The Seminary Myth and the Leadership Truth
TLDR: Seminary doesn’t train pastors for every scenario—it trains them to think theologically in any scenario. Anxiety narrows our vision, but Friedman, Powe, and Shitama remind us that leaders thrive by preparing in advance, taking clear positions, and leaning on their own values and principles when the pressure is on.
In my recent podcast conversation with the new President of Phillips Seminary, Doug Powe, he made a somewhat off-hand but insightful remark about the tendency of seminary grads to lament that they “weren’t taught that in seminary.”
Powe said:
It's frustrating when people say, you know, well, they didn't teach me that in seminary. What I want to say is: no, what we taught you is how to think theologically so you could figure this stuff out… I do think, and this again for me is where something like the Center for Ministry and Lay Training comes in, is how do we supplement that nowadays to give individuals those other components of things that you would need. You've got to be more innovative in the church today. You've got to have these other skills in the church that are critically important in terms of training. So it's not an either/or for me. That traditional M.Div. is still critically important. But then how do we marry that with these critical pieces of financial stewardship, innovative thinking, those things that would help students who are going into ministry to really succeed. So, a both/and approach for me of what we need to do.
His words reminded me of a similar dynamic in Edwin Friedman’s seminal Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue. I can’t locate the exact page, but Friedman noted the same clergy lament: “they didn’t teach me this in seminary.” His response, if I recall, was that they probably were taught it—they just couldn’t remember, because their anxiety was overwhelming their ability to think and recall.
Honestly, Friedman’s point dovetails with Powe’s: seminary is not about preparing pastors for every possible scenario in ministry. It is about training them to think theologically—about and through any challenge they might face. Anxiety, however, has a way of narrowing our focus just when broad, creative thinking would be most helpful.
Flipping through Friedman’s book trying to find the original insight I’m referencing (though cannot find), I did find this, which is helpful and speaks to the point: “the leader’s capacity to distinguish process from content [is crucial], and the ability to be playful…not serious or anxious [is helpful].”
Friedman outlines three practical steps for leading with self-differentiation (229):
Staying in touch.
Taking nonreactive, clearly conceived, and clearly defined positions.
Handling sabotage well.
This also reminded me of something Jack Shitama said on a recent episode of his leadership podcast (highly recommended for Family Systems insights). When addressing potentially controversial congregational issues—say, same-sex marriage—he advised pastors to think in advance and even write down what they would do, well before the issue arose. Of course, not every scenario can be predicted, but some—like marriage or funerals—can be.
It’s like an advance directive in medicine: thinking ahead about a few important decisions provides clarity, peace of mind, and confidence in the middle of a crisis. If Dad’s document doesn’t mention feeding tubes specifically, but does say he doesn’t want his life prolonged artificially, the principle can still be applied. And just as importantly, having a plan in place brings real relief—it eases the burden of decision-making in the moment, and frees both leaders and families to focus on presence and care rather than panic and guesswork.
This is really what Powe, Shitama, and Friedman are all circling around: leaders must be willing to take clear, well-defined stances rooted in their own goals, values, and beliefs. And the “hack” that Shitama and advance directives illustrate is this: in times of crisis, when vision narrows, having one’s own words and principles written down can strengthen and clarify action in the moment.
At the end of the day, ministry will always involve situations no one could have scripted in a classroom. But that doesn’t mean we are left unprepared. What seminary instills—and what Friedman, Powe, and Shitama each affirm in their own way—is a way of thinking, discerning, and leading that endures when the unexpected comes. The gift of theological training, grounded clarity, and intentional preparation is that when anxiety rises and vision narrows, we have already cultivated the tools to respond with wisdom, courage, and faith.