National and Local Ordination Standards

ordination-tracks

I still remember the day during my first year of seminary when our Director of Student Relations and Senior Placement at Princeton told us that we really shouldn’t transfer while in the ordination process if we could avoid it. I don’t remember the reasons that she gave us, but I do remember that transferring (especially as a Candidate) was not something that she recommended.

And now…here I am…in the process of trying to transfer as a Candidate from Kendall Presbytery to the Presbytery of San Francisco. It certainly isn’t ideal, but under the circumstances, it seemed like the best option.

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Transparency in the Ordination Process

This past week has been very interesting as I’ve been watching the conversation take place about my post, “When an M.Div. from Princeton isn’t Enough…” I’m sure that many of you have been following all of what transpired, but let me just catch you up to speed:

  • I initially felt frustrated with a preliminary decision about what additional courses the Presbytery of San Francisco was going to ask me to take. So I wrote “When an M.Div. from Princeton isn’t Enough…” As I mentioned in my initial post, I have had some really good interactions with folks from the Presbytery of San Francisco. This post was never meant to be an attack on the Presbytery or the Committee on Preparation for Ministry; it was a frustration with the process that we have in place for ordination. [Read more...]

When an M.Div. from Princeton isn’t Enough…

Now that this post has “gone viral” – many of you may be arriving here for the first time. I know many of you are coming from Tony Jones’s BeliefNet postings, from Christianity Today’s Out of Ur blog and most recently from the CHURCHandWORLD Presbyweb site. If you’re interested in more of my writings about my ordination experience, you can find them here. But I do want to welcome you to Pomomusings. You can find subscription information on the right (RSS and Email Updates are available). You can read my bio here; please stay awhile and check out some other posts.

gradWhat was I thinking in this photo taken on my graduation day from Princeton Seminary? Well, probably many things, but one of them was definitely, “Four years of seminary done – no more school for me!” It was a great feeling.

However, in the next phase of my ongoing attempt to get ordained, it seems that I may not actually be done with my coursework, at least according to an email I received today from the Presbytery of San Francisco.

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