Why Leaders Need Seminary Training, by Michael Morrison
Completion requirements
Seminary training isn't for everyone, but it can be helpful for several reasons. This sequential lesson explores these reasons in more detail.
A fourth reason to study: to serve God
"Seminary is both a gift from God and an offering to God," writes Kirsten Padilla. "As someone who loves God's Word, once I was in seminary I began to see that the opportunity to study God's Word exclusively and deeply from Bible scholars was a gift! I felt like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus through the opening up of Scripture. In some respects, I never wanted my time in seminary to end. I could not get enough of learning God's Word. I wanted more and more.
"Once I viewed seminary as a gift, I also saw it as an opportunity to give back to God, for God and his vocation deserved my best. If doctors are required to go to medical school, if lawyers are required to go to law school, if certified counselors are required to go to graduate school, then why should I, someone called to ministry, not go to divinity, or ministry, school? If these professionals require the very best training, then so should ministers of the church who will speak about the Living God and deliver his Word to others. To give three years of my life to careful preparation and study was my way of saying to God that I thought my calling was worth the sacrifice." (Now That I'm Called [Zondervan, 2018], p. 159)
