One year complete!
One year complete!
Just like a good relationship, it is hard to believe that it has already been a year and at the same time only been a year. On one hand, it feels like it was just yesterday that I was dreaming and wondering, and feeling the new-crush jitters around the possibility of going to seminary. On the other hand, it seems like I can’t even remember life before seminary.
What a year it has been. Six classes. Two seminaries. At least 24 books read, primary and secondary readings from more than 50 others. Hundreds of hours spent; thousands and thousands of words written. All for what?
“I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Eph. 3:18-19 NRSVUE
All of this—and so much more to come—that I would know the love of Christ and be formed further and further into a person of love for the good of my family, church-community, and city.
This is not just the call of the seminarian or pastor, however. This is the call of the disciple. All are invited to take on the posture of learner, and not for a season but for life.
To take on this posture is not without its risk. Learning—true learning that does something beyond affirming what you’ve already held to be true—is hard. It is slow. It is vulnerable and can be quite painful, even humiliating (in the best sense, and at times in the worst).
The good news is that the Rabbi that calls us is available, wherever we are now and wherever we may go. He is available in the classroom and on the street. He is available on the hospital floor, at the teller’s desk, in the home office and the delivery truck. He can be heard through the words of saints who have gone before and children who come after.
So, my friends, press on. Continue to deliberately choose to be a learner, open and listening, waiting on the Spirit. And in so doing may we all get a taste in 2024 of what it means to “be filled with all the fullness of God.”
And lastly, thank you. Thank you for journeying with me in seminary and in my vocation. If this year you opened one of these emails, or offered a prayer for me and my family, I consider you a part of the Support Circle.
Special thanks to the individuals and families who make up the Financial Team. Every time I see a notification of an incoming gift I am filled with humility. I have seen this year how your generosity and ongoing investment has had a ripple effect—not only making seminary possible, but contributing to my own mental health and to the sustainability of this season for my family, our church, and community.
May you experience the Peace of Christ this Christmas and day-by-day in 2024.
-David
After the fall semester ended, we took a family vacation to rest and reconnect in central and southern California.
We got to spend time with Dr. Aaron Smith, a dear professor and mentor from undergrad at CCU. He now pastors a church in Atascadero, CA.
This little guy is 8 months old today!
Prayer Request
January Immersion Week. I will be headed back to Durham for the Spring Term Immersion Week January 7-13. Please pray for travels, the learning experience, and for continued deepening of peer relationships. Pray also for Sadie and the boys: for strength, health, and good sleep!
Financial Update
Seminary. I am currently looking to expand the Financial Support Team by $120/mo to assist with the three required trips per year to Duke. If you have been interested in the past but saw that I was fully funded, now is your opportunity to join the team! Learn more at davidtanner.co/give or reply to this email to begin a conversation.
Sabbatical. If you would like to contribute to the Refuge Church sabbatical restricted fund to help defray expenses of eligible pastors on sabbatical leave, including mine tentatively scheduled for Summer 2024, you can make a one-time donation here.
Book Club
Current Reads
In an effort to keep this portion of the update useful while acknowledging the Support Circle’s collective lack of capacity for a book club, here are a few resources currently “on my bookshelf.”
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero. The Staff/Board Team at Refuge are currently making our way through this. It has been a wonderful—near essential—launch point for discussion around our team’s spiritual health and formation. It’s an easy and actionable read, if you’ve never given it a try.
The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality by Catholic priest, Ronald Rolheiser. I worked through this on a recent family vacation. It paired well with the uncommon rhythms, long walks on the beach, and the mix of chaotic and sublime moments that are inevitable with any family vacation. Thought provoking read on prayer, dissatisfaction in life, and what it means to be the body of Christ.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. Sadie and I began listening to this on our 12-hour drive back from vacation on the California coast—back into regular life. We would listen to a chapter, then pause for extended conversation. Though written from a perspective that ideals some version of the American dream, the overlap into Spiritual Formation is significant. Beyond the content however, if you’ve never engaged in this way with your spouse or a close companion, I couldn’t recommend it more. It opened up conversation, learning, and intimacy with one another—an experience I imagine only compares with something like a marriage retreat.
Finally, if you are still interested in a book club, now or in the not-too-distant future, please continue to hound me. I want to know it’s still on your radar!
