Finding Your Way: A Guide to Seminary Life and Beyond

by Phillip G. Camp

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2009

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.

Praise for Finding Your Way

"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

About Phillip G. Camp

Phillip G. Camp is an Assistant Professor of Old Testament in the Hazelip School of Theology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. He also serves as an associate minister at the Natchez Trace Church of Christ in Nashville. He and his wife Amy have three sons, Jim, Davis, and Tim.