So… I visited Meadville Lombard – a great trip, great place, great people. (Shout outs to Justine Urbikas, Tina Porter, Qiyamah Rahman, and Christine Robinson!)

After visiting, I sat down with Carl and outlined the pros and cons of Meadville v. Union. And I’ve made a decision, largely based on a question put to me by Tina Porter at lunch. She said, “are you going to seminary to become a minister or are you going to seminary to go to seminary?”

Truth be told, I don’t know what my ministry will look like, but I know I don’t want traditional parish ministry…and to their credit, Meadville Lombard knows that is what they do. Their program is amazing, getting you immersed in the congregation and on the ground as much as possible. By the time you get your M. Div, you’ve Been There and understand more about the administration, politics, stewardship, and caring that goes into parish ministry than you’d get from books. It’s focused, the way a technical school may be focused on getting you ready for a system admin position; you walk out “shovel ready”.

And that’s not what I want.

I am more excited to let my sense of ministry grow organically… see what’s out there, what the conversations are, see how my experience in a multi-cultural, multi-denominational, multi-multi-multi instution like Union might shape me.

So now the waiting… will I actually be accepted?