NORTHEASTERN
SEMINARY BLOG

Recently, I took our church’s teens on our annual amusement park trip—a cornerstone event in all of my youth ministries. I have to admit it though, I do not like amusement parks. Now, I do like aspects of the park, but the reason most people are there is what I do not like. Nothing about roller coasters excites me. I do not like rides that offer a slow incline only to drop participants almost straight down with the encouragement to lift hands in the air while screaming. I do not enjoy corkscrew turns, riding upside down, or rides that take a person to the highest heights just to drop them from those heights in a matter of seconds. How was this ever dubbed as amusement?

After I had completed my Master of Divinity degree I engaged in many seminars, professional development events, spiritual life refreshments, and other ongoing educational opportunities. But I was "chomping at the bit" for something much more rigorous, a kind of personal and professional development that had real accountability and required authentic advancement.

The doctoral program at Northeastern Seminary provided all of that, and more, for me. I figured I was about three quarters of the way through my career as a pastor (making many assumptions, of course) and I did not want to just coast my way toward retirement. The entire experience was like having the third stage rocket boost me higher than I imagined possible.

A post by guest blogger, Glen Dornsife, M.Div. student at Northeastern Seminary:

A guest post by Nelson Grimm, director of field education and associate professor of applied theology

A post by guest blogger, Barbara Bushart, MDIV, MSW, adjunct professor at Northeastern Seminary. 

A post by guest blogger, Todd Daningburg, adjunct professor at Northeastern Seminary.