How do I Choose a Seminary?

by Sarah Irwin  

Okay. You’ve prayed and discerned and thought about your calling, and now it’s time to think about seminary.  How does anyone make a decision like that?  Is it like going to college?  Or choosing a place to live?  A lot of factors will go into your decision about which seminary you choose to attend. This is a time when you want to make as many contacts as possible with as many different people as you can.  Where did your parish priest or college chaplain go to seminary?  Where did your bishop go?  Does he or she want you to attend a particular school?  At first, there seems to be a bewildering number of choices to make.  The range of seminaries in the Episcopal Church is very, very broad. With a few categories of thought in mind, though, you can start to think concretely about where you are called to be.  One important thing to consider is that, more and more, Episcopal clergy do not attend denominational Episcopal seminaries.  If your spouse or partner cannot easily leave his or her school or job, you may choose to study at a non-Episcopal seminary closer to home.  You may also choose to attend a seminary without a strong denominational allegiance, where students come from all denominations.  An important thing to keep in mind in attending a non-Episcopal school is to be very clear with your bishop about what s/he expects you to study and how to stay in touch with Episcopal community and worship.  You may need to take a year or semester at an Episcopal school to learn about Episcopal worship and about other more church-specific topics. The most important learning you do will not be in the classroom.  Other seminarians, especially those in your entering class, will be just as much a part of your priestly formation as anything you do in chapel or in Systematic Theology.  Before choosing a seminary, it’s important to ask who your classmates are likely to be.  Do many students come from one area? Is there a diversity of ages, races, and genders represented? That said, academics is still important.  Each seminary has its own academic strengths and weaknesses. Does the seminary have an established core curriculum?  How much freedom will you have in choosing your classes?  Can you pursue independent study projects outside of regular courses? Geography is important as well.  Don’t just ask whether it is urban or rural, north or south. The relationship between the seminary and the town or city is important as well.  Can you meet people outside the seminary?  Is the seminary a self-sustaining “world unto itself” with a strong community?  What is the connection between the seminary and the diocese?  Are classes at other schools in the area open to you?   What are the field educational opportunities like? Are there parishes or chaplaincies that excite you? The political and spiritual climates are important as well.  What are political and spiritual discourses like?  Are political issues highly disputed, or are students’ opinions fairly uniform?  Is the climate for political conversation respectful?   What is the worship experience like?  What is the spirituality of the seminary?  Does the community’s spirituality emphasize the liturgical life of the chapel or the personal spiritualities of students?  What is the place of social justice and charity in the spirituality and politics of the place?  Our seminaries show the incredible breadth of the spirituality and practice of the Episcopal Church.  Each seminary has a diversity of voices, and all resist easy stereotyping. It’s important to realize that God may be calling you to go to a school that is very different from what you are used to and most comfortable with.  Seminary is a time when many of your pre-conceived notions of church, society, community, and self will be thrown into the air—and these ideas rarely land in the same place again.  The most important thing for you to remember is that God will call you to the place where you are called to be; it may not always be the easiest or most comfortable place. But God got you into it, and God will be with you all the way.

See also Episcopal Seminaries page on the Theological Education for All website.