Finding Your Way: A Guide to Seminary Life and Beyond
Your time in seminary can be a period of great blessing and adventure, on the one hand, but also a time of great confusion and doubt, on the other. How do you navigate the challenges, questions, and even frustrations of seminary life? Am you the only one who is confused in your classes or struggling with what you believe? What does all this theological stuff have to do with serving Christ? Finding Your Way was written to help you with these questions and perhaps with others that you didn't even know you had. This little book will help you see that seminary education is not a hoop to jump through or a burden to bear on the way to "real" ministry. Rather, your theological education is an important part of your vocation and spiritual formation now and for your future service. To this end, this book serves as a guide to the ins and outs of seminary life, to fostering a loving relationship with the church, and to developing spiritual habits that will bless you throughout your ministry.
"Finding Your Way is the postmodern version of Thielicke's A
Little Exercise for Young Theologians. As both a teacher and
friend, Phillip Camp is wise in navigating the task of loving God
with one's heart and one's mind. Because he is a committed academic
and minister--Camp's book will be a compass for seminary students
of all tribes and denominations."
--Josh Graves, author of Jesus Feast: Spirituality for the
Hungry
"Everyone enters ministerial training with enthusiasm and great
hopes. Unfortunately, in many cases the weight of classes,
assignments, and tests can distract from the joy and clarity of
that initial call. Writing in a warm and inviting style, Phillip
Camp provides practical advice on deepening ones walk with God and
specific ways to keep a healthy focus while in seminary. Anyone
preparing for ministry should read and follow the wisdom in this
book."
--Gary Holloway, Lipscomb University
"For the young graduate entering the new world of theological
studies, I cannot imagine a more valuable resource than Philip
Camp's Finding Your Way. It is a warm and surprisingly
comprehensive guide into a new and somewhat strange world. It is
written by a distinguished scholar who has traveled the road of
which he writes, yet it does not take long before the reader senses
these are words of a deeply concerned and loving friend. I would
make this book a requirement for any new seminary student."
--Earl Lavender, Lipscomb University
"Fifty years after Helmut Thielicke wrote his Little Exercise For
Young Theologians for German seminary students, Philip Camp,
building on that work, has written a primer for twenty-first
century American seminarians. Gentle, but probing; wise, but never
glib, Camp is an excellent guide for those sitting on both sides of
the desk in academic religious education. To those going to
seminary: READ THIS BOOK!"
--Randy Harris, Abilene Christian University
"Writing with humor and humility, Phillip Camp offers a valuable
handbook for people entering seminary. He is both relentlessly
practical and always theological, framing hints about things like
time management within a larger vision for church, ministry, and
life before God. The book will resonate immediately with students
coming from more conservative backgrounds. But there is living
wisdom here for thoughtful readers from every corner of the
church."
--Ted A. Smith, Vanderbilt Divinity School
"As I read Phillip Camp's words to seminarians, I couldn't help
thinking all the way through that nearly everything he was saying
could have come directly out of my own experience with seminarians
. . . and from my experience as a former seminarian myself. Camp's
wisely honest, deadly serious, gently ironic, and downright funny
advice will steer his readers not only through the dread Fire Swamp
of seminary education, but also into the beginnings of a successful
experience in ministry. Those of us weaned on Thielicke's classic
little essay will deeply appreciate this timely update. I'll be
recommending Camp's lively and accessible volume to my students for
years to come. I only wish I written it myself! Actually, I wish
I'd read it forty years ago!"
-Richard J. Erickson, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Finding Your Way is the postmodern version of Thielicke's A
Little Exercise for Young Theologians. As both a teacher and
friend, Phillip Camp is wise in navigating the task of loving God
with one's heart and one's mind. Because he is a committed academic
and minister--Camp's book will be a compass for seminary students
of all tribes and denominations."
--Josh Graves, author of Jesus Feast: Spirituality for the
Hungry
"Everyone enters ministerial training with enthusiasm and great
hopes. Unfortunately, in many cases the weight of classes,
assignments, and tests can distract from the joy and clarity of
that initial call. Writing in a warm and inviting style, Phillip
Camp provides practical advice on deepening ones walk with God and
specific ways to keep a healthy focus while in seminary. Anyone
preparing for ministry should read and follow the wisdom in this
book."
--Gary Holloway, Lipscomb University
"For the young graduate entering the new world of theological
studies, I cannot imagine a more valuable resource than Philip
Camp's Finding Your Way. It is a warm and surprisingly
comprehensive guide into a new and somewhat strange world. It is
written by a distinguished scholar who has traveled the road of
which he writes, yet it does not take long before the reader senses
these are words of a deeply concerned and loving friend. I would
make this book a requirement for any new seminary student."
--Earl Lavender, Lipscomb University
"Fifty years after Helmut Thielicke wrote his Little Exercise For
Young Theologians for German seminary students, Philip Camp,
building on that work, has written a primer for twenty-first
century American seminarians. Gentle, but probing; wise, but never
glib, Camp is an excellent guide for those sitting on both sides of
the desk in academic religious education. To those going to
seminary: READ THIS BOOK!"
--Randy Harris, Abilene Christian University
"Writing with humor and humility, Phillip Camp offers a valuable
handbook for people entering seminary. He is both relentlessly
practical and always theological, framing hints about things like
time management within a larger vision for church, ministry, and
life before God. The book will resonate immediately with students
coming from more conservative backgrounds. But there is living
wisdom here for thoughtful readers from every corner of the
church."
--Ted A. Smith, Vanderbilt Divinity School
"As I read Phillip Camp's words to seminarians, I couldn't help
thinking all the way through that nearly everything he was saying
could have come directly out of my own experience with seminarians
. . . and from my experience as a former seminarian myself. Camp's
wisely honest, deadly serious, gently ironic, and downright funny
advice will steer his readers not only through the dread Fire Swamp
of seminary education, but also into the beginnings of a successful
experience in ministry. Those of us weaned on Thielicke's classic
little essay will deeply appreciate this timely update. I'll be
recommending Camp's lively and accessible volume to my students for
years to come. I only wish I written it myself! Actually, I wish
I'd read it forty years ago!"
-Richard J. Erickson, Fuller Theological Seminary
Product Details
- Title : Finding Your Way: A Guide to Seminary Life and Beyond
- Author: Camp, Phillip G.
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2009
- ISBN: 9781630874308