Download a study guide for this article at
www.thelutheran.org (click on “study guides”).
COURTESY OF TRINITY LUTHERAN SEMINARY
Inge Williams and Libby Buuck help lead a Taizé prayer service at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Today a student on campus could well be Episcopalian or Presbyterian as well as Lutheran.
leaders in the metro-Columbus area. Some of these leaders have been
key partners with Trinity, but their members are underrepresented in the seminary’s classrooms. So Trinity works with local pastors to provide scholarships for African- American students. It’s also work- ing on a networking system to help those outside of the ELCA candi- dacy process find jobs. Such efforts “reach communi-
ties with which the ELCA is not in formal ecumenical relationship,” said Jonathan Strandjord, ELCA director for seminaries. “Tis kind of contact oſten happens first in theological education, then later in congrega- tions and their church bodies. “Teological education is a
place for intersection and interac- tion among the theological strands of various denominations, and we should affirm this because the result is going to be a stronger witness to the gospel.”
Seminary costs a factor
since 2005. At ELCA seminaries the decline “began in 2008 with the eco- nomic downturn and has not yet recov- ered,” said Jonathan Strandjord, ELCA director for seminaries. “Concern about student debt is definitely a factor.” ELCA seminaries offer a variety of ways to lessen this debt. For example, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia’s new Master of Divin- ity Co-operative Model (
www.ltsp. edu/co-op) seeks to minimize debt by providing scholarships and grants and cutting the time needed to earn a master of divinity degree from four to three years, said Don Johnson, vice president for student development. It works like this: Students under- take a three-year, part-time internship
A
ccording to the Association of Theological Schools, U.S. semi- nary enrollment has been falling
in a local congregation alongside three years of academic study. Fees paid by the participating congregations (approximately $20,000 a year for three years) pay for students’ tuition, fees and health insurance. “In this way we have expanded the seminary’s scholarship capacity in a dramatic way. The result is a 17 percent increase in new students,” Johnson said. “We have made a very, very strong commitment to be in the city and to make the city part of the learning environment. ... The seminary is committed to forming leaders for the world as it is and [for] the world that is coming.
“It is a vision of hope, faith and
relevancy. And doggone it, the church needs leaders.”
Ann Hafften
November 2014 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68