Emory University School of Theology and Holy Cross Church joined in a recent and successful experiment in theological education. Father Jeremy Miller, O.P., Professor of Theology at Emory, and Father Joseph Baxer, M.S., of Blessed Sacrament parish, conducted a seminar entitled “Theology and Spirituality of Marriage” at Holy Cross this past year. Fifteen Methodist students from the School of Theology met with couples from the Marriage Encounter Movement in weekly seminars to discuss various aspects of Christian marriage.

Chuck and Pat Bianco (Corpus Christi), Bill and Barb Poole (Immaculate Heart), Dick and Ann Suever (Holy Cross), Ray and Thea Jarvis (Holy Cross), and Ken and Diane Thelen (Lutheran Church) were, in a sense, co-leaders of the seminar, providing experiential insights into issues raised by Fathers Miller and Baxer. The course met for 10 weeks with everyone meeting on Tuesday evening, and with the theology students meeting with Professor Miller in Wednesday reflection sessions.

The School of Theology has received a large grant from the Lilly Foundation to conduct experiments in theological education, and this seminar was one of its efforts. The students from Emory are all preparing for the ministry, and they found this one of the most practical and insightful courses in the university curriculum. The seminar met with such warm response that it will be run again in the fall.

Two themes emerged in the seminars which the divinity students found most helpful for their future ministries. The first was the need seen for a very serious preparation for marriage, perhaps something lasting four to six months. This pre-marriage preparation period is to assist couples to discern in what direction their “vocation” lies, and if it is to marriage with this particular person, then to prepare themselves for the necessary flexibility, communication, and support such a vocation requires.

The need for “affirmation” was the second theme which surfaced strongly. Marriage is a “vocation” which God creates and blesses. One receives God’s gift through the gift of the other person. As a result a marriage grows and deepens as much, and probably more, through the affirmation of the spouses as through confrontation of weaknesses and growing edges. These themes emerged as motifs running through more particularized topics such as conjugal prayer, sexual communication, parenting, listening techniques, issues in interfaith marriages, etc.

It was clearly a learning experience for everyone – clergy, couples, and divinity students – and above all it was enjoyable, which is not always an easy feat for a graduate seminar in theology.