What Can You Do With A Theology Degree?

[arfink]

I know many people in this thread have told you already that it's hard to make a go of it with a theology degree. I can relate, as I have a philosophy degree.

 

However, I would like to give you a different perspective.

 

You can be happy in your work, and you can work happily with a liberal arts degree, but you must be aware that it's going to have trade-offs. You're going to probably make less money than a lot of other professionals will, especially at first. And by that I mean, for probably 5 years after your degree. If you can make a plan that can account for this problem, then I say go for it. If not... well, maybe pick a different plan.

 

A few years ago, if you had asked me how I felt about being a philosophy major, I would have told you that I hated it and regretted it horribly. Which at the time was definitely true. I had been in seminary and was told by friends, family, and seminary staff alike that I had nothing to lose, which was patently absurd, and so I felt like I had been deceived and had a lot of bitterness.

 

At the moment, things are a little different for me. My liberal arts degree has gotten me a pretty reasonably good job. It's an office job, but it's with a Catholic pro-life organization. But that's not really where you'll find usefulness for your degree. You're probably going to find, like I have, that your liberal arts work has given you other significant advantages even if it doesn't give you more money. In my case I found that spending so much time at seminary gave me a much improved ability to write and reason than I would have had otherwise, and certainly improved my skills much more rapidly than I could have done on my own without attempting a college degree.

 

Of course something you will find is that, unless you have a degree in science, engineering, or technology, the economy isn't going to reward you with full time work right away. That's just how it is. Right now there are guys without degrees doing plumbing that earn more in a year than anybody with a liberal arts degree will probably make in their first 5. So, prepare to get very creative if you want to go for that degree, but also know that there are jobs out there which can make you 50k a year without one.

 

The final thing I got out of the whole experience was a realization that, if I could learn and understand epistemology on my own and write well enough to please guys with doctorates on the subject, then I could learn anything I wanted to. I had plenty of down time without a full time job after college, and so I refused to stop learning. I'm approaching 4 years since earning my BA, and things are looking OK. I've got a small business going, I have an office job to fill in the gaps, and I have enough confidence to get married too, which I'm going to be doing in August.

[Basilisa Marie]

I havent read the previous posts but I have a couple friends as well as my brother who have graduated with bachelors in Theology and none of them currently have jobs related to their major at all.

 

Maybe you need more than a bachelors in order to get a job? Im not sure. I wouldnt encourage anyone to get that degree if they're worried about income unless you have a CLEAR idea of exactly what you want to do with it.

 

Oh, that's what they told me - don't worry about experience, an MA will totally make up for that, you'll find a job easy! Ha. That was pretty much the opposite of reality.  If you want a job working in a church, you NEED an internship of some kind while you're in school. You can literally say all the right things and have all kinds of education to back it up, but very few people want to take a chance on someone without experience. But I don't regret it, partly because I can't afford to, and partly because I really do love theology. In a few hours I'm going to go get fingerprinted for that bank teller job I mentioned upthread, so I can support myself while I build up my experiences volunteering in my evenings. :)  Like Arfink said, it's going to take me a while to really get where I want to be. 

 

Have you thought about taking some night classes? Or some online classes, even just auditing them? If you're really interested in giving it a shot, I'd audit a class. That way you're in for way less money, you don't have to do the assignments, and you get the benefit of the lectures and discussion. Are you able to participate in your local church's programs at all, either going to adult faith formation stuff or by sponsoring someone through RCIA or volunteering to be an adult leader at youth group? That's a good way to figure out if ministry is something you're called to do. 

I know it really, really smells of elderberries right now, but I'd seriously hesitate before changing your career to theology. There are so many ways to do that without necessarily going back to school, and the field itself is very much based on networking and having actual experience.  Simply, having a theology degree will not get you a job.  BUT!  There are ways to do nearly all of the things you'd do with a theology degree without actually going for the degree. 

 

Edited February 18, 2014 by Basilisa Marie

[beatitude]

Well there are some people that love it and I marvel at them.  It should be a very rewarding career but instead I struggle with crazy shifts, insomnia, little respect from other staff, and continual piling on of job duties.  I think in general nurses are seen as very caring people but they put up with a lot.  I'm sure there's some of this in any job but I can't stand it.  I always have to bite my tongue when I have nursing students shadowing me because all I want to do is tell them to run in the opposite direction lol.

 

After all this complaining I sure sound ungrateful.  I know there are a lot of people my age who can't find good employment and wish they could have my job.  I am blessed to have a comfortable income and I recognize that.  But that has definitely shown me that money doesn't buy happiness.  And so my search for a new career continues :)

 

SrKateri, how long have you been qualified as a nurse? I ask because nurses can work in many different settings and just because a very busy hospital ward may not be right for you, that doesn't mean all nursing settings will feel wrong. I've worked in several psychiatric wards as a nursing and therapy assistant, and some have a great respectful culture and others are plain awful - it really is a question of finding the right place.

 

If you feel drawn to healthcare, but just not in this capacity, have you thought about doing a pastoral-orientated theology degree with a focus on healthcare chaplaincy? In the UK, where I'm from, there are two Catholic places that offer such degrees that I know of - Maryvale (distance learning) and the Margaret Beaufort Institute (campus study). If you could find a similar part-time or distance learning program, then you could continue to work as a nurse while studying theology, and if you couldn't secure a post as a lay chaplain you would still have your nursing job and the pastoral theology qualification to help you market yourself to other employers. Just a thought. I wouldn't want to encourage you to stay in nursing if it really is burning you out, though.

[CrossCuT]

My sister is a nurse, works the graveyard shift, and makes bank.

[oremus1]

SrKateri, how long have you been qualified as a nurse? I ask because nurses can work in many different settings and just because a very busy hospital ward may not be right for you, that doesn't mean all nursing settings will feel wrong. I've worked in several psychiatric wards as a nursing and therapy assistant, and some have a great respectful culture and others are plain awful - it really is a question of finding the right place.

 

If you feel drawn to healthcare, but just not in this capacity, have you thought about doing a pastoral-orientated theology degree with a focus on healthcare chaplaincy? In the UK, where I'm from, there are two Catholic places that offer such degrees that I know of - Maryvale (distance learning) and the Margaret Beaufort Institute (campus study). If you could find a similar part-time or distance learning program, then you could continue to work as a nurse while studying theology, and if you couldn't secure a post as a lay chaplain you would still have your nursing job and the pastoral theology qualification to help you market yourself to other employers. Just a thought. I wouldn't want to encourage you to stay in nursing if it really is burning you out, though.

 

there is a very well reputed one from america - catholic distance university, i know a couple people who did masters in theology there while working, some in very hard jobs. http://www.cdu.edu/

[Slappo]

A few years ago, if you had asked me how I felt about being a philosophy major, I would have told you that I hated it and regretted it horribly. Which at the time was definitely true. I had been in seminary and was told by friends, family, and seminary staff alike that I had nothing to lose, which was patently absurd, and so I felt like I had been deceived and had a lot of bitterness.

 

At the moment, things are a little different for me. My liberal arts degree has gotten me a pretty reasonably good job. It's an office job, but it's with a Catholic pro-life organization. But that's not really where you'll find usefulness for your degree. You're probably going to find, like I have, that your liberal arts work has given you other significant advantages even if it doesn't give you more money. In my case I found that spending so much time at seminary gave me a much improved ability to write and reason than I would have had otherwise, and certainly improved my skills much more rapidly than I could have done on my own without attempting a college degree.

I definitely don't regret my theology degree either, but what I do regret is focusing so heavily on it without taking more business oriented classes on the side even if it wasn't as a minor or double major.

 

I think my ability to reason, write, and critique that I learned from a heavy liberal arts degree has helped me immensely in my professional career, but half a dozen or more accounting/business classes would have been more beneficial than the half a dozen extra theology classes I took that I didn't need for my degree.

 

If you're going for a BA in theology, don't put your extra elective classes towards theology. Put it towards something practical that you'll use alongside your theology degree. Take a personal finance class, CIOS classes, basic business administration class, personal income taxes, etc.

[arfink]

I definitely don't regret my theology degree either, but what I do regret is focusing so heavily on it without taking more business oriented classes on the side even if it wasn't as a minor or double major.

 

I think my ability to reason, write, and critique that I learned from a heavy liberal arts degree has helped me immensely in my professional career, but half a dozen or more accounting/business classes would have been more beneficial than the half a dozen extra theology classes I took that I didn't need for my degree.

 

If you're going for a BA in theology, don't put your extra elective classes towards theology. Put it towards something practical that you'll use alongside your theology degree. Take a personal finance class, CIOS classes, basic business administration class, personal income taxes, etc.

 

This seems quite smart. I also branched out with my electives, getting into acoustics and art history. Now, those don't normally have much practical application for most people, but for me and my needs/interests it was totally worth it. If I had access to upper level CompSci classes without a pile of useless per-requisite stuff I didn't need but couldn't test out of, I would have done that.

[PhuturePriest]

Oh, that's what they told me - don't worry about experience, an MA will totally make up for that, you'll find a job easy! Ha. That was pretty much the opposite of reality.  If you want a job working in a church, you NEED an internship of some kind while you're in school. You can literally say all the right things and have all kinds of education to back it up, but very few people want to take a chance on someone without experience. But I don't regret it, partly because I can't afford to, and partly because I really do love theology. In a few hours I'm going to go get fingerprinted for that bank teller job I mentioned upthread, so I can support myself while I build up my experiences volunteering in my evenings. :)  Like Arfink said, it's going to take me a while to really get where I want to be. 

 

Have you thought about taking some night classes? Or some online classes, even just auditing them? If you're really interested in giving it a shot, I'd audit a class. That way you're in for way less money, you don't have to do the assignments, and you get the benefit of the lectures and discussion. Are you able to participate in your local church's programs at all, either going to adult faith formation stuff or by sponsoring someone through RCIA or volunteering to be an adult leader at youth group? That's a good way to figure out if ministry is something you're called to do. 

I know it really, really smells of elderberries right now, but I'd seriously hesitate before changing your career to theology. There are so many ways to do that without necessarily going back to school, and the field itself is very much based on networking and having actual experience.  Simply, having a theology degree will not get you a job.  BUT!  There are ways to do nearly all of the things you'd do with a theology degree without actually going for the degree. 

 

 

One mistake people make is that they think to get a job in theology, you have to have a theology degree. Stephen Ray is one of the most famous Catholic apologists in the world, and he's never taken any college class in his entire life. Everything he knows he learned from buying theology books and going down to the library.

[Lilllabettt]

.... seconding beatitude. Before you go back to school for something else ... have you considered the other stuff you can do with a nursing degree?

 

I know an R.N.  who works in a law office, one who teaches at a nursing school, another who works for a pharamceutical company, another who manages human resources at a hospital, another who helps patients coordinate their medical care ...

 

... all those options are not in the direct patient care side of nursing ... which I know (and I hope everyone on this thread realizes) is absolutely grueling on every level.  The typical human being cannot labor with the psychological and physical burdens of direct care nursing long-term.

 

Teaching is like that, in that the majority don't make it past 10 years in a record classroom role.

[Poiesis]

A few thoughts:

Everyone on here seems to be advising against getting a degree in theology, which is, in all honesty, probably the more pragmatic option. It takes a certain type of person to thrive in academia, or in ministry even. 

But I want to clarify something. 

 

Apologist =/= theologian

 

And reading books about theology a theologian does not make. Nor even being a particularly charismatic speaker. These people may be well known and beneficial to Catholics (or even non-Catholics) but they hardly qualify as theologians. They may even include theological content in their publications. That does not make them theologians. 

Thanks and peace. 

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I would just like to take a moment to welcome Poiesis to Phatmass. She said she created an account with us specifically for this thread and nobody has welcomed her yet. 

 

Welcome, my dear!  :wave:

 

[PhuturePriest]

A few thoughts:

Everyone on here seems to be advising against getting a degree in theology, which is, in all honesty, probably the more pragmatic option. It takes a certain type of person to thrive in academia, or in ministry even. 

But I want to clarify something. 

 

Apologist =/= theologian

 

And reading books about theology a theologian does not make. Nor even being a particularly charismatic speaker. These people may be well known and beneficial to Catholics (or even non-Catholics) but they hardly qualify as theologians. They may even include theological content in their publications. That does not make them theologians. 

Thanks and peace. 

 

First off, welcome to Phatmass!

 

Secondly, I suppose the question is, what makes someone a theologian? What do you do at college? Read books your professors tell you to read and make book reports on them, and listen to lectures. These are both things you can do outside of college. I can read all the books you've read and listen to all the lectures you have without actually going to college. Would you consider me a theologian, or would you not, because I didn't technically go to university and get a paper that says I'm knowledgeable about the specific field?

 

I am in no way against college or university. I advocate for them wholeheartedly. I do, however, disagree with the notion that a person can't be a theologian if he/she didn't go to college.

Edited February 19, 2014 by FuturePriest387

[ToJesusMyHeart]

First off, welcome to Phatmass!

 

Secondly, I suppose the question is, what makes someone a theologian? What do you do at college? Read books your professors tell you to read and make book reports on them, and listen to lectures. These are both things you can do outside of college. I can read all the books you've read and listen to all the lectures you have without actually going to college. Would you consider me a theologian, or would you not, because I didn't technically go to university and get a paper that says I'm knowledgeable about the specific field?

 

I am in no way against college or university. I advocate for them wholeheartedly. I do, however, disagree with the notion that a person can't be a theologian if he/she didn't go to college.

 

You have a very misguided notion of college, FP. 

[PhuturePriest]

You have a very misguided notion of college, FP. 

 

This is how college has been described to me by college students.

[arfink]

First off, welcome to Phatmass!

 

Secondly, I suppose the question is, what makes someone a theologian? What do you do at college? Read books your professors tell you to read and make book reports on them, and listen to lectures. These are both things you can do outside of college. I can read all the books you've read and listen to all the lectures you have without actually going to college. Would you consider me a theologian, or would you not, because I didn't technically go to university and get a paper that says I'm knowledgeable about the specific field?

 

I am in no way against college or university. I advocate for them wholeheartedly. I do, however, disagree with the notion that a person can't be a theologian if he/she didn't go to college.

 

Well, I don't think that is what was being said. See, Poiesis said that reading books about theology does not make you a theologian.

So you're saying:

 

1. Reading books about theology does not make you a theologian

2. You read books in college

3. You didn't go to college

Therefore if you do not go to college then you cannot be a theologian.

 

But that's clearly false. :P