Director of Austin Seminary’s Program of Formation in Ministry prepares pastors by first shaping the person
The Rev. Dr. David Johnson has spent much of his professional life moving back and forth between the seminary and church, and as a result knows how important it is to train pastors who have an understanding of themselves and a deep love for God’s church.
The Rev. Dr. David Johnson
Serving as a pastor for a congregation or as a chaplain in an institution “is not just a matter of knowledge and skill,” said Johnson, director of the Program of Formation in Ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
That kind of leadership takes a believer who first has a love for God and the church, and then has the expertise to do what is required, said Johnson. Pastoring is a “much deeper thing than being able to answer questions that people might ask,” he said.
Johnson has been working on developing these characteristics in Austin students since 2001. Having served churches in Texas and New Jersey prior to that, as well as on the faculty at Brite Divinity School, Johnson said he answered the call to serve at Austin because it allowed him to be on the line between seminaries and congregations.
In that space, Johnson’s duties include overseeing the seminary’s field-based programs, such as internships and Clinical Pastoral Education.
Johnson said that preparing pastors has a great deal to do with the factors that help to shape a person, and that Austin Seminary starts early trying to recognize and build up those areas. Last year the seminary began using an instrument that helps pinpoint in the first year of seminary students’ perceptions of ministry and the kinds of characteristics they are likely to display as pastors.
“I get to know them in a better and deeper way before we start to talk about where you would like to do your field education,” said Johnson, a Presbyterian minister. Discussions continue throughout students’ years of study, and an assessment also is done in the final year, he said.
Conversation take place with each Master of Divinity degree student about who they are and what they plan to do from the time they come in until they graduate, Johnson said.
The seminary also has partnerships with congregations, which provide teaching environments for students and which utilize the seminary as a resource for laity through continuing education and other avenues, he said.
Ultimately, Johnson said, Austin Seminary wants students to understand that everything they are experiencing in seminary — from their time in the classroom to their field education work — will help them share their reflections on living the Christian tradition.
“There is a real sense here that we are in service to the church in a very necessary and important way,” he said. “We really are committed to congregational ministry and to preparing students for congregations.”
