Prospective Student Days at Seabury

Came back yesterday from two days at Seabury. When I drove up to Evanston on Sunday afternoon, I had a strong sense of "What am I doing? Am I nuts? This is the wrong thing to be pursuing." Then, a student, Nancy, drove me to the hotel and told me I should expect to have those thoughts every few weeks while in seminary. From that point on, the visit just served to confirm that I was making the right decision. Everything felt so appropriate and I was so comfortable.

The food wasn't bad and I ate too much on Sunday night and Monday. Actually, my calories were just 200 over what I should eat, but that's not too bad. I was so impressed by worship at Seabury. They have at least three worship services every day, Morning Prayer, Eucharist, and something in the evening (Evening Prayer or Compline). We even had an extra Taize service on Monday. The students were incredibly welcoming and open, even the very young ones. That was a nice surprise. I interviewed a lot of them, especially curious to find out what surprised them most in their first year of seminary (the amount of work, that they mourned the career they left behind). Students are very respected and integral to the governance of the school, sitting on faculty committees for hiring and the like. Visiting the dorms and apartments was great. An older student had a dorm room with a private bath that was really charming, but the other dorm rooms were a bit young for me --and too communal. The outside of the apartments is strictly 60s tacky, but the insides are pretty nice. Cinder block, but people do a lot of nice decorating. Some of it was pretty amazing. Don't know that I'd like to be on the third floor. That would be a problem. It sure is nice being so close to Lake Michigan. That area is really beautiful and the Northwestern campus is really lovely.

My interviews were good. Paula Baxter was my faculty interviewer. It was really a pleasant hour. She asked a few probing questions: "Some older students regress when they come to seminary -- become teacher pleasers and lose their intellectual curiousity and the willingness to challenge. Do you think that would happen to you?" And, "Talk about how the tragedies in your life have affected you and changed you." A question I had in my discernment weekend. Her office was so charming. Reminded me of my old college office. The Dean/President interview went well. He also has a Ph.D. in English. My last interview was with a student who was probably in her late 30s or just 40. Very pleasant.

Akma Adams lectured on New Testament. He's funny and bright. Good choice for a demonstration. I liked his approach: don't trust anyone who says, "What that word really means is . . ." (My house has big black carpenter ants, just like the last two years at this time. Such a pain. Got traps.) Yamada and Wondra talked about their classes. They emphasized formation and its importance at Seabury. I really liked that discussion. I also saw Ruth Meyers' lecture on Liturgy Practicum. This week it was on the wedding ceremony. Really fascinating. Realized I knew more about it than I might have thought. These were the graduating seniors, so it was fun to see them just about to go out and be priests.

Funny, I just thought about how, when I attended Don Frye's ordination in December, he said, "In four years, we'll be here to celebrate your ordination," I felt sad and wistful then and thought it wasn't at all likely. Now, it seems a lot more likely. Couldn't be better.