I’ve noticed this interesting phenomenon here at seminary. Very few people go to church together. Everyone seems to split up into smaller groups and attend niche churches. I think a big reason for this is the pressure we have to nail down our internship early. Usually during the second (sometimes third) year of the M.Div. people do their required 9-month part-time church internship. As a result, people have scouted out their denominational churches early and are getting involved in them. This definitely fragments an aspect of community life here. I’m just starting to build solid relationships with people here. It’s sometimes hard to do that when everyone goes to a different church. For most of my life, the majority of my community has been found in a church-type setting. Still adjusting to the new dynamic I guess. I think I wish things were a little different.

I’ve found a couple great churches that I would be happy to attend, yet I feel like my biggest criteria for choosing a church right now is supposed to be “can I get an internship here 9 months from now?” About none of those churches can I answer that question affirmatively. That’s tough. One of the churches has a Sunday evening service. Maybe I’ll have to go there on Sunday nights and attend somewhere else on Sunday mornings. We sure have made this complicated…