Urban Ministry

This semester, I am taking an elective course at Sewanee called "City Faith: Urban Ministry Experience." Every Friday, our class of twelve or so seminary students will travel to Chattanooga or Nashville (the closest urban centers to Sewanee) to visit urban ministry sites and to talk with people who are engaged in ministry in those places.

This class -- and the professor who teaches it, The Rev. Dr. Susanna Metz -- are a big part of why I chose Sewanee for my seminary education. I met Susanna at a community lunch during the weekend I visited Sewanee and was excited to meet someone who "gets it" in terms of ministry to the marginalized. Susanna is very involved in various ministries to homeless people in Chattanooga, and as anyone who knows me or has been reading this blog will have figured out, my calling to the priesthood emerged out of my involvement with an outdoor church for the homeless in Cambridge.

Having already done a master's degree in religion and also having studied religion as an undergraduate, I was looking for a seminary that would give me practical knowledge and skills, not just head knowledge. I was sick of sitting around TALKING about ministry; I wanted to get out there and DO something. This class is a model of that -- as Susanna said during our first class meeting of the semester (at the seminary) today, sometimes it's important to get out of the classroom and off "the Mountain" and actually SEE stuff.

One of our assignments for this class is to keep a journal of reflections on our experiences each week. I plan to use the vehicle of this blog to keep track of my reflections and to also share them with a wider audience than just myself and my class. So, stay tuned for updates and examples of wonderful ways to be "downtown church."