Succeeding at Seminary: 12 Keys to Getting the Most out of Your Theological Education

About the AuthorDR. JASON ALLEN is the fifth and youngest president of Midwestern Baptist Seminary. He has served as pastor and interim pastor of Southern Baptist churches in Alabama and Kentucky over the past fifteen years. He currently serves the church more broadly through writing and preaching ministries, including his own website www.jasonkallen.com, where he writes on various topics including higher education, theology, preaching, and cultural and local church issues. He and his wife, Karen, have five children: Anne-Marie, Caroline, William, Alden, and Elizabeth.Seminary is an important step toward ministry-but only when you make the most of it.Many seminarians finish their education with regrets and missed opportunities. They feel spiritually drained, they never connected with their professors or colleagues, they are plagued with a long list of “What Ifs?,” and worry they wasted this time. And many, as they enter the ministry, discover gaps in their education and are left thinking, If only my seminary had taught me that.Prepare for your calling and make the most of your theological training with Succeeding at Seminary. Seminary president Jason K. Allen provides guidance for incoming and current seminary students on how to maximize their education experience. You’ll learn how to select the right institution and weigh the pros and cons of online or in-person classes. You’ll also receive tips for developing rapport with peers and professors and get insights for how to navigate a work, study, and family-life balance to help you survive the rigors of advanced theological learning.Seminary can offer the opportunities and education you need to flourish in ministry, but only if you are ready to make the most of it. With Succeeding at Seminary,you’ll get the guidance and encouragement you need to maximize your seminary opportunity and excel in your calling.ReviewPraise for Succeeding at Seminary“This book serves the health of tomorrow’s church. We need men who aspire to the work of pastor-elder and get a focused season of training to acquire the skills they will need to preach and teach well for a lifetime. Seminary is not about filling your freezer with fish but learning how to fish for yourself-acquiring the mindset and abilities you need to keep reading and learning and freshly teaching God’s Word for decades. I love that Jason shares this vision-and that he checks our subjective sense of “call” with the objective reality of marriage. If you are married, that calling is clearer and surer than any “call to ministry” you may be pursuing. From beginning to end, this book rings with such wisdom, and will not only help you stay Christian in seminary but perhaps even find what it means to flourish in this important season.”-DAVID MATHIS, executive editor, desiringGod.org; pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul; adjunct professor, Bethlehem College & Seminary, Minneapolis; author, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines; coauthor, How to Stay Christian in Seminary“Many students have questions about preparing for seminary and about whether they should attend seminary. Jason Allen’s book on succeeding at seminary is a must-read for students thinking about going to seminary, planning to go to seminary, and for those already in seminary. The book exudes the kind of wisdom we find in Proverbs and is full of the practical advice that is fitting for those who desire to live in a godly and mature way during their seminary years. I recommend this work with enthusiasm.”-THOMAS R. SCHREINER, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Associate Dean, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY“For an aspiring minister, where to attend seminary is a defining decision. It should not be made lightly. Drawing from seasoned experience, Jason Allen will help you ask the right questions not only for choosing a seminary but also for getting the most out of i