Seminary as a Laboratory
An Interview with Pastor Jay Kim
Jay Kim is the lead pastor at WestGate Church in San Jose, Calif., and the author of several books, including Analog Church and Analog Christian. WestGate is the new home of Western Seminary’s San Jose site.
In an interview with Transform, Jay reflects on the relationship between the seminary and the church, the urgent need for theological education in the Bay Area, and why he is excited about this new partnership between WestGate and Western.
Why does the Bay Area need a seminary presence?
To effectively share the good news of Jesus to a pluralistic culture filled with idols, we need skilled Christian leaders. This is true everywhere, but it is especially true in urban, highly educated cities like San Jose and Portland. We need Christian leaders who have their fingers on the pulse of culture, and their heads and hearts deeply immersed in the Scriptures.
How can a seminary best serve the church?
Seminary, at its finest, has a supportive infrastructure that can create a space where pastors like me can bring not just our minds, but our whole selves and our churches. Seminary ought to be a laboratory where we can sit with brilliant men and women who have done the work that most pastors can’t do, pouring so many years into deep study to think historically and theologically.
Describing seminary as a laboratory is an interesting concept. Can you elaborate on this?
In the past 10 years or so, I’ve come to realize that when there is a harmonious relationship between the church, pastors, and the seminary, that is when things really start to come to life. I’ve had moments where I am sitting around the table with seminary professors, pastors, and church leaders talking about what’s happening in our congregations and in our lives, as well as the theological realities that form and shape how we serve and lead in those situations. Not only are seminary professors lending their expertise, but as they hear stories from pastors’ lives, they realize this stuff needs to live on the ground in real people’s lives and in the real ministries of real churches. This allows us to live in that intersection between our theology, our ecclesiology, and our discipleship to Jesus. There is a fuller, much richer experience to be had if we see seminary as a laboratory where we bring all that we are carrying with us as pastors and church leaders who love God’s people and love the world.
“Seminary ought to be a laboratory where we can sit with brilliant men and women who have done the work that most pastors can’t do, pouring so many years into deep study to think historically and theologically.”
Has the relationship between seminary and the church changed over the years?
The old model was that someone went to seminary in order to become ordained as a pastor. Seminary produced pastors who then poured into the church, but church and the seminary were never really connected. We live in a different world where it’s much more complex.
How did your own experiences at seminary shape your perspective?
While I am so grateful for my seminary experience, a part of what was missing is that I had compartmentalized my seminary experience and my learning into intellectual assent. I simply thought of seminary as a place I went to learn lots of new things and train my mind. But because there wasn’t the consistency of journeying with the same group of people and sharing life together, seminary just lived in one corner of my life.
Why are you excited about Western’s cohort model of learning?
In cohorts, you are in the journey together. You aren’t just dropping into one class for a semester and taking a different course the next. In cohorts, you become friends. That is such a tremendous benefit to the learning experience. The more we can bring the entirety of our stories to seminary, the more effective that learning is. The cohort model itself breeds a broadening of the experience. Your seminary experience really blurs the lines between the theological training with the stuff you are going through as a pastor in your own personal life. You are living at the intersection of your theological training and your actual life in ministry.
What is the mission of WestGate Church?
We are a group of very ordinary men and women who are learning and living the way of Jesus here in the Silicon Valley. Our church exists to be and make disciples of Jesus who are formed into the image of Christ in all of life.
“The more we can bring the entirety of our stories to seminary, the more effective that learning is.”
How does WestGate benefit from this partnership with Western Seminary?
For us, having Western here is a win. It allows us to have some of our staff go through the program in a very accessible way. It also is an expression of our commitment to the church at large in the Bay Area. If Western can thrive here in the Bay Area, we see it as a win not just for WestGate but for the church at large.