A word about teaching

Not many seminarians envision themselves teaching at a seminary just four years after graduation, but there I was teaching three sessions on spirituality to the "Degree 1 "class -- and doing two hours on the role of women in the church with the Diploma 2 and 3 classes; then offering two special sessions for women in ministry. Degree students are those working on a Bachelor's Degree in Theology -- they have already gone to several years of training in bible study, English, etc. Diploma students are those who have not finished secondary education, but are taking some basics in Bible, ecclesiology, ministry, etc. Most of all these people have been working in the church already as pastors, catechists (those who run the parish as assistants to a priest who has many congregations) and evangelists - those who move from parish to parish preaching and teaching. I enjoyed it very much -- but it was both easy and difficult.

People really respect teachers here - especially those from another country. The students were attentive, responsive -- I had some amazing conversations and spirited discussions. Although their English may not be strong in many cases, there are always translators -- which takes lots of extra time -- but is worth it. I felt so handicapped here with just an infant's grasp of Kiswahili -- you cannot imagine how stressful it is to spend hours with people and have no idea what is going on...so, okay, that's happened to me in English speaking situations, too -- so there you go.

Back to teaching, I was impressed with the knowledge of the Bible folks had -- but was also surprised at the lack of knowledge of church history -- especially since the first centuries of the church were driven by Africans (from the north, for sure). When I tried to draw some analogies with references to the Reformation, I got blank stares. So, seminary education is different in different cultures. I dare say our own people are not well-versed in these same areas -- which makes the argument, that Anglicans are rapidly growing in numbers in Africa, while not in the US -- somewhat of a specious one. For sure, the lack of understanding of our history as a reformed tradition is a major factor in our conflict with each other. What we need is knowledgeable Anglican world-wide, which is, of course, a major argument for good and basic Christian education offerings for children and adults -- and a stronger insistence on adults staying in Christian ed, even after Confirmation!