Choosing a seminary – a pastor’s opinion

In my never ending quest to provide information that will help you decide on the right seminary for you, I occasionally find other people who have weighed in on the subject. Today I came across an older post by Mark Denver at togetherforthegospel.org.

In his post, Mark explains five factors to consider when choosing a seminary. They are:

1. Confession of Faith – “…Look to be trained at an institution which seems to be committed to a right understanding of God’s Word…“
2. Quality of Education – “…While there is no precise way to measure such quality, factors which indicate it are the school’s faculty, the required curriculum and the library facilities…“
3. Cost – “…The calling that you are following doesn’t usually pay the kind of salaries doctors, businessmen or lawyers may receive. It is part of your being a good steward to consider the cost of the education you are pursuing…“
4. Church – “…you must also consider if there is a good church nearby that could be a place of ministry and spiritual encouragement and direction while you are in the seminary…“
5. Connection for Life – “…consider what connections for the rest of life you might make by attending this seminary or that theological college…“

His points are good and certainly ones that I agree with. His points about indebtedness and the fact that pastors aren’t making the same kind of money that MBA’s will be making after they graduate is a really great and something that we’ll discuss in the paying for seminary section in the near future.