Yale Divinity School : 2007 Seminar
Narrative
DIVERSE REALITIES—DIVERSE PERCEPTIONS
YALE DIVINITY SCHOOL
Yale Divinity School is a university-based theological school whose enduring commitment to foster the knowledge and love of God lives out in a trinitarian configuration of three bodies: Yale Divinity School (YDS), with M.Div., M.A.R., and S.T.M. students preparing for lay and ordained, ecclesial and academic leadership; the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM), with master level music and the arts students, only a portion of whom are working toward a Divinity degree; and Berkeley Divinity School (BDS), a certificate-granting Episcopal school. This tripartite complexity further plays out in the diversity of our student body: 35 percent go into some form of ministry, 33 percent seek further education, and 25 percent pursue a variety of other non-ministry options. Our academy-parish tension plays out as both M.Div. and M.A.R. students believe that the curriculum preferences the other population. Our largest denominational representation is Episcopalian/Anglican, followed by Roman Catholics, and the median age of our students is 25.
Four students at Yale Divinity School sit sipping coffee in the Refectory
Walter (male, mid 40’s, African American, ordained, AME, parish-bound, MDiv program): “What an absolutely awful section we just had. Bad enough to have had two lectures this week with the most PC theology possible driven down our throats, then to have that creepy T.A. parrot the same line. It makes me ill! What does any of this have to do with the gospel I need to preach, especially in my AME Church?”
Jenny (female, early-20’s, white, postmodern, BDS, “spiritual, not religious,” MAR program): “If I didn’t think you were da bomb, I’d smack you, you neo-con. Prof. Merriweather did a wonderful job of putting those homophobic verses of Romans into a nice historical box and I thought the discussion today was terrific. Paul’s presuppositions are so different from ours, so time bound, so limited. They can’t be normative for us.”
Yong-Sun (male, early 30’s, Korean, Presbyterian, MDiv from Korea, parish-bound, MDiv program): “I wish I had a better idea of why you Americans are so hung up on sex. You should come and spend some time in Korea. That would help you get some perspective on life and on what Christians ought to be concerned about.”
Shelly (female, 20-something, Catholic, ISM, PhD bound, MMusic program): “I’d love to spend some time in Korea. From the music I’ve heard in chapel this week, I think I could learn a thing or two about modes, slides, and odd harmonies. The Korean students did a fabulous job leading chapel!”
Walter: “Ok, y’all. Back to the dreaded beast. If we are going to manage our study prep for the mid-term, we need to focus on what the text of Holy Writ actually says. This stuff isn’t just academic for me. My community demands more.”
Shelly: “If a parish in Greenwich Village would have me, I’d probably go, but I prefer to think of my future in a Ph.D. program at Harvard or Chicago. I’m shootin’ high, but I think I have a chance.”
Jenny: “Shelly, those schools are so into global pluralism and so prohibitively competitive. Do you have back ups?
Yong-Sun: “You academic types. Don’t you ever worry about your souls! I really want to figure out what drives Paul, what makes him tick.”
Walter: “For once, east and west are on the same page. What in heaven’s name does Paul mean by ‘justification’ and how does that relate to the judgment—well deserved, of course—on same sex relations?”
Jenny: “If you weren’t wearing your evangelical blinders. . .”
Prof. Alice Merriweather (Prof. of NT and Critical Theory, African American, 40’s, lesbian, Episcopalian, BDS faculty): “So, friends, how’s it going? You seem so hard at work, I thought I’d check on you before my curriculum committee meeting.”
Walter: “Thank you, Prof. Merriweather. We’re having an ‘interesting’ time trying to make sense of your take on Paul, but I’m sure we’ll manage to pull something together.”
Prof. Merriweather: “Given the make-up of your study group, I’m confident that no voice will go unheard. Good luck! Gotta run.”
Prof. Merriweather joins her faculty colleagues who are lunching in a nearby room.
Prof. Richard Snodgrass (Prof. of Philosophical Theology, white, 60’s, ordained, United Methodist): “So, friends, what do we make of University President Litchfield’s passion for globalization? How do we accommodate the large number international students who may want to study with us? What will they do when they finish? I’m so impressed by our current international students who work so hard but how will they get church jobs in this country when they hardly speak the language? Or get into grad school? That gets harder to do by the day! Anyhow, simply admitting them doesn’t necessarily increase our diversity.”
Prof. Charles Collingwood (Prof. of Church History, white, late 30’s, ordained, Lutheran): “Richard, I think you are missing the bigger picture. We do need more international students here in the twenty-first century, particularly if we are true to our mission of educating religious leaders. President Litchfield’s emphasis is fine, but it can’t distract us from our main goal of getting more structure into the curriculum, keeping it focused on the needs of our churches.”
Prof. Merriweather: “Sorry to be late, dear friends. I’ve just been teaching Romans, helping students to get some handle on the hermeneutical problems they will face dealing with scripture today.”
Prof. Snodgrass: “Yes, Alice, we know that Derrida will help all our fledgling preachers make the word of God come alive for the twenty-first century, but I wonder if they would be better served by a good course in Greek syntax. Oh, how I yearn for simpler times!”
Dean Brigitte Murphy (Academic Dean and Prof. of Practical Theology, mid-40s, white, Catholic): “Richard, you know how much I approve of your love of Greek, but we do have to get on to today’s agenda. You’ve heard me say it before: our curriculum is in serious need of attention. Is it serving the needs of our students, helping them to prepare for their professional and academic involvements, keeping them sensitive to the diversity of factors that will affect their lives? You know that some wind up in the pulpit, but others teach, work for non-profits or even get into other professions. How do we help them?”
Prof. Merriweather: “Despite the Richards on the faculty, some of us do try. . .”
Prof. Snodgrass: “Perhaps a discussion of the curriculum is too limiting for what appears to be a much broader concern about diversity.”
Dean Murphy: “Yes, I would agree, but how do we have that discussion? We’re not even sure where to start.”
A fire alarm suddenly ends the meeting. Both faculty and students exit the building. As they gather on the lawn Prof. Merriweather greets Walter.
Prof. Merriweather: “So, did your group reach any consensus on Romans?”
Walter: “Probably as much as you and your colleagues did on the curriculum!
DIVERSE REALITIES—DIVERSE PERCEPTIONS
YALE DIVINITY SCHOOL
Yale Divinity School is a university-based theological school whose enduring commitment to foster the knowledge and love of God lives out in a trinitarian configuration of three bodies: Yale Divinity School (YDS), with M.Div., M.A.R., and S.T.M. students preparing for lay and ordained, ecclesial and academic leadership; the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM), with master level music and the arts students, only a portion of whom are working toward a Divinity degree; and Berkeley Divinity School (BDS), a certificate-granting Episcopal school. This tripartite complexity further plays out in the diversity of our student body: 35 percent go into some form of ministry, 33 percent seek further education, and 25 percent pursue a variety of other non-ministry options. Our academy-parish tension plays out as both M.Div. and M.A.R. students believe that the curriculum preferences the other population. Our largest denominational representation is Episcopalian/Anglican, followed by Roman Catholics, and the median age of our students is 25.
Four students at Yale Divinity School sit sipping coffee in the Refectory
Walter (male, mid 40’s, African American, ordained, AME, parish-bound, MDiv program): “What an absolutely awful section we just had. Bad enough to have had two lectures this week with the most PC theology possible driven down our throats, then to have that creepy T.A. parrot the same line. It makes me ill! What does any of this have to do with the gospel I need to preach, especially in my AME Church?”
Jenny (female, early-20’s, white, postmodern, BDS, “spiritual, not religious,” MAR program): “If I didn’t think you were da bomb, I’d smack you, you neo-con. Prof. Merriweather did a wonderful job of putting those homophobic verses of Romans into a nice historical box and I thought the discussion today was terrific. Paul’s presuppositions are so different from ours, so time bound, so limited. They can’t be normative for us.”
Yong-Sun (male, early 30’s, Korean, Presbyterian, MDiv from Korea, parish-bound, MDiv program): “I wish I had a better idea of why you Americans are so hung up on sex. You should come and spend some time in Korea. That would help you get some perspective on life and on what Christians ought to be concerned about.”
Shelly (female, 20-something, Catholic, ISM, PhD bound, MMusic program): “I’d love to spend some time in Korea. From the music I’ve heard in chapel this week, I think I could learn a thing or two about modes, slides, and odd harmonies. The Korean students did a fabulous job leading chapel!”
Walter: “Ok, y’all. Back to the dreaded beast. If we are going to manage our study prep for the mid-term, we need to focus on what the text of Holy Writ actually says. This stuff isn’t just academic for me. My community demands more.”
Shelly: “If a parish in Greenwich Village would have me, I’d probably go, but I prefer to think of my future in a Ph.D. program at Harvard or Chicago. I’m shootin’ high, but I think I have a chance.”
Jenny: “Shelly, those schools are so into global pluralism and so prohibitively competitive. Do you have back ups?
Yong-Sun: “You academic types. Don’t you ever worry about your souls! I really want to figure out what drives Paul, what makes him tick.”
Walter: “For once, east and west are on the same page. What in heaven’s name does Paul mean by ‘justification’ and how does that relate to the judgment—well deserved, of course—on same sex relations?”
Jenny: “If you weren’t wearing your evangelical blinders. . .”
Prof. Alice Merriweather (Prof. of NT and Critical Theory, African American, 40’s, lesbian, Episcopalian, BDS faculty): “So, friends, how’s it going? You seem so hard at work, I thought I’d check on you before my curriculum committee meeting.”
Walter: “Thank you, Prof. Merriweather. We’re having an ‘interesting’ time trying to make sense of your take on Paul, but I’m sure we’ll manage to pull something together.”
Prof. Merriweather: “Given the make-up of your study group, I’m confident that no voice will go unheard. Good luck! Gotta run.”
Prof. Merriweather joins her faculty colleagues who are lunching in a nearby room.
Prof. Richard Snodgrass (Prof. of Philosophical Theology, white, 60’s, ordained, United Methodist): “So, friends, what do we make of University President Litchfield’s passion for globalization? How do we accommodate the large number international students who may want to study with us? What will they do when they finish? I’m so impressed by our current international students who work so hard but how will they get church jobs in this country when they hardly speak the language? Or get into grad school? That gets harder to do by the day! Anyhow, simply admitting them doesn’t necessarily increase our diversity.”
Prof. Charles Collingwood (Prof. of Church History, white, late 30’s, ordained, Lutheran): “Richard, I think you are missing the bigger picture. We do need more international students here in the twenty-first century, particularly if we are true to our mission of educating religious leaders. President Litchfield’s emphasis is fine, but it can’t distract us from our main goal of getting more structure into the curriculum, keeping it focused on the needs of our churches.”
Prof. Merriweather: “Sorry to be late, dear friends. I’ve just been teaching Romans, helping students to get some handle on the hermeneutical problems they will face dealing with scripture today.”
Prof. Snodgrass: “Yes, Alice, we know that Derrida will help all our fledgling preachers make the word of God come alive for the twenty-first century, but I wonder if they would be better served by a good course in Greek syntax. Oh, how I yearn for simpler times!”
Dean Brigitte Murphy (Academic Dean and Prof. of Practical Theology, mid-40s, white, Catholic): “Richard, you know how much I approve of your love of Greek, but we do have to get on to today’s agenda. You’ve heard me say it before: our curriculum is in serious need of attention. Is it serving the needs of our students, helping them to prepare for their professional and academic involvements, keeping them sensitive to the diversity of factors that will affect their lives? You know that some wind up in the pulpit, but others teach, work for non-profits or even get into other professions. How do we help them?”
Prof. Merriweather: “Despite the Richards on the faculty, some of us do try. . .”
Prof. Snodgrass: “Perhaps a discussion of the curriculum is too limiting for what appears to be a much broader concern about diversity.”
Dean Murphy: “Yes, I would agree, but how do we have that discussion? We’re not even sure where to start.”
A fire alarm suddenly ends the meeting. Both faculty and students exit the building. As they gather on the lawn Prof. Merriweather greets Walter.
Prof. Merriweather: “So, did your group reach any consensus on Romans?”
Walter: “Probably as much as you and your colleagues did on the curriculum!