Inter-Seminary seminar

By: Joseph Ganser
Seminarian, Third Theology

During the fall semester each year the seminarians from St. Charles have a great opportunity. In order to help us apply what we’ve been learning in our theology classes the seminary takes part in an ecumenical discussion group with the divinity schools located in the Philadelphia area. This class is the longest running ecumenical group in the country and this year contains representatives from three seminaries; St. Charles Borromeo, Palmer Theological Seminary (Baptist/ non-denominational), and Lutheran Theological Seminary. The course is open to four men (or women) from each school. This year the Diocese of Allentown has been represented by myself and my classmate, Rick James.

This has been a great class but it is unique. Instead of tests and traditional school work each year we choose some topic relating to the Christian faith. The topic for this year has been Baptism and Life in Christ. Every student in the class writes a paper about this topic and each week as we gather at a different school we read some of the papers to discuss how it relates to our faith tradition and to the ways in which we feel called to serve. During the weekly meetings we also have an opportunity to take part in an ecumenical worship service conducted by the host school and to share a fellowship hour over dinner.

Since the participating schools represent such a wide range of traditions the meetings have been very interesting. While always respectful the class has talked about some controversial topics such as grace, salvation, women’s ordination and church membership. Though there are areas in which we disagree with our brother and sister Christians it has been a wonderful thing to see how much we hold in common. Though not a typical seminary course this seminar has been a blessing in many ways. It allows us to learn more about the traditions of the many Christian traditions and it helps us to understand our own tradition in a deeper way. But most of all it helps us understand the importance of unity for all Christians and gives us a desire to work and to pray towards this end. For anyone interested in ecumenism or about deepening their own faith this class is a wonderful experience that is fondly remembered by all who take it. And hopefully what we learn will continue to form and direct our ministry for years to come.