Back to School Time! For me!
by Bill Blair on 16/08/09 at 7:45 pm
Tomorrow I fire up what will be my third year of seminary. Didn’t I just start? Time does fly when you are having fun. Yes, that’s right. Seminary can be fun, but most of all it is incredibly rewarding. I feel especially blessed to be able to take the bulk of my classes at Southern Seminary’s Nashville Extension Center. This extension center holds its classes at the main headquarters for Lifeway in downtown Nashville. Most of the time the accommodations are very good, but occasionally the trustees come to town and we get packed in some tiny room somewhere where we can’t be seen, but even that is okay. 
The classes are held on Mondays during the regular semesters, and I have typically taken 3 classes per semester which means about 9 hours of class each Monday spanning from 8:30 a.m. to about 8:30 p.m. with some breaks. That may seem rough, but I can tell you it has been an incredible experience thus far. The best part of the experience has been getting to know my classmates. One benefit is that probably all the people there are active in ministry with the group including senior pastors, associate pastors, youth pastors, and many people like myself who are in transition still working a “regular job” while being active in ministry and taking classes. I really think this level of active real-life experience in the class increases the learning experience because very few are discussing the issues in theory alone. I don’t know what it is like on the main campus, but this is certainly an added benefit in Nashville.
Beyond the real-life experience, there is something unique about taking these core classes with all the same people. There is a great bond amongst the classmates and many great friendships develop because we get the time to get to know one another, and grow up together in our learning. A good example of that can bee seen in the picture above. This is the “Seminary Six.” I don’t know the back story because they were already together when I started but I think they came together and their friendships developed because of the seminary classes. These are the guys that are probably responsible for making my seminary experience fun. Since I have been there, they always have a way of setting a light tone in class, and I just want to tip my hat to them for showing that we can have fun, cutup, and still be serious about learning these amazing things about God. It is funny, I am always shocked at how much quieter the j-term classes I take on campus are, but I digress… 
If you are thinking about seminary, but are unsure about picking up and moving someplace, you should check check out Southern’s Extension center program here because seminary might be nearer than you think.
I guess I should get back to some reading. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends tomorrow and getting this semester started.
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