"Their Classroom is the World"

By AMY DAVIS
for Tennessee Bible College

Going to the nursing home. Visiting the sick. Ministering to prisoners.

All this and more is the focus of an unusual sort of course at Tennessee Bible College of Cookeville—unusual in that class meetings aren't conducted in the customary classroom setting. Instead, students take to the field, meeting weekly at various locations in the community to put real-life skills to the test in real-life situations.

Their "classroom" is the world, and their "homework" is sharing their faith.

The course is called The Minister and His Personal Life, and students enrolled this quarter have been finding out first hand what that lifestyle really entails—that it's not just a Sunday job.

"We've been doing different field trips to get the preachers tuned in to some of the things going on," said TBC missions director Ronald D. Gilbert, who teaches the course along with dean Kerry Duke.

"It's a real practical approach," Duke said. "We want to give them as much exposure as we can to things they're going to deal with as ministers, and we present a broad range of possible situations. That's a lot better than just reading it out of a book."

The course has included trips to local nursing homes, Cookeville Regional Medical Center, financial planner Bob Luna, Department of Human Services, WLIV radio station, Hooper, Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home, Alcoholics Anonymous and more.

"We wanted to give them a chance to hear people who work with these things on a daily basis who are real professionals," Duke said.

He added, "The students don't know what kinds of situations they're going to be confronted with when they work as a minister in a congregation. They don't know what questions may arise or what problems they'll need to help people with. So we wanted to give them an introduction to that, but also let them know if they reach a point where they feel like they need extra help, they'll have some resources.

"For instance, if they're dealing with child abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse or something like that, they need to know something about the legalities and signs of abuse. They need to know who to go to, who to refer to and how to handle situations like that."

To get the students acquainted with the rules and regulations of nursing homes, the group visited Bethesda and Master's health care centers.

Willie Ann King, a resident of Bethesda Health Care Center in Cookeville receives a visit from Tennessee Bible College students who have been taking field trips all over the community learning about what it takes to be a preacher. From left, in front, are Willie Ann King, Tony Li, Chris Thomas, and, in back, Mark Day, Jamie Kang, Todd Gasaway and Ronald D. Gilbert

"The Bible has a lot to say about honoring the elderly and not forgetting them," Gilbert said.

"We're trying to cheer them up and make their day a little brighter."

Much of a preacher's time is also spent visiting the sick in hospitals. To find out what to expect, the class visited Cookeville Regional Medical Center.

"They talked with the chaplain at the hospital, and he went over some of the dos and don'ts in regard to visiting," Gilbert said.

The class also discussed the purpose of visiting.

"We're trying to offer them comfort, hope and prayer, and let them know we care for them and we're there for them," Gilbert said.

"They appreciate you coming. Having a prayer with them means a lot. If somebody's about to have surgery, and they don't know if they're going to live or die or what kind of news it's going to be, they want their preacher, and it's important that you be there during those times."

Gilbert felt the class could also benefit from a visit with local financial planner Bob Luna.

"He talked to the preachers about the importance of preparing for retirement," Gilbert said.

"Preachers are self-employed. We pay our own Social Security quarterly, and if we're going to have any kind of retirement fund, we have to save it out of our monthly salary. So Bob Luna explained the advantages of starting when you're young and putting a little bit of your income in a good mutual fund."

They also discussed the importance of life insurance.

"And we just talked about being a good steward with your finances," Gilbert said. "Using your money wisely and preparing for the future."

Another plus for preachers is knowing what the Department of Human Services has to offer. That way, when people call the church for assistance, preachers will know how to help.

"A lot of times, people call the preacher if they don't have any food, if they're about to have their power turned off or they've got a sick child," Gilbert said. "And I want our students to know what services are available."

After all, church funds are limited and, many times, those who call may be eligible for Food Stamps or other DHS assistance.

Or they may not need help at all.

"There are crooks out there," Gilbert said. "You just assume that everybody would be honest with a preacher, but they aren't. So we have to teach the students, since we're stewards of God's money, God expects us to be wise. We don't want to refuse to help the needy, but it's not our obligation to help con- artists, drug addicts and alcoholics."

Preachers may also be called upon to help in domestic violence situations.

"Sometimes we run into people when they're going through a divorce, and maybe the wife and child have been beaten by an alcoholic husband and father, and preachers need to know there's a place in town you can refer them to that will give them a place to stay."

Another part of a preacher's life is visiting jails and prisons.

"Jesus said, 'I was in prison, and ye came unto me,'" Duke said. "A lot of Christians have not been to a jail, and a lot of them don't know what it's like. A preacher needs to go ahead and have some exposure to that."

Gilbert said, "A lot of people in jail will want a preacher to come and visit them, and we need to learn the rules of what you can and can't bring to people who are behind bars. You can give study material to people, and you can give a Bible to a person, but there are some things you don't do."

The class also included a tour of the WLIV radio station in Livingston.

"A lot of preachers do a radio program, so we took them to a radio station and interviewed the manager (Joel Upton)," Duke said.

"He talked to them about everything from microphones to rooms to record in to your voice to what you talk about to being enthusiastic on the radio."

Another thing preachers should be prepared for is deaths in their congregation— and the funerals to follow, which they'll likely be called upon to preach.

To find out more, the class visited Hooper, Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home in Cookeville.

"We talked about everything from the funeral procession to visiting at the funeral home to actually preaching the funeral," Duke said. "They got advice about what you talk about, how long you talk, what kind of audience you have and what to do after and before the funeral service."

One of the most surprising class meetings the student-preachers had was on child abuse, covered by representatives of the Department of Children's Services and the Upper Cumberland Child Advocacy Center.

"Child sexual abuse is very common, and statistics are that one out of every four young women by the time they're 18 has been sexually molested or touched in an inappropriate way," Duke said. "So that means in any given church you're going to have a number of people who are affected to some degree or another. And since it's usually a family member or somebody close, then preachers need to know what the signs are. They need to know what to do, who to refer to and the legal aspects of it."

The same goes with physical abuse.

"I didn't think there was that much to it," student Chris Thomas said. "But after listening to the tapes they had and seeing it from the child's point of view... it's a really big problem that needs to be dealt with."

He added, "I definitely think the class is good because nothing will take us by surprise now. I'm sure there will be some circumstance that's just off the wall that would catch anybody off guard, but at least we won't be surprised if we're visiting somebody and run into a child abuse case. Now we'll know what to look for."

The class became familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous as well.

"Preachers will be working with people in a congregation who have different problems and different situations with drugs and alcohol," Duke said. "Some of them may be recovering and some may be in the process of it, so it's good for them to hear from a recovering alcoholic."

He added, "You never know, too, what kind of pressure preachers are faced with, and whether they'll turn to drugs or alcohol."

A preacher must also wear the hat of counselor.

"He needs to know how to advise families," Duke said. "He needs to know how to advise Bible class teachers and counsel husbands and wives, parents, children and sometimes even elders in the church."

And that's what the course, The Minister and His Personal Life, is all about.

"The field trips have been the best because it doesn't matter how many books you read, if you go to a hospital for the first time, it's a new situation to you, and it doesn't matter how much you know about it. I think it's good to help you feel a little bit more comfortable with the situation," said student Mark Day.

"We have contacts at all these departments—people who we could call and get information from when we need it," Thomas said. "Very insightful."

Duke said, "When Jesus trained the 12 apostles, he gave them practical experience as well as instructions. He took the apostles with him, and so they experienced the lesson as well as just hearing him teach."

The Minister and His Personal Life is primarily for preachers but is open to anyone who is interested. For more information about this or any other course at Tennessee Bible College, call (931)526-2616 or e-mail tbc@tn-biblecollege.edu