Which seminary?

A reader writes …

I am a Korean Christian.
I read your book, A generous orthodoxy.
I agree with your thought. Especially, I don’t like systematic theology, even though I know it is also necessary.
And I majored in religious studies in University, so my mind is widely open, and flexible.
Now I am a seminarian to follow God’s will. (I got M-div, Th-m ana preparing for the doctorate course.)
But I don’t know which major in theology department I will choose.
What major do you want to recommend?
In what major can I learn more about what you wrote in A Generous Orthodoxy?
Systematic theology? New Testament? Something about spirituality? Church History?
Give me some advice.
I want to be a Christian writer, and a pastor.

Thanks for your note …
Choosing a seminary – especially for a PhD – is a really important and tough decision. Here’s my recommendation: think of the scholars/writers/theologians with whom you would like to study, and go where you can study with the most of them. (Be sure they’re not about to leave or retire!) I’d also encourage you to ask your favorite professors from your Masters degree years which they’d recommend.
The good news is that the kind of things I’m writing about are widely appreciated at most seminaries (fundamentalist and extreme liberal seminaries excepted).
Before saying anything about fields of study, I’d raise one question about the order of your career preferences. You said “writer and pastor,” but I’d say that the pastorate is so demanding, so important, and so intense that it isn’t easy put in the secondary position. In my own life, it’s my 24 years as a pastor that challenged me to grapple with a variety of issues in an integrated way. So – if you plan to be a pastor at all, realize that it will be a highly challenging and demanding calling … and writing will have to overflow from your pastoral experience.
I can only say that if I were going for a PhD today, I would want to direct my studies in the area of practical theology – where I would have the chance to integrate theory and practice across academic disciplines. But that’s just me … the fact is that this is a tremendously exciting time to be alive and study theology in almost any area. Biblical studies, liturgy, church history, theology and philosophy, theology and sociology, theology and ethics and public policy – every area is full of import and foment. And even systematic theology – I suspect that in the years to come, we’ll realize that “systematic” wasn’t the problem, but rather “modernist/colonial/imperial/chauvinist/eurocentric/Greco-Roman systematic” that was the problem. My hunch is that a whole new era in systematics will soon emerge and will contribute a great deal to what is emerging in and among us.
My prayers are with you today!