Mirror images: my alma mater from a British Methodist perspective

Now I don’t know Mark Rowland personally (though I do hope to make his acquaintance when we both reside in the same country), but I recently read what he wrote on the Candler Admissions blog. I found his comparative perspective on Methodist church life in the US and UK fascinating. Mark is a ministerial student in the British Methodist system and just spent a year as an international student at Candler School of Theology, which is part of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I do know a number of American United Methodist seminary grads who are now serving in the UK and with these folks I occasionally compare notes. However, prior to Mark’s article I haven’t often had an opportunity to hear from folks whose travels have been a mirror reflection of mine by their heading in the opposite direction “across the pond”.

Mark’s story is particularly interesting to me because his travels in the opposite direction closely mirror my journey. For those of you who don’t know, just prior to moving to the UK I graduated from the very same Candler School of Theology with a Master of Divinity degree. The M.Div is a three-year full-time program and for my last two years there I worked for the Office of Student Programming as the international student coordinator. Thus I was in close contact with many of Candler’s international students during my seminary days. These two bits of my background combined with my current experience of British Methodism makes me very interested in Mark’s perspective. If you too are interested in a comparative perpective on Methodist church life in the US and UK I encourage you to follow the link. Enjoy Mark’s article!