First Semester Reflections

So, I am coming to the end of my first semester of seminary at the University of the South School of Theology. There are less than two weeks left and the crush of finals is upon us all. It has been a really good semester in terms of my formation, though I think my grades may not be quite as what I had hoped. Seminary has been a challenge on a number of levels but the formation has been extraordinary.

Katie and I have made some great new friends here who are part of an exceptional support group here at Sewanee. There are people in our class, in the Anglican Studies program, the Master of Arts in Theology program and in the other classes of the Master's of Divinity programs whom we have grown close to. It has been a great transition for us in so many ways and we have been truly blessed to be here at this special place.

A few weeks ago, I was elected to the position of student trustee to the Board of Trustees of the University. The Board is made up of bishops and appointed or elected representatives from each of the twenty-eight owning dioceses. This is a position some of friends from Pensacola have held and they all thought there would be good ways for me to make a contribution to the school. Additionally, it will give me a chance to represent the School of Theology to the broader university community. It will be an honor and privilege to serve the School of Theology in this capacity and I am hoping to have an opportunity to serve the University faithfully as well. The position is a two year appointment and I think my duties may begin as early as this spring when the university chooses a new Vice-Chancellor. I will not have any role in this search as it is already well underway, but the Board may seat new members then. More on this when I know more about the responsibilities.

Classes have gone well, though getting back into the swing of academics after a seven year lay-off has been an adjustment. The work has not been so much difficult as it has been thought provoking, stimulating and challenging for my faith. The Advent Term for juniors (the first year students are called juniors, the second year: middlers, the third: seniors)requires core courses in Spirituality for Ministry, Church History, Old Testament Foundations and a study of the Creeds. I opted to take Hebrew on the advice of my academic advisor and that has been especially helpful in my understanding of the Old Testament. I've probably read more this semester than I had in the previous four years combined (upwards of 3000 pages). The reading has done a great deal to expand my understanding of who we are as a Christian people, our Judaic heritage in the Old Testament, the historic faith of the Church, our public profession of faith and the depth of spirituality required for the call we have taken on.

We have been blessed with tremendous support from our friends and family back home. Our parish, St. Christopher's, and my former parish, St. Jude's, have been very generous in helping us financially. Many of our family members, beginning with Jenny helping us move in back in August, and friends in Pensacola have come up to visit us, as Katie has chronicled. It has been wonderful to have our two world combine from time to time and we look forward to continuing to introduce more of our communities to one another.

It's late and I have a long day of classes tomorrow. So I'll conclude the wrap up of this semester later. Blessings and peace be with you all.

Thanksgiving on the Mountain

This has been a very wonderful and hectic two weeks! To start with, Peter was elected Student Trustee by his classmates. It is an honor that we both are very excited about. He is planning to write his own entry soon about this position and his birthday celebration.

This past week we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with three very dear friends from home. Luke flew into Chattanooga on Tuesday and stayed with us for a week, Casey and Addie drove up Tuesday night and stayed thru the weekend. On Tuesday night Luke joined us for a Soup Dinner hosted by another couple at the school. He got to meet a whole lot of our friends up here. Luke's a real trooper, so he took the overwhelming crowd in stride! On Wednesday I took everyone on my self-guided campus tour, we relaxed around the house and enjoyed a fire (and S'mores) in PW's new fire pit outside.
Thursday we watched the Macy's parade and had a delicious (and HUGE) Thanksgiving Dinner. Another seminarian offered to smoke turkeys in his smoker, so we took advantage of that and made all of the dishes that we would have had if we had TGD at home. YUM! Here's a pic of PW making his tasty mashed potatoes! After dinner we walked to Green's View planning to enjoy the beautiful biew with a bottle of wine, but it was WAAAAAYYYY too cold! We called PW to come get us and sipped our wine while enjoying a game of mah jongg (and Thanksgiving leftovers)!

On Friday and Saturday evenings I had to work, so Luke, Casey and Addie did some exploring on thier own. Friday night we all drove to Murfreesboro together to do a little shopping before I had to work. On Saturday Luke and Casey hiked to Bridal Veil Falls, it's one of my favorite places! I hated that I didn't get to go with them, but I was so happy that they came up here to spend the holiday with us.

On Monday Luke and I had lunch at Shenanigan's, a must-dine pub at Sewanee, and then spent some time with my friend Jen and her son Bill. We had coffee at Stirling's and visited some new sites on campus that I didn't even know about! Our next visitors get to see the Community Garden and drive down super curvy Roarks Cove Road to the Valley.

Before Luke's flight out on Tuesday we took a hike to Thumping Dick Hollow. The trail was steep and very slippery from all of the fallen leaves, but it was awesome!
The trail followed a small mountain brook, we had to walk across rocks next to a washed out bridge and climb over big fallen logs on our way down a rocky, steep trail to two caves. When we got to the first cave we realized that we didn't have a flashlight. Oops! We didn't let that keep us from exploring tho. We used Luke's iphone flashlight (Yes, The iphone does have an app for that!) and the flash of my camera. Here's a pic of Luke as we entered the cave. It was super dark!! And here we are inside the cave.
The caves stay at a constant 55 degrees year round. It was actually kind of warm compared to the outside temp. The Sewanee website said there were Native American carvings inside the cave, but without flashlights we were unable to find those. I am really looking forward to exploring the caves again.

Over the next few weeks we will be making a trip home and PW will be wrapping up his first semester of seminary. It's so hard to believe that we have already been here that long! In some ways it seems like we have just arrived, but we have made friends that it feels we have known our whole lives.