I Didn't Learn This in Seminary- Or Did I?

We have had a busy couple of weeks at Cottrell Corners Community Church. Among other things, the family that rents a home on the property moved out, so we need to find a new renter and get the place ready to be lived in again.

As a result, I've done things that I don't normally do. I've met with carpet people and hardwood floor people. I participated in a workday where we painted just about everything. I've shown the unit to various people who were interested in seeing it. I've fielded phone calls from people who wanted to know all the details (especially the price). And I just accepted a security deposit and wrote a receipt.

Somewhere in the middle of doing all of these things related to the property I had a thought. My thought was that I didn't learn about property management in seminary. But not too long later I had another thought. I realized that my seminary training had indeed equipped me to deal with these events. Even though there were no classes on "Landlord 101" at Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, MD (an excellent place to attend, by the way), the professors there had indeed helped me prepare. The way that they helped me prepare was by giving me lots of work and lots of deadlines to meet. During my time in seminary I took around 18 credits per semester. Plus I had two simultaneous internships. I was also teaching a home Bible study. Did I mention that I was already married and working 30 hours a week? It was a busy time. And my classes forced me to be organized and hard-working.

So even though seminary classes can never prepare anyone for all of the things that they might face, the experience of seminary itself will prepare you for dealing with much of life. And the classes that one does take will hopefully prepare that person to study and communicate the Bible- which is a far more important part of the job of pastor than the landlord stuff is.