A Voice from Eden Theological Seminary

The accidental seminarian is my undercover situation.  I inquired about Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and stumbled upon information regarding Eden’s Masters in Community Leadership (MCL).  With future plans to become a clinical social worker I thought the MCL program would complement my long term goals well in addition to bringing my faith based perspectives into the public square.

Something else happened.  There was a great deal of internal work churning away within myself.  I began to learn about my embedded theology (an ongoing process…).  I also had to unlearn things I thought I knew, growing up in church and tied to the KJV of the Bible.

As a MCL student with a Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion emphasis, I thought I would cultivate a “how to” process to protest and advocate for others.  I thought the spirits of Rev. Traci Blackmon and Rev. Dr. Leah Gunning would have their residue on my classes and my educational process.  Instead, my first semester was heavy on theology which meant I had to cultivate new and improved independent, decolonized thought processes.  Dare I say a more accurate approach to the Bible(?).  This led to a different approach to social justice I had not anticipated.

With this being a new program, there were way more “hiccups” than any one student should have to endure in such a short period of time.   However, the courses, and professors have been amazing, and I am better for it.  My new friends are pretty cool too!  Tuesday morning prayer and meditation have kept me sane.