An Intense 4 Weeks

Today at 6:50am I rejoiced. Why? Because it was the last time I'd have to wake up to go to class or get up to get to the library and do homework hurriedly before class for a long, long time. For the last month I have taken 2 two week intensives--back to back. Two week intensives are great for one reason--you have so much vacation time. Two weeks of class is better than ten weeks right? Well....that's debatable. Because I had forgotten the reason the classes were so much shorter--because all ten weeks of material is crammed in the two weeks.

My first class was Reformed Worship with Ron Kernaghan. I had a love hate relationship with the class. There were moments when I was bored out of my mind--repeated case studies from the Book of Order get really old. But it was the other moments that made this class one of my favorites at Fuller. For the first time I really understood why our church services are structured the way they are, the clear relationship between worship and justice, and a practical understanding of how to do things such as weddings and funerals. Ron is a former pastor of numerous congregations so many of my learning moments came from stories of his experience. The most transformative part of the class for me, however, was learning to do funerals. I had the chance to do a mock pre-funeral interview with a classmate of mine in front of the class. I walked away from Reformed Worship with a new love for the Reformed tradition and ready to put the knowledge to practice in my upcoming internships.

Christian Perspectives on Ethics was my second class. We looked at three different ethical traditions--Evangelical, African American, and Emergent. For the most part, it was not my favorite class at Fuller--I really didn't appreciate the hugely discussion oriented aspect of the class (can we say random tangents?). Yet, there were some points in this class that really made me think. I loved having an African American professor and gaining the perspective and knowledge that Dr. Vincent Bacote shared with us. We also had two interesting guest speakers--a prominent LA African American pastor and Rudy Carrasco, the director of the Harambee Christian Center in Pasadena. I think I was most challenged with the reading for this class...particularly the Emerging Church reading. I discoverd that I while I certainly don't agree with all of the Emerging Church movement--that there are many similarities between the Emerging Church tradition and the Reformed tradition. I found a website that is working to bring elements of the Emergent Church in the Presbyterian denomination--neat stuff. Check it out, presbymergent.org

To sum it up, I came away from both classes changed--which is always good. But now, I'm tired! And rejoicing in the fact that it will not be until January that I will be back in the Fuller classroom. I love Fuller--but I need a break, and CPE is going to provide just that. I'll continue to have to wake up early, but not for going to class:)

Now I just need to finish all the papers from these classes and do that systematic theology IDL class....