Below is part five of an exclusive CHOG Blog interview with Dr. Jerry Hickson, author of Are You Sure You're Right? (Click HERE for more information on the book, including my review and critiques).
Q. You devoted one chapter of your book to the matter of higher education. As a professor at a Church of God college, what role do you see our colleges and seminary having in helping us grapple with our movement's place within the larger spheres of both Christianity and society as a whole?
I can say that I do think I have such a place and I think I speak for my colleagues as well. I am not sure how many outside the academe see such a place.
Being in the "ivory tower" can isolate a professor and can cause him or her to lose touch with the realities of ministry. But that can be overcome by maintaining involvement with a local congregation and continuing to participate in ministry at every opportunity. Those who are on the field can "lose sight of the forest for the trees."
I would hope that a person like myself can devote more attention to the changes in ministry methodology, culture, and academic discovery. Of course, we invest these into our full time students as they pursue their degrees. We are eager to be of service to more mature servants as well, through continuing education, conferences, or writing. I really believe I am here to serve the church.
I also see this as a mutual relationship. I regularly invite working ministers into my class to teach my students about ministry. I have a hard time accepting the either/or equation that pits formal education against practical mentoring. We really do need each other.
1 comment:
what I think I hear Dr. Hickson talking about it Praxis? The compination of theory and practice. That would be great! Maybe I went to the wrong school. [I'm an AU Alumn.] The classes where we did this I learned something. Most of my schooling has nothing to do with what I do everyday. There was no intersection of the book learnin' and doing. One of my majors was Family Science which is in the Sociology dept. The study of groups of people: that stuff is useful! I see this as a Church problem too, not just a school, or church-school problem. I hope we can unpack this a little here.
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