I
am in the middle of week three! Week three of what?
I
am a candidate for the Master of Arts in Church Music degree at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH.
The
best thing about this program is that I don’t have to quit the job I have, or
even take a leave of absence, to complete the program. Students come to the campus for three weeks
in the summer to take courses on site.
My classes this session include: Systematic Theology, Liturgical Choir, Vocal
Solutions for Choral Directors, Leading the Church’s Song, Conducting, and
Music Technology. Only the first two are
three-week courses. The others only last
for a week, but they are 2 – 3 hours long and they meet each day. (The middle week, last week, was brutal
because I had classes from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm.) The three weeks I am gone are
covered by my two weeks of continuing education time and one week of vacation.
During
the regular year, students take applied music courses (private lessons) and
electives at local colleges or universities.
There is also the option to take some Trinity courses on line.
It
wasn’t just the short sessions that attracted me, but also the fact that
several theology courses are required. I have always wanted to take some
theology courses.
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| Schenck Chapel |
Liturgical
Choir meets each day at 10:20 and rehearses for the worship service at
10:45. Worship takes many forms: Morning
Prayer, Eucharist, Taizé services, and more.
Students take turns at various tasks: playing the liturgy on the organ,
conducting choral anthems and psalmody, taking the role of cantor in song
leading, and we all sing in the choir. This
is really fun, but it can be a bit challenging when there are 10 directors in
the same room! Still, we have managed to pull it all together and lead some
really fine worship in the Gloria Dei Worship Center and Schenck Chapel.
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| A Window in Schenck Chapel |
The
dorms are better than any dorms I have ever been in! They are actually
efficiency apartments so I have my own restroom and kitchenette with a
microwave and an under the counter refrigerator. I’m also getting some exercise
by hiking up to the third floor several times a day!
The
seminary campus is lovely and in the middle of a really nice section of Bexley,
Ohio. There are several restaurants
within walking distance – I’ve tried most of them. Another nice thing about this
area – they seem to have ice cream shops on every corner.
The weather has been gorgeous and I enjoy the courtyard so much that I have sat outside reading my textbooks as late at 9:00 p.m.
This
program will take about 5 years to complete.
Please keep me in your prayers as I begin this new endeavor!
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| The courtyard |
