Why Carson Attends a Jesuit School

Or, what Carson's doing, why he's doing it, and all the other things we've been asked about his schooling. 

Disclaimer: This is the post that I've been meaning to write. It's imperfect and I'm not the family academic, so I may have gotten things wrong. I'm going to go ahead and say that if you still have questions after reading it, please email me. 

There are several of you, our wonderful readers, who have only heard bits and pieces of what we're doing. You probably know by now that we don't live in Washington anymore - that we're in Ohio. You possibly even know that Carson is going to John Carroll University. The school itself might be just a name to you. We'll be honest - it was Carson's last choice, the very last place he applied. We'd never heard of it before and kept forgetting that he'd applied. It was the "other" school at the end of a long list of places with bigger names. 

In so many ways, we've sensed God's leading in moving here. We were really praying for a program that would offer funding. We went through our undergrads debt-free but held jobs that covered those expenses and didn't give us much in the way of savings, so we didn't have tons of money to spend and we'd rather not take out loans. There were several schools that offered really good scholarships, but they didn't cover the whole expense or hey didn't give any sort of assistantship or internship that would be good for Carson's resume. We took those as a no, though there was one school that we almost chose, since it was nearly funded and did provide opportunities he looked for in a school (plus it was only a few hours from my hometown). 

The very last school to contact us, the one we had forgotten about ended up being the school God provided. John Carroll interviewed Carson over the phone for a graduate assistant position at the school and he was accepted! We took several days to pray about it and really felt that God was leading us to move to Ohio. As surprised as we were (we just never thought about Ohio!), we were excited to move. 

So why a Jesuit school? 

First of all, you might want to know what it is that Carson's hoping to do. Yes, he did get his undergrad in Biblical Studies and yes, he's the best public speaker I know, but we've prayed long and hard about pursuing seminary and an eventual pastoral role and for now, we believe that God's closed that door. So this is not seminary. John Carroll is a Jesuit school - the Jesuits branched off of Catholicism around the time of the Reformation. Jesuit schools have a high standard of education. They're really good schools. 

We don't view ministry as something that must happen within a "Christian" setting alone (pastors, youth pastors, missionaries), but as something that all Christians do where they are within their own field (dentists, teachers, sales managers at car dealerships...). Carson wants to be a light in a dark place. His desire is to live as a follower of God in a field made up of mostly unbelievers. 

Carson wants to pursue teaching, research and writing (basically, tenure) at a university. Though we may end up at a Christian University at some point, his goal isn't to teach Christians. He'd like to study and teach in a more secular field, among people who aren't Christians. He'd really like to be published one day, and he's already thinking about the things he'd like to research. 

Carson's master's degree will be in Theology and Religious Studies. He's a graduate assistance in that department of the school with, as you've seen recently, his own office, a proximity to professors who know all about his passions, and some experience in the field. He works for several professors at the school, helping grade papers (for undergrads), filling in to teach when the professor is away, helping do research for their books and projects. In every way, he is in his element. He's so passionate about academia, adores what he's doing, and eats up all of this learning and experience. 

We'll be here until after he graduates in 2014, and then there will probably be more school. We only know what's ahead of us in the next two years (and then, we don't have details) but feel free to ask questions!

To see the beautiful campus, click here!