a number of places and already I feel a sense of burdens being lifted. God is good.
Some of the seminarians are very stressed. Others seem less so. One has been discontinued by the Methodist Conference. The new term carries on.
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"path". You forgot "path". The psychopathology of a seminarian.
You're probably right - are the twists and turns in my psyche the 'path'?
Do you know that the Congregationals will be training with us next year?
Oh really? That's surely the United Congregationals (the UCCSA). They're the biggest, although there are many more: the Evangelical Congregationals, the Berean, the Independent, the ... etc. etc. And then, if one means Congregational polity, one needs to include the Baptists, the Volkskerk, etc. I digress ... !
Now you make me curious. If 'they' are UCCSA who are 'you'?
We are independent, although I have seen us listed with a number of denominations. ("Independent" is not the same as the NAME Independent Congregational Churches). There are many independents in South Africa. At the same time, I have warm relations with UCCSA ministers, and other Congregational and Uniting Church ministers. As a matter of interest, some years ago we suggested observer status with the UCCSA, yet they favoured an all-or-nothing approach.
The predictable question then is, 'are you (your church) accountable to any external body/ structure?' I suppose the answer might be predictable seeing as you are in 'congregational' ministry. Tell me?
Just haven't had the time to get to this one (yet) ...
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