About Us ~ Welcome from the Dean

Welcome from the Dean

As one enters the close from Ninth Avenue through the front building, the Chapel of the Good Shepherd stands in the center of the view. This is an architectural embodiment of the mission that General is “called to educate and form” leaders for the church. As Dean Hoffman noted when the Chapel was built, the location acts as a constant reminder of the centrality of worship in the life and formation of those who seek to minister in Christ’s name.

A seminary is different from a secular university school of religion. We do not so much study religion as we seek to live our faith. We pursue academic excellence as a means of personal growth, and at the same time we pursue personal transformation through our worship and interaction within the community of faith. Education is more than learning about God; it includes growing in our relationship with God, a maturing that involves the transformation of our minds and spirits so that our actions become an icon of Christ’s love. Formation involves the integration of spiritual practice and academic study in order to equip leaders who are mature and collaborative, leaders who are responsible both to the community that has raised them up and to the wider community in which they live and serve. The prominence of the Chapel reminds us of the important role worship plays in the formation process.

The process of education and formation involves three primary actions: centering our lives in worship, experiencing the support of a community of seekers, and growing in knowledge and understanding. Community does not happen just because we are in close proximity to each other. Community does not even occur because we desire it or work to develop closeness. Community is a gift from God. Community is enabled when I discover that my true worth comes through God’s love and acceptance of me, and when in that discovery I know God also values every other person as beloved. We are not in competition; we are sisters and brothers. We find our purpose in bearing one another’s burdens. We are a family gathered around the Lord’s table. And the place we experience this most clearly is when we gather for worship.

Theology also is related to worship. We are tempted to approach theology as though it is a system of thought derived logically from an understanding of God to Jesus to Christology to the Spirit and the church. While the use of logic and systematic reasoning is essential to our understanding theology, in truth both historically and personally, theology begins with experience. We experience the power of God in an event or another person. We find ourselves moved and confused by the stories of Jesus of Nazareth. We experience the love and acceptance in a community that calls itself the church. Then we seek to understand our experience with the tools of reason. But the experience comes first, leading us to question and search for deeper understanding. That experience of the Holy is the essential heart of worship.

The Chapel of the Good Shepherd stands at the center of our campus as a reminder of the role of worship in our formation as the people of God. We study, we play, we enjoy the city, we work in congregations, and we participate in the daily practice of prayer as a community. We do not have a transforming experience every time we enter the Chapel. But as we live and work together, our regular worship becomes central in our lives. We may find, almost without being aware it has happened, that our lives are being transformed as we are discovering God in the awesomeness of holiness.

The Very Rev. Ward B. Ewing
Dean and President

9/12/06