Written by Shari Ayers

As I write this, the admissions office, along with the larger seminary community, is preparing for the events of Orientation Week. Already the moving vans have begun to arrive, delivering both new and returning students and their families to this place. 

One of the items on the orientation schedule about which I am really excited is a game night on the first evening of the event. It is always good for us to find time to play together as we are being formed into a new community, but I am also looking forward to something we are calling “savoring the flavors.” Designed to serve as an introduction to the Bexley neighborhood, the flavor savoring part of the evening describes the snacks we will be providing from eateries within a walking distance of the seminary. If it has been awhile since you were in Bexley, you may be surprised by the local fare. Currently we are planning to offer a few staples (like Farmers Market pizza and the Graeter’s flavor of the month) along with some of our quirkiest new favorites: deep-fried pickles from The Rusty Bucket and sweet corn and black raspberry ice cream from Jeni’s. I have not yet decided what we should get from the new kosher sushi restaurant across the street.

The point of this “taste and see” event, other than getting to know one another better over a deep-fried pickle or two, is to help make this place real and distinctive. The goal is to invite those who are new to this community to begin to sample and savor the flavors of their new (albeit
temporary) home. 

This “taste and see” purpose is also why we encourage prospective students whenever possible to come and visit us.  We want those who are discerning a call to ministry and a desire for theological education to come and worship with us, learn with us, eat with us, and walk with us. We want them to meet professors, hear the stories of students, and wander through the neighborhoods.  We want them to pray in quiet spaces and stand in seminary housing imagining their own belongings in these rooms. We want them to begin to sense whether or not this is a place where they can see themselves being both supported and challenged in their formation. We want to know, and we want them to know, if they can wrestle with us, risk with us, grow with us.

Perhaps that all seems like a lot to hang on a few local flavors of ice cream, but “local” flavor is exactly the point.  The admissions office plans both corporate Visit Trinity events and individual visits throughout the year. If you or someone you know is contemplating seminary, please make a campus visit a priority. Come and savor the local flavor of this community —- you will be so glad you did!