Welcome to a New World!

Our newest students are currently in the midst of a three day orientation for Garrett-Evangelical. We are excited to welcome 110 new students to the seminary community this fall semester and have enjoyed getting to know them even more this week.  Current M.Div student Paige Boyer posted reflections from the first day of orientation on her blog, Social Ministry, and titled it "Welcome to a new world!" 

Coming to seminary for me, was a culmination of a long journey of trial, error and starting over. After nearly a decade of working full-time, I decided to quit my job and leave my home town to become a full-time student again. Having been out of the classroom for some time, the start of orientation is extremely exciting. I was looking forward to meeting my new classmates, professors and get to know the campus.

The first day, we had three main themes – Hospitality, Change and Self-Identification. We started the day discussing two short-stories and two books with Seminary president, Dr. Phil Amerson. The first book was on Hospitality and the discussion challenged us to have respectful discourse on what hospitality means for us on this journey, especially about being hospitable to strangers. The discussion veered a bit political, as one might expect in our politically charged age, but I was thrilled to see it be done respectfully. I’m certainly looking forward to many wonderful discussions with my classmates!

After that discussion, we headed off for our first worship service in the Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful with a wonderful message on Change and self-identification from Dr. Barry Bryant, Associate Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies. Using references to Alice in Wonderland,  poetry from a Persian poet and the scripture 1 John 3:1-3 Dr. Bryant reminded us that no matter how we change during our theological studies, we are children of God.

This theme of change continued through discussions with a faculty panel who gave us tips for what seminary education would be like. Some themes they touched on were:

• We will be challenged to re-examine our faith assumptions by learning to think theologically
• Christian education is providing opportunities for transformation to occur
• We will help you become competent in theology so you are able to apply it in a contemporary setting

After lunch, we had some reflection time, where Rev. Karla Kincannon, Director of Field Education and the Vocational Formation and Church Leadership program, invited us to reflect again on who we are and to find, and journal about our self-identification.

After meeting with IT, the Registrar and the library staff, students were given library tours and got student IDs. During this time, we were also given a chance to meet and get to know our classmates, which was honestly, my favorite part of the day. We wrapped up the day with a Barbeque hosted by student council.

With 110 entering students, coming from different parts of the country and world and with varied religious traditions, it will be an exciting time to meet a diverse group of people with common interests. It was a great start to the year and I am thrilled to part of this program!