Columbia Connections

I have spent a good deal of time pondering the statement: “ The things Seminary didn’t prepare you for.”

I graduated from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in May 1986 and was ordained in 1987.

Now that I...

“I don’t want to do anything that involves children.”

I said those words to my field education director at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2006.

It’s not that I don’t love kids, but I had just finished teaching middle school...

The calling to ministry involves service to others, self-denial, and often, self-sacrifice.

For many clergy, investing in self-care, however, can be a challenge.

Whatever its source, feelings of obligation, guilt, or shame; or a lacking sense of boundaries, clergy are...

BY BRIAN D. HECKER, PUBLIC SERVICES ARCHIVIST, JOHN BULOW CAMPBELL LIBRARY

Ludwig Richard Max Dewitz (1916-2000) was professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1959-1983. He was well known as a humorous and often demanding polyglot with a...

Among my most formative learning experiences were those related to swimming and waterfront activities.

I was motivated to learn and master skills: swim to the raft; dive off the high dive; empty a tipped canoe, paddle through rapids.

Eventually I...

At the conclusion of a recent presentation on leadership in organizations someone asked, “How would you define emotional integration in an organization?”

While I did not use that phrase in my presentation, it was a good question.

The...

Here are three statements I’ve made more times than I care to admit about church members, colleagues and family members:

I said the second one to myself...