Beau Nelson (right), a graduate of an accelerated divinity program, began his time at Wartburg, Waverly, Iowa, by carrying the college’s scepter at a 2005 convocation. Nelson recently gradu- ated from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
COURTESY OF WARTBURG COLLEGE
Fast-tracking the process Help for the seminary-bound By Karris Golden
W
hen it comes to educating pas- tors for service in the ELCA, the adage “if it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it” doesn’t apply. Kathryn Kleinhans, a professor
of religion at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, said the church and its educators must regularly re-eval- uate models and standards, in part to identify potential leaders.
“Can we provide the same quality of education but deliver it in a differ- ent way?” she said. The answer has changed as the church has evolved. “When Lutherans first got [to the U.S.] ... Europe sent us pastors, and we used the apprenticeship model to train new pastors,” she said. “At that time, pastors got together and decided when that person was ready. The notion of graduate degrees is a later evolution.” At Wartburg, religion and philoso- phy professors had long discussed a “3+4” degree program to acceler- ate a student’s entry to seminary.
Golden, a writer and editor, lives in Shell Rock, Iowa.
It involves three years of focused undergraduate study and four years of seminary. The result would be a bachelor’s degree, a master of divin- ity degree and an ordained pastor trained by two ELCA institutions, Kleinhans said.
Less time, debt While the 3+4 program wouldn’t end the eight-year model of college and seminary, it could lessen some of the financial burden. “We are aware on our end of the level of student debt when students come to a college of the church and then go on to [semi- nary],” Kleinhans said. That was the case for Beau Nel- son, a 2008 Wartburg alum who recently graduated from Luther Sem- inary, St. Paul, Minn., with his wife, Lydia. “Student loans are on the high end, especially with the two of us,” he said. “Being two pastors, we’re not going to be making much.” A program that would build upon the foundation laid by Wartburg’s undergraduate program seemed logical, Kleinhans said. Seminaries
32 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
indicate that Wartburg students are so well-prepared they sometimes test out of first-year seminary courses, she added. College officials believed a 3+4 program would strengthen its ties with Wartburg Theological Semi- nary, Dubuque, Iowa, which shares a common mission, founder and past collaborations. The college also explored such possibilities with Luther Seminary. The Association of Theological Schools, the seminaries’ accrediting organization, didn’t allow a program where students could enter seminary with credits under their belts. Instead, coordinators found the solution in accelerating a student’s undergradu- ate education, Kleinhans said. Beau Nelson, the first candidate, entered college immediately out of high school, making him a young first-year seminarian, Kleinhans said.
“We see more first-career seminarians these days. However, because there have been so many second-career seminarians for so long, when a candidacy commit- tee looks at someone who wants to go to seminary, they’re comparing 22- to 23-year-olds [with] 45-year- olds,” Kleinhans said. “Candidacy committees need to be able to judge maturity—ask whether this person is a mature 22-year-old, not whether she or he is mature compared to the 45-year-old.”
For Nelson, there was little doubt, she said. He had wanted to go to seminary since the 10th grade when he led a youth group Bible study.
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