Hello, and Happy Valentine’s day everybody!
It’s the start of a new semester here at Asbury Seminary, so I’m just typing out an update on how things are going. In general - I had a great semester last semester, a wonderful winter break at home with my family, and I’m now excitedly jumping into a new set of classes, and you get to hear all about it!
J-Term
So, some of you may be a little surprised to hear that my Spring classes have just started in February, but that’s because Asbury has a J-term. For 4 weeks in January the school offers intensive classes. A few last the whole four weeks, but most are 1 week classes where you are in class every day from about 8 to 5.I signed up for an intensive class this January called Women in Church and Society. I really loved it! My class met the last possible week in January, so we were expected to read all of the books and material ahead of time, and preferably complete all or most of the assignments ahead of time as well. I definitely didn’t manage that much, but I did do a lot, especially of the reading while I was home. It meant that I had to spend a lot of time in the evenings after class finishing up homework. The Intensive certainly lived up to its name!
Despite the intimidating pace, the class was a ton of fun. My professor structured it as a discussion focused class, so we spent most of our time discussing the material we had read and the topics that we ran into on the way. We had a great group for it too! Our class was small, only 12 students, and it actually had more men than women, 7 to 5, plus our professor who is a woman. Apparently she was as surprised as we were! It was a good group though, and a really open and supportive atmosphere. Over the course of the week, everyone opened up about any number of personal experiences and sensitive issues, and it generated a lot of amazing discussion back and forth. We covered everything from Biblical understandings of gender and their historical interpretations to modern issues like women in the media, parenting and the workplace, and how American culture defines masculinity vs femininity. A lot of the students in this class are currently serving as pastors in churches around the country, who came in to Asbury for this one week class, so it was really cool to hear them share about their practical experiences that most full-time Asbury students just don’t have yet.
For the last two days of class, everyone picked a research topic to present to the rest of the class. I wound up presenting and then writing my final research paper on Islamic Feminism. It was incredibly interesting, but also a very formidable challenge to learn about a topic that I knew nothing about going in. I certainly wouldn’t call myself an expert now, but I’ve learned a lot about how Muslim women around the world are trying to understand and establish their roles in light of both their religious identity and egalitarian political and cultural ideals. It’s a fascinating glimpse of a different world, and if you ask me about it some time, I would be happy to talk your ear off.
Bonus Break
Thankfully after a very exciting but also exhausting week of class, I had one week off before Spring classes started February 4. I spent most of it finishing up my research paper, (my professor was able to push the due date back to the following Wednesday, thank goodness), and hanging out with one of my roommates, Kayla. She had her birthday that week, so we celebrated by going out to see Mary Poppins Returns, and then coming back to make a cake. We had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get to hang out some without the craziness of classes hanging over our heads.Spring Semester
Finally, Spring classes started at the beginning of February. Campus life certainly picked up as students flocked back to campus, and it was super nice to see people again and catch up with friends. Soccer is even back in session, although I’m trying to be a lot more careful after I injured my ankle at the end of last semester. It seems to be pretty much back to normal, the long break was a perfect way to give it a lot of rest, but I’m keeping a very close eye on it all the same. Of course, the big excitement of a new semester is a new set of classes. I’m taking thee again this semester, which is typical for seminary, and I think that they are going to be keeping me busy!TH601 - Theology of John Wesley
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| This seems very fitting, particularly since I actually have this class today! |
I will say, I am very excited for the general topic of this class. Since I don’t have much of a Wesleyan background myself, I don’t know much about John Wesley, aside from what I’ve picked up at a very Wesleyan seminary. I’m already loving building a better picture of who this man was who found such a powerful and enduring movement, and I’m excited to understand more about his theology and how it influences modern denominational doctrines.
OT501 - Intro to the Old Testament
Theology of John Wesley meets from 4 to 5:15 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, but Wednesday mornings I have to get up and get moving in time for Intro to the Old Testament at 8am. This is a three hour class every Wednesday morning about the Old Testament, which is the equivalent of Dr. Keener’s New Testament class that I had last Fall.So far my professor, Dr. Cook, has been mostly focused on establishing our framework for understanding the history of the Old Testament. We’ve talked a lot about why the Old Testament is still important, how the Bible was probably written, why Moses probably didn’t write the first five books of the Bible, and how scholarship over time has understood the role of the Old Testament, and the role of scholarship on the Old Testament. Some of this is not super new to me, and some of it is. We had to read about 50 pages for class this week on discrepancies in the Old Testament and how one scholar used them to date when the different books were written. It was a very dense and difficult text, but I think it served a good purpose to make us think and look at how divine inspiration and human research and effort interact.
I think that I’m going to like this professor and this class. He has been doing an excellent job of presenting many different viewpoints respectfully, even as he explains why he believes the evidence supports his own scholarly opinion, and he seems very focused on encouraging us to question and understand what we know and why we know it. I’m a fan of that! I’m looking forward to seeing how this perspective is going to come into play as we shift to more of a focus on the actual Biblical text as opposed to its history.
MS501 - Missional Formation
Finally, on Wednesday afternoons after Old Testament, Chapel, and lunch, I have my third class, Missional Formation. I feel like, at least so far, this class has paired really well with Intro to the Old Testament, which is fitting since I have it on the same day and in the same classroom. So far both classes have talked a lot about the overarching narrative and themes of the Old Testament, with Missional Formation naturally focusing in on the missional components. My professor has spent a lot of time in the missions field, but he also clearly has spent a lot of time thinking about the larger perspective on missions, what mission means, and how missions interacts with all kinds of different fields of Biblical study, which is really cool. I think he is also just a really good teacher, and he has already done a great job of pulling our class into discussions of missions on a theological and practical level. I am going to admit that I’ve had a little trouble focusing in this class since it comes at the tail end of 8 straight hours of focused activity, but that doesn’t stop the class from being a good one, and I know a lot of people in the class who can help poke me if I start to drift away.Really, it’s been fun this semester to realize how many friends and people that I know and recognize are in all of my classes. I have people I eat lunch with and talk to before class starts, and run around and have adventures with on occasion. There is a girl in my dorm who moved in over January, and as I’ve met her and talked with her, it’s been kind of a nice reminder of how far I’ve come since arriving last August.
Other Odds and Ends
Let’s see, what else has been happening.For church this semester I have switched it up and have been attending Calvary Free Methodist Church instead of Wilmore Free Methodist. Calvary is about 20 minutes away, near Lexington, and it’s much, much smaller that the Wilmore church, but it’s got a great atmosphere and community, and I feel like I’ve already been able to make some really great connections. I went to a women’s breakfast at the church last Saturday, and I kind of feel like they are just accepting me as one of their own.
It was actually kind of funny, I think it was only the first or second week that I’d been attending this semester, a church member actually backed into my car in the parking lot! It did absolutely no damage, I think he must have just barely tapped it, but he wound up inviting me out to lunch with him and his family to apologize. There’s one way to get connected!
I’ve also already gotten to serve in chapel again this semester. Instead of reading the scripture, I was invited to pray for chapel this past Tuesday. Dr. Tennent was preaching again, the next section of his spirit-filled life series. I really enjoyed preparing and giving my prayer, and was happy with how it went. I wrote out a rough draft of what I wanted to say, and then sent it to the chapel office to make sure that it sounded good. I got some great feedback, both compliments and recommendations, including from Jessica LaGrone, the director of Chapel who I just have so much respect for as both a human being and as an amazing, amazing speaker. I’m very happy in case you couldn’t guess.
Today is a Thursday, so I don’t have a whole lot going on. I’m typing this in the library before I have to go to class at 4. It’s nice to have a slower day after my non-stop Wednesdays. Lunch today was rather eventful however. For valentine’s day, the cafeteria was handing out certificates for free food for people who either asked someone out on the spot, or who sang to their significant other. For some reason people were not super anxious to do either of those things in front of the entire cafeteria, but over the course of lunch we were treated to some lovely karaoke, including an epic Timon impersonation for, “Can you feel the love tonight,” and one of the girl’s at my table breaking out in a “My Friends” version of “My Girl” to win a family Pizza party for our family of friends. Talk about Valentine’s Day fun!
I hope that all of you are feeling the love today, and that you enjoyed reading about my Seminary Adventures, season 2!
May God bless you and keep you, and make His face shine upon you.
