...If you feel like sharing, I have a few questions for you. What prompted your decision to pursue the degree? What was your experience like? What career field are you in now?

Thanks!

I decided to pursue my M.Div. because of my passion for teaching. I wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of Scripture in order to teach others about it. I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and it was amazing. Surprisingly affordable too since I am a membef of an SBC church. Right now I am exploring options involving chaplaincy in prisons. Are you considering getting an M.Div.?

I've tossed the idea around, yeah. The classes / study seem incredibly interesting, but not sure about the job following. Plus I'm geographically bound, and the only seminary / div school nearby is pretty pricey.

I got two MAs from Southwestern back in the early 90's. The MDiv is basically worthless unless you want to be a minister or missionary.

If you simply want to learn more about theological topics in-depth, seminary is NOT for you.

Most seminarys make you write a statement saying why you want to attend...if you don't use God-talk and quote scripture, you might not get in.

I got in by quoting George Carlin and select Marvel Comics.

I've taken seiminary classes for enrichment purposes only. Just know that this is an option in some seminaries if your goal is not to get a degree but simply to dig in deeper.

- pay to take the course (cheaper)
- Do homework reading without deadlines (or not do it at all)
- enjoy the class discussion.

I have an M-Div from Southern Seminary in Louisville. I was going to pastor in some form and wanted to be trained. So I decided on Southern. Some friends of mine from A&M recommended Southern, so I went to visit. I fell in love. Southern is one of the best seminaries in the world. I was challenged academically and spiritually. It was a great experience for me. I would love to pursue a doctoral degree, I just don't have the funds or time to do so at the moment.

I currently serve as Associate Pastor at a church in South Texas.

as far as being stuck geographically, there are work arounds to that. I am familiar with Southern and Southwestern, and I'm pretty sure most seminaries are the same. You can take up to 1/3 of your degree online. The only deal with online classes is you have to be disciplined to do your work. It's a little tougher when you don't physically go to class. You also miss the personal aspect of getting to know your classmates. I took 30 hours online and it did the job.

Southern offers what they called J-terms. Essentially, you can take a class in January, June or July. They are week long courses that you go to every day all day. It's absolutely nuts. You eat, sleep, and breathe the content for a week. In the end, you earn your course credit. You can do that as well.

Being geographically locked doesn't mean you can't do seminary. One semester, I flew from Austin to Houston every Monday to attend some classes at the Southwestern I needed.

I have an MDiv from Wesley Theological Seminary in DC. Did it because that's what was required to be a pastor in my church. Seminary was awesome.

I thought it was going to be a lame bible camp environment (apologies if you really like that) but it turned out to be filled with real people who are passionate and smart who were excited to learn, argue and experiment with ideas. It completely ruined my perception of clergy. My small liberal school was very different than business school at a&m in a lot of good and bad ways, but I'm very grateful I tried something new.

Currently serve as the pastor at a church in Baltimore City.

[This message has been edited by craigernaught (edited 3/3/2013 1:03p).]

I have an M-Div from Southern Seminary in Louisville.
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Wow. I visited Southern for a day in the mid-80's and almost went there, but Southwestern was much closer. Southern was once considered the most intellectual of the SBC seminaries.

I have a wiki-seminary degree.

I have a wiki-seminary degree.
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and probably had more fun getting it.