thread: 2006-08-31 : I think my expectations are screwed
On 2006-09-01, Jim Zoetewey wrote:
Reading a post like this, I'm reminded that my decision to leave seminary was probably a good thing.
I come out of a Christian tradition that has the congregation hire the pastor. Being considerably more conservative than the UU's, there's a little more respect for the office and the person in it. Still, people who are upset with the pastor always have the potential to push the pastor out if they can get a sizeable minority of the congregation behind them.
Even if they can't do it bureaucratically, they can make the pastor's life hell. That will lead to a resignation sooner or later.
Personally, I ended up leaving seminary after an internship cut short by individuals in the congregation who decided that they wanted me out. Though I could have gotten another intership, finished seminary, and so on, I realized I would probably be a happier human being if I moved on to something else.
Oddly enough, what I moved on to was a graduate program in sociology in which I spent a lot of time studying certain religious groups.
