Deciding on a seminary – Should I stay or should go?

This post will help narrow your list by asking a very simply question that The Clash asked in 1981, “Should I stay or should I go?”

Now, location is a big deal for some people. Are you willing to move across the country to go to seminary? How far are you willing to go from home? From friends? From family?

The fact of the matter is that the right seminary for you might not be in the location you want it to be in. You might be a beach bum and yet feel a calling to Regent College in Canada. Or maybe your a big city kid from New York and you’re sensing the call to study at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

At that moment I guess a better question to ask is not “should I” but rather “will I.” Are you really prepared to be uncomfortable and go places you might not typically want to go?

If your answer is no… it’s just my opinion, but you’re probably not ready for seminary. As ministers, we are called to live follow the example of our king, who though God, humbled himself. A king, who when faced with going somewhere that was more than a little uncomfortable answered his father with, “not my will, but your’s be done.”

So, think it over. If where you want to go to seminary is some place that might be uncomfortable for you… then your training has already begun.