The health and wholeness issues come to play in the teaching too. It is great to travel to the jurisdiction and visit students in their church settings and watch them grow in preaching, pastoral care and innovative ministry. It is also fascinating to walk with them through church conflict and tough situations. The Commission is the board for the pastoral care office. We look at programs with the counselors to educate the annual conference about counseling availability and services.
Students have to apply their studies to the real world.
I visit the students in their church settings and see them in action. They need the integration of seminary and practical experience. I push them to think leadership. Continuing education is vital for a pastor must be on the cutting edge of the world and know how it relates to the church. The classroom is a palace where we talk about how to deal with ethics - isolation is not the key.