Confession: 'I Wish I Had Not Gone to Seminary'

I graduated from Virginia State University in Petersburg, VA in 1968 with a B.A. degree in English and Literature. In 1998, exactly 30 years later, I graduated from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education and Union Theological Seminary with a dual master's degree in Christian Education and Theology. However, I wish I had not gone to seminary.

I was teaching at a community college in 1994 when I heard God loud and clear telling me to cast my net on the other side of the boat. Because Jesus had used Peter's boat to teach from, I knew what Jesus meant. That very day, I dropped my textbooks and lesson plans. I enrolled in seminary for a two-year program after I heard that directive from God. However, after two years, I was still hungry and thirsty for more, so I continued for another two years to get an additional degree.

An Apple A Day

Having no money saved for seminary and no sponsors, I attended seminary full-time for four years by faith. During those years, I did not get a paycheck, and I had no one to depend on except God. I believed what I was doing was an investment for my future.

• This meant burning the midnight oil.
• This meant being an outcast in my family and friends' eyes.
• This meant focusing on reading, studying, writing, and not much of anything else.
• This meant surviving sometimes on just an apple a day.

Taking Greek

I remember taking a course in Greek over the summer months. I didn't sleep much for six consecutive weeks. The course was so intense that I remember studying all day long and into the night. Before I knew it, it was time to go back to school the next day. I had studied all night and did not realize that the day had turned into night and night into day without me noticing the change because I was doing some serious studying.

"Who Is Jesus?"

I remember being required to write a paper based on one question: "Who is Jesus?" My theology professor was impressed that I wrote I believe when I see Jesus, I will be like Him, based on 1 John 3:2, which says:

"Beloved, now we like sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

Preaching Course

I took a preaching course where I learned to prepare and serve the Lord's Supper. Then I remember doing just that on Mount Nebo in 1997 when I took a traveling course to the Middle East, visiting Jordan, Egypt, and Israel. Now, whenever I serve Holy Communion, I remember my first time on Mt. Nebo looking out on the promised land that God showed Moses.

In that same preaching course, I wrote a paper on marriage and weddings. My profound concept from the Holy Spirit was to write about how the bride belongs to no one from the time her father gives her away until the groom accepts her as his wife. During that short period, she belongs to neither her father nor to the groom. That, to me, is the saddest part of any wedding.

Course About Job

For an entire semester, I studied the Book of Job. The professor gave the students the choice to study it in the original Hebrew or in English. Even though I had two semesters of Hebrew, I took the course in English and learned the real meaning of the book. While most people focus only on what Job lost, I balanced Job's suffering with God's sovereignty. I learned to pray for my negative friends after learning that Job received double what he had lost after he prayed for his friends.

More Courses

I remember having taken a group processing course that changed my life. I had to share my personal life in a support group setting. So much stuff came out of me that I cried on my way home many times after those sessions.

I took a course about the Pauline Epistles, where I learned everything Paul wrote and why he wrote it. Since then, I have taught Paul's books dozens of times.

By the time I graduated, I had a collection of 38 Bibles, including some in Hebrew and Greek, because every one of my professors recommended a different Bible. During the Teaching the Bible course, my professor recommended the Cotton Patch Bible. Initially, it was a trigger for me because I picked cotton as a child.

I learned Ignatius of Loyola's "Lectio Divina: which is Latin for divine spiritual reading, or "holy reading." It represents the practice of prayer and scripture reading that fosters communion with God and helps one establish a deep relationship with God through the knowledge of His word. I became disciplined in studying, pondering, listening, praying, meditating, and rejoicing in God's word that was deep within my soul. To this day, I still use this method.

Graduating After Four Years

I wish I had not gone to seminary because I was ready to graduate in May 1998, just two months from my 53rd birthday, and I had no job. What was I going to do now after having devoted four years of my life?

Biblical and theological knowledge had prepared me to become a Bible teacher. I had completed an independent study, in which I designed a Bible School to teach others what I had been taught.

Soon after graduating, I put my directive study into practice by becoming the owner and director of The Way of Life Spiritual Development Center in Partnership with Oral Roberts University. The rest is history because I trained hundreds of people who have gone into ministry. Many have become pastors, and most of them work in some capacity in their own churches and in the Kingdom of God.

Why I Wish I Had Not Gone to Seminary

Hopefully, people have read the entire article to find out why I say I wish I had not gone to seminary. The point I want to make is that my seminary experience was so powerful that if I had not gone to seminary when I did, I could look forward to going now. That wonderful experience is behind me. Had I not gone, the experience would be something to look forward to.

To the Reader

Thanks for reading, and may all your dreams come true, even though they might not look like that at the beginning of your journey.