The meeting of friends
13/08/25 00:49
Back in the 1970s, when we were students at Chicago Theological Seminary, courses for entering students began with three intensives. In place of students taking multiple classes at the same time as was the case for the rest of their CTS education, entering students took one class at a time for the first quarter of their academic career. The program intended to form an educational community, a collegium in which learning was understood as a shared experience. The seminary required students to live on campus and expected them to share time outside of class worshiping, studying, working, learning, and recreating as a community. We were taught that the Christian ministry is not a solitary act, but rather the work of a group of people who share a dedication to a life of faith.
Over the years, as the seminary has continued to grow and innovate, various programs and approaches to theological education have emerged. Seminary education in the 2020s is vastly different from what it once was. Chicago Theological Seminary has been a leader in innovation since its founding in 1855. It was the first theological school to introduce field education, the first to have a department of Christian sociology, and the first to graduate a woman.. It continues to be a center of innovation in theological education.
We began our theological education the year that Charles Shelby Rooks, the first African American to lead a predominantly white graduate theological school, was appointed. Our first intensive was called Personal Transformation and was taught by Ross Snyder. We were taught that transformation was a process we shared with colleagues, and we were all equal partners in learning. Ross had an intense personality and wasted little time getting us engaged. He used to say that he didn’t have time for small talk. In a small volume of poetry called Inscape, Ross and his wife, Martha, wrote: “Love is building a home together where people from around the world meet for the interplay of mind upon mind, living toward world humanity.”
I have often reflected on that concept in my work as a minister. Our seminary experiences involved people from around the world coming together. Classmates from Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, and other nations became lifelong friends and colleagues. We felt that our educational journey and subsequent service to the church were part of a much larger process aimed at bringing justice and peace to the world.
I don’t know if a similar sense is shared by contemporary students pursuing theological education. Gone are the days of in-person residential education. CTS is a leader in online and dispersed learning. The language of collegiality has been replaced with the language of teamwork, with a hierarchy of lead pastor over a group of associates. An emphasis on self-care and setting boundaries has replaced some of the communal aspects of ministry in which we served. I am in no position to judge or even compare the present. I am aware that things are different.
After a career in the ministry with decades of service behind me, I continue to seek and celebrate opportunities for friends from around the world to gather and for the interplay of mind upon mind. Last night we shared dinner and an evening of conversation with friends from Montana and West Virginia. It wasn’t exactly a gathering of friends from around the world, but it was a gathering of friends who live far apart and for whom opportunities for face-to-face conversation are rare. Nonetheless, we seem to pick up right where we left off each time we get together, sharing ideas and experiences and quickly sensing the power of community.
As we witness the crumbling of constitutional government in the United States and share our concern for the many innocent victims of the multiple attacks of an administration bent on deconstruction and revenge, we are increasingly aware of the value of community. Despite what culture warriors proclaim, we have much in common with each other. Our neighbors who have different political views are not our enemies. They are, instead, members of our community worthy of our care and respect. As societal institutions from the arts to education to research and innovation endure attacks from ideologues and as the structures of government continue to fall under authoritarian rule, many in our country have become overwhelmed with fear. As was the case in the American Revolution of the 1770s, from which the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution emerged, ours is a time where incredible courage and vision will be required to build a future of liberty and justice for all.
That courage and vision are born and nurtured in community. No one individual is capable of bringing the change our nation needs. As we learned in the early days of our seminary career, transformation emerges from community.
So we continue to gather to listen, to talk, and to dream together. And we continue to be grateful for friends from around the world who are willing to engage in the interplay of mind upon mind, living toward world humanity.
Over the years, as the seminary has continued to grow and innovate, various programs and approaches to theological education have emerged. Seminary education in the 2020s is vastly different from what it once was. Chicago Theological Seminary has been a leader in innovation since its founding in 1855. It was the first theological school to introduce field education, the first to have a department of Christian sociology, and the first to graduate a woman.. It continues to be a center of innovation in theological education.
We began our theological education the year that Charles Shelby Rooks, the first African American to lead a predominantly white graduate theological school, was appointed. Our first intensive was called Personal Transformation and was taught by Ross Snyder. We were taught that transformation was a process we shared with colleagues, and we were all equal partners in learning. Ross had an intense personality and wasted little time getting us engaged. He used to say that he didn’t have time for small talk. In a small volume of poetry called Inscape, Ross and his wife, Martha, wrote: “Love is building a home together where people from around the world meet for the interplay of mind upon mind, living toward world humanity.”
I have often reflected on that concept in my work as a minister. Our seminary experiences involved people from around the world coming together. Classmates from Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, and other nations became lifelong friends and colleagues. We felt that our educational journey and subsequent service to the church were part of a much larger process aimed at bringing justice and peace to the world.
I don’t know if a similar sense is shared by contemporary students pursuing theological education. Gone are the days of in-person residential education. CTS is a leader in online and dispersed learning. The language of collegiality has been replaced with the language of teamwork, with a hierarchy of lead pastor over a group of associates. An emphasis on self-care and setting boundaries has replaced some of the communal aspects of ministry in which we served. I am in no position to judge or even compare the present. I am aware that things are different.
After a career in the ministry with decades of service behind me, I continue to seek and celebrate opportunities for friends from around the world to gather and for the interplay of mind upon mind. Last night we shared dinner and an evening of conversation with friends from Montana and West Virginia. It wasn’t exactly a gathering of friends from around the world, but it was a gathering of friends who live far apart and for whom opportunities for face-to-face conversation are rare. Nonetheless, we seem to pick up right where we left off each time we get together, sharing ideas and experiences and quickly sensing the power of community.
As we witness the crumbling of constitutional government in the United States and share our concern for the many innocent victims of the multiple attacks of an administration bent on deconstruction and revenge, we are increasingly aware of the value of community. Despite what culture warriors proclaim, we have much in common with each other. Our neighbors who have different political views are not our enemies. They are, instead, members of our community worthy of our care and respect. As societal institutions from the arts to education to research and innovation endure attacks from ideologues and as the structures of government continue to fall under authoritarian rule, many in our country have become overwhelmed with fear. As was the case in the American Revolution of the 1770s, from which the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution emerged, ours is a time where incredible courage and vision will be required to build a future of liberty and justice for all.
That courage and vision are born and nurtured in community. No one individual is capable of bringing the change our nation needs. As we learned in the early days of our seminary career, transformation emerges from community.
So we continue to gather to listen, to talk, and to dream together. And we continue to be grateful for friends from around the world who are willing to engage in the interplay of mind upon mind, living toward world humanity.
