Theological Education: New Models Needed

While in Winston-Salem this week, our group had the opportunity to visit the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and dialogue with Bill Leonard, the dean of the school. The div school at WFU is one of the best of the new theological schools related to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. It combines the advantages of a classical university-related theological curriculum with a commitment to training ministers for the church. Actually, North Carolina is greatly blessed with theological schools! In addition to the one at Wake Forest, there are divinity schools at Campbell University and Gardner-Webb University as well as a Baptist House at Duke Divinity School. I applaud what these schools are doing and the training they are providing not just for North Carolina students, but those from other states as well. These schools also provide a number of full-time and part-time staff members for churches in the state.

On the other hand, what about those states that are not so blessed? How can we provide theological training for those who are already serving churches (many with day jobs and families) but can't commute to a divinity school? We urgently need new models for theological education. These new models would not replace the quality programs offered by Wake Forest, Duke, McAfee, et al., but they would serve a constituency of students and churches who are underserved at this point.

In the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I serve part-time as the director for the Central Baptist Seminary center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We are providing classes for men and women who are employed full-time (one as a pastor), are serving in local churches, and have settled families. They attend classes taught on Friday nights and all day Saturday by professors from the main campus in Shawnee,Kansas, as well as by adjunct instructors from middle Tennessee. Even so, I don't think that the "teaching church seminary" approach offered by CBTS is the only alternative model (although it is a good one).

Whatever is done, the following components are important:

1. Obtain qualified and gifted instructors. I believe that there is a place for "itinerant theologians" who will pack up their bags and go where the students are. There are just so many positions available in seminaries today, and some quality people have not found teaching positions. Perhaps we need to encourage churches to hire these people in part-time staff positions and free them up to teach as adjunct professors. We have some good pastor-theologians in our midst who have much to offer.

2. Rethink "residency" requirements for students. Many theological seminaries now offer classes only two or three days a week on their main campuses. Most of their students are commuters; they find a parking place, attend classes, visit the library (hopefully), attend chapel (if convenient to their schedule), and leave to go home or to work. The students attending classes in Murfreesboro spend 11 hours together two or three weekends a month, so they have as much contact time with professors and fellow students as those who meet two or three classes once a week. Add to this the availability of rich resources online and e-mail communication. In light of these circumstances, what is the advantage to going to the main campus for classes?

3. Emphasize "just in time" theological reflection. Considering one's life and ministry in light of an expanding biblical and theological awareness is an important part of theological education. It is even more significant when one is already involved in a local church or community ministry and can build on established relationships and responsibilities. Students who have to relocate to another city to pursue their education must expend at least some time finding an appropriate place of ministry, establishing rapport with the congregation, and then "carving our their niche" before the learning can begin.

4. Build community. It takes more than a central site with bricks and mortar to build community. True konoinia is the gift of God that comes when people work, worship, and learn together. Such community can take in a fellowship hall, a classroom on the third floor of a church building, or in the commons room of an apartment complex.

With the failure rate of traditional seminaries growing (due to finances, lack of students, and capital commitments among other things) and churches calling out their own to serve, this is a good time to consider alternatives.

Confessions of a Recovering Southern Baptist

I am grateful for my heritage as a Southern Baptist. I was exposed to the Bible and worship from a very young age. I grew up in a church in south Alabama that supported the Cooperative Program of missions giving. This meant that our church had the benefit of being part of a supportive group of local churches and the educational opportunities that afforded. Our state convention provided varied and effective ministries with groups like orphans, ethnic groups, and college students. We supported missionaries at home and abroad. We had good Bible study and training literature (which we paid for, of course). I went to an accredited seminary and paid a remarkably low tuition. Wherever you went on a Sunday morning (in the Southeast and Southwest, at least), you could find a church that sang the familiar hymns and studied the same Bible lesson. In hindsight, I realize that this Southern Baptist utopia was imperfect. There were significant theological differences, often geograp

The Bible Tells Me So

As I read the story of the Good Samaritan during my devotional today, I was reminded of the times that I have heard the story in the Christian education setting of the local church--as a youngster in primary and intermediate classes (old terminology), as a young adult in college classes, and then as an adult, often teaching the passage myself. The characters and story line are very familiar due to these experiences of Christian education. These are challenging times for Christian education in the church. Like so much of what is happening in the church today, the old forms do not seem to support present needs. What once worked no longer seems to be effective. Christian education or the formation of believers is in a state of flux. In an article on ethicsdaily.com , retired professor Colin Harris addresses this issue. He points out that the period of the 60’s and 70’s “saw the beginnings of a loss of vitality within the educational dimension of church ministry, as the

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File photo of Steve Carter, Heather Larson, and Bill Hybels As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to pray for Willow Creek Community Church. On the eve of the Global Leadership Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by the church in cooperation with the Willow Creek Association, church leadership imploded as a result of further allegations against former pastor Bill Hybels. Last year, Hybels introduced the team who would assume church leadership upon his retirement--lead pastor Heather Larson and teaching pastor Steve Carter. Although the founding pastor planned to stay on to assist in a time of transition, reports of sexual impropriety involving Hybels surfaced early this year. He accelerated his departure from the church and left the board of the Willow Creek Association. When other charges emerged last week, teaching pastor Carter resigned. On Wednesday evening, Larson and the entire elder board--lay leaders who provide accountability on behalf of the congreg

A Future for the Global Leadership Summit?

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