What is it about?
We live in a world where people are constantly talking, but few people are listening and still fewer are willing to have meaning, constructive conversations. This is true in our churches and in our classrooms, even in seminary. This article comes from the perspective of a recent seminary graduate on this issue and how we might consider changing the way we enter into meaningful dialogue with others.
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Why is it important?
Without the opportunity for students to engage in meaningful discussions where differing opinions and perspectives can be heard and respected, we risk losing a valuable component of the higher education experience and we are putting our graduates at a disadvantage when they enter the "real" world and have to have conversations with others who do not share their views or beliefs. In our churches, we face similar problems when we do not engage in discussions that bridge divides, but instead, create larger ones. Meaningful, thoughtful, respectful, civil dialogue and the ability to disagree without creating hostility seems to be a rare thing in our world. Working toward a different approach is the theme for this article.
Perspectives
As a minister and a recent graduate from seminary, I wanted to address a topic I thought was current, relevant and meaningful. Words are a gift, but it seems to me that too often we do not honor them, treasure them or use them in ways that build up, but rather in ways that tear down. My hope was to write something that might encourage others to consider other approaches to classroom dialogue and conversations and to approach our discussions in churches from a place of love, rather than hate or fear.
Rev. Lynnette James Sills
Church
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A word from a seminarian: Preparing for difficult conversations at seminary and in ministry, Review & Expositor, February 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0034637315624893.
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