BANGOR – Paul Baker is brushing up on his German, practicing conversations like a tourist.

He’s also translating Bible passages from English into German.

Baker is not worried about the ancient Greek or Hebrew he will need at a seminary in Germany. The 46-year-old graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary is sure he’ll be able to read the ancient biblical texts.

It’s talking to his fellow students that has him carefully mouthing words while listening to language CDs.

Baker, who lives near the Bangor seminary’s campus, will be the first student to participate in a newly formed exchange between the 189-year-old Maine seminary and its new sister seminary in Wuppertal, a city in the Rhine River Valley of western Germany.

Baker will leave Maine in September, about six weeks after two students from the German seminary, Kirchliche Hochschule, arrive in Bangor to begin classes.

“My first reaction to the idea of going to Wuppertal was that it would be a great chance to see the cathedrals of Europe and travel while I was there,” he said earlier this week. “All the old manuscripts of the early Bible are there. But, I’ve never flown before and I don’t know the language – those are my biggest challenges.”

The exchange grew out of last year’s international conference on the Septuagint – the Old Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures, known to modern Christians as the Old Testament. Two of the 25 scholars who attended that meeting in Bangor are professors in Wuppertal and approached the Bangor seminary about a faculty and student exchange program.

The Rev. William Imes, seminary president, signed the deal with Kirchliche Hochschule last month in Wuppertal. He described the school as highly academic with a focus on biblical scholarship rather than parish life, which is emphasized in a majority of American seminaries.

Imes added that reaching out to students overseas was not about broadening the seminary’s tuition base, but grew out of a desire to provide students with “diverse experiences and expose them to diverse points of view.”

The possibility of intense scholarship and a chance to study the ancient biblical texts stored in the libraries of Europe are the main reasons Baker agreed to be the first person affiliated with Bangor to participate in the exchange, even though he graduated from the seminary in May.

Baker earned his master of arts degree from Bangor, but does not feel called to traditional ministry as do a majority of the seminary’s graduates. He is, however, drawn to the life of the scholar and is fascinated by the early Christian writers who produced manuscripts during the first 500 years of the church.

Baker plans to begin work on his doctorate after he returns from Europe next summer.

The academic year in Germany runs from October through June rather than late August through May as it often does in the United States.

German students Johannes Muller, 21, and Hilke de Vries, 20, both of Ostfriendland, are expected to arrive on campus in Bangor in late August. Bangor seminary classes begin Sept. 3. Unlike a majority of their fellow students in Germany who are Lutherans, the man and woman coming to Bangor are from the Reformed tradition, which has roots in Calvinism, according to Imes.

Earlier this year, the largest group of Congregational churches in the United States, the United Church of Christ, said it had a “full communion” relationship with the German Union of Evangelical Churches, a group of churches from the Lutheran and Reformed traditions. Although the Bangor seminary accepts students from all denominations, it is affiliated with the UCC.

“Johannes and Hilke are interested in coming here to get practical experience in congregations, the same way the students in our master of divinity program do,” said Imes, who met the two when he was in Wuppertal last month. “They also want to participate in our chaplaincy program.”

Bangor seminary students work in area churches, leading worship, conducting Bible study classes and preaching as part of their studies toward ordained ministry. German seminaries do not offer that kind of “on-the-job” training and mentoring, according to Imes.

“We believe this exchange program could evolve into a program similar to the year’s study aboard offered by many colleges and universities,” he said.

The Germans will not be the only foreign students who will be attending Bangor Theological Seminary this year. Students from Zimbabwe and Australia also will be on the Bangor campus. Imes said that 50 years ago, the seminary trained many ministers who returned to their home countries after graduation to spread the Gospel.