I think I'm done with degrees. I know I'm done with footnotes! I finished my coursework back in December, but I (and Peter along with me) finally walked across the stage on June 10 in Pasadena, CA, where Fuller Theological Seminary is located. It was a very special and spiritual ceremony, and I was moved to tears when we sang "I Give Myself Away" in the middle of it. I was moved to a different kind of tears sitting through 400 names being read, but at least it's over!
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| I couldn't believe how many people got to come to our graduation so far from where any of us live. It was such a blessing to me! A number of people from the FOCUS staff, my wife and parents, and Peter's entire family got to be there. The special thing Peter did to get that red stole hanging down was just being Asian American. But the special thing he did to get the red hood (around his neck) instead of my white one was taking 50% more classes than me! |
I've been reflecting on seminary and its value and place in campus ministry. Because campus ministers typically come straight from the secular university (for example, I have bachelors and masters degrees in business from UTD), relatively few have a seminary education and almost none start their ministry with one. A big part of going to seminary for me was answering my questions about it. I have a couple of initial reflections.
1. There's incredible value in studying slowly while actively being a minister. I thought I would not like online school as much, but what was unexpected was that, rather than sitting in a classroom with a bunch of full-time students, I was actively learning alongside a bunch of full-time ministers. We were trying to figure out how to use what we were learning realtime. I got to be in classes with church pastors, other campus ministers, missionaries, chaplains to various hospitals and prisons, Salvation Army officers, youth ministers, and more. They brought a richness to what I was being taught, but so did talking it over with the university students and alumni I get to meet with every day! I loved taking this degree one or two classes at a time, slowly pondering and integrating what I was learning.
2. What we've been doing in FOCUS all along for education is REALLY GOOD. We've long had a commitment to continuing education for our pastoral staff. We are always reading, listening to lectures, or otherwise pursuing deeper understanding of the scriptures and ministry leadership. Our staff reads multiple books together each year, and our commitment is to graduate level learning. We believe that if we are to lead university students, we should be operating at their level or above. Fuller has expanded our list of resources and given us new topics to explore, but I believe anyone on our team for a few years will ultimately come out ahead of someone with a one-and-done seminary education before they start their ministry career.
I am soooooo thankful for this education, and I assure you I'm using it every day. Through your gifts, the ministry helped pay for it and gave me the time to devote to it. It has raised my game in teaching and leadership, and I'm passing that on to these younger pastors that I mentor. I've gotten to do things I never thought I'd get to do, like make my own translations of scriptures from the Greek and Hebrew! I know it will take a few more years for all of this learning to sort of settle in my heart and mind, but I'm committed to blessing our mission what what has been invested in me. So thank you!!
SICM!
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| This is the group we took to SICM from FOCUS this May. The crazy thing is that it doesn't include about 5 people who were not there at the moment and another 5 we sent in June! |
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| This is the group of guys Peter and I hosted (minus one) at a house in Bellingham all week. They are all UTD guys--a really neat bunch! |
Student Testimony
